Okay, decided to just run it since it seemed kind of like the obvious choice...
I ran extended scan, but it also ran a quick scan first. It only took 14 seconds. The result?
"Test completed with read element failure"
It says that I can continue to the full scan to resolve the issue.
I'm going to continue with the full scan, but I'm sure it's a bad sign.
Writing zeroes to the HD wipes it clean. There is no benefit to doing this now since you have a successful install.
What you need to know now is how serious the problems are and if they are reparable. You may need to run the Extended scan more than once to be sure.
Afterwards run Disk Check again with both boxes checked.
Bad news.
The scan never completed, and I got this message:
"Too many errors found - Please contact technical support"
Sounds like the final nail in the coffin.
Though I would like to see what Malwarebytes shows me and GMER as Legacy suggested earlier too. I want to be sure the HD is dying before I buy a new one.
I think you've already got your answer. You've had multiple pieces of evidence from several sources. Doesn't get much clearer.
Malwarebytes will only scan for malware and won't give you any information about the condition of your hard drive.
Time to start shopping I would say.
I feel for you. Mine was only 3 months old. But all is well once it got replaced.
All the best.
Hardware normally has a year's warranty.
I would contact manufacturer's Tech Support for advice on replacing it, possible RMA'ing it.
Thanks, and all the best to you as well.Peregrine said:
Acer's terms are a little confusing, though that doesn't surprise me. It says that they won't be held responsible for any accidents, thouh I can't be sure that an accident caused this.
I know this is foolish, but I just had to try malwarebytes and GMER as a desperation tactic. Malwarebytes was freezing a lot. First when I tried to download, then when I did the extended scan. A quick scan turned up nothing.
GMER just finished up and found some things. I can't tell what they are, but it won't give me the option to delete them. It's under rootkit/malware, so shouldn't I assume that's what it is?
But it won't let me look at the full file names. Maybe I'm just not using it right. The "Type" is also called "Reg". Should I assume that means regular? I don't get it...
EDIT:
Just found out that it means "Registry"... the same registry that the lifeguard diagnostic told me was corrupt! What the hell? Have I really just had malware this whole time?
http://www2.gmer.net/rootkits.php
Search "Gromozon Rootkit" on that page. "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\ >>>"
That's what I have according to the scan. Oddly enough, there's 5 of them listed, but i can't do anything to them.
Well, considering you just did a clean install, I'd say not.
Yeah, but is it possible that such a thing could survive the reinstall? Legacy seemed to think so when he sugested it a few pages back, though I really have no idea. I have also found out that the same file is talked about by microsoft as something completely different. Very confusing that these files would be listed as rootkits, and why are there multiples of the same one? It's just weird.
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