BSOD just after logging in and desktop comes up

PatrickGSR94 · 28 Apr 2014

essenbe said:

Hi PatrickGSR94, are you downloading from Seagate's website? SeaTools for DOS | Seagate. I have downloaded it quite a few times and it has never given me a problem. I feel confident that Seagate would not be including viruses with their programs.

Also, please run the short drive self test (which will most likely pass) then run the long drive self test. It can take up to 4 hours to run and tests in increments of 10%.

Well I was, but this morning it gave me that trojan message, but now seems to be working fine. Who knows.

I suppose it's moot now as I just ordered a new HDD this morning and should have it by tomorrow.

I may run the long test anyway tonight, just for kicks.

essenbe · 28 Apr 2014

I hate for you to do that until and unless we know for sure that the hard drive is the issue. You can go broke buying parts that we 'think' are causing the problem. That being said, I would run the tests anyway so you will know. The hard drive can be used as back ups and storage. I'm pretty much a fanatic about back ups, and am embarrassed to tell you how many hard drives I own. My personal opinion is, it is not a question of if a hard drive will die, but when it will die. But, it would be good to know if the drive you have is bad or not.

PatrickGSR94 · 28 Apr 2014

I ran some tests from the "utility" partition of this hard drive (the original one that came from Dell 3 1/2 years ago) and it reported some failures, so I'm pretty sure the drive is the issue. But I do plan to run SeaTools overnight.

essenbe · 28 Apr 2014

Great, that's a good choice. Dell's diagnostics are pretty good on hard drives. I just hope it solves your problems. I know how aggravating that can be. Been there, done that.

Arc · 29 Apr 2014

essenbe said:

Great, that's a good choice. Dell's diagnostics are pretty good on hard drives. I just hope it solves your problems. I know how aggravating that can be. Been there, done that.

Dell diagnostics is trustworthy.

If you plan for seatools long test, there is a mechanism that attempts to rectify the disc errors, if possible (as described in PART - IV: Results : of SeaTools for DOS and Windows - How to Use). Go for that option after the test is done. If it rectifies the error, well and good. But if it cannot, you have to replace the HDD, unfortunately.

PatrickGSR94 · 29 Apr 2014

Well I burned the SeaTools for DOS ISO to a disc yesterday and tried to boot from it, but it gave me this error:

Code:

Starting BCDW...

Error!  Cannot load file (code: 04FDh):
\bcdw\bcdw.bin
Press any key to boot from hard disk or ESCape to restart.

So I ran the SeaTools for Windows long generic test, and it failed.

Oh well, new HDD will be here today, so no big deal other than the few hours it will take to format and load everything.

PatrickGSR94 · 29 Apr 2014

So after all this, since I'll be installing a new HDD anyway... since it appears the BIOS will only offer ATA or RAID, should I really be setting it to ATA? I've read there are a number of features/functions that would not be available if set to ATA.

Arc · 29 Apr 2014

You dont need to use RAID, specially when you are using a single HDD. Moreover, RAID is always problematic, and is not supposed to give you a stable system.

If you set it to ATA, you will not loss anything literally. But the system will be stable.

And, as the Seatools long test failed, too; your decision to change the HDD is right.

PatrickGSR94 · 29 Apr 2014

Do you think it would be worth it to clone the Dell utility partition from my old drive to the new drive using something like Acronis True Image?

essenbe · 29 Apr 2014

You can if you want to, but personally, I wouldn't. Most enthusiasts who buy an OEM computer, bring it home and do a clean install to get rid of the bloatware the OEMs usually put in the OS. This is a tutorial which will guide you step by step in how to do it. Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7