Random file corruption - Win 7 32-bit

This problem seemed to originally occur after a bsod and a consequent shut down, but I am experiencing multiple issues with corruption on a daily basis now. The second time it occurred was during an installation, during which some files became corrupted and I had to redownload the files. The third time occurred earlier today when attempting to run a game. Windows notified me that it had issues opening up a GFWL profile due to it being corrupted. Prior to this occuring I had no issues using GFWL, and also had a clean shutdown. The last time it occurred happened not even an hour after running chkdsk for the previous issue. I downloaded and installed a program. The Windows notification popped up regarding the corrupted files in the installation directory, and I ran fsutil to confirm that the drive was dirty. Each time I have run chkdsk at startup to fix the errors, and each time upon reboot chkdsk and fsutil state that the drive is clean upon boot. At this point im not even sure why it keeps happening. The only logical answer I can come to is the drive is failing, which is entirely possible since the drive is about 5 years old now (Seagate ST31000528AS). Normally i'd just run chkdsk again to fix the issue, but since the corruption happened twice today, and back to back, my next move will be to format the drive and try re-installing windows. Im not sure if this will fix the issue, but I would like some input regarding this so I know if I should replace the drive, or if it is an issue with windows. Incidentally I have run anti-virus and my system shows no viruses. Any assistance would be appreciated.

VistaKing said:

Upload your .dmp file(s) using this tutorial

Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) Posting Instructions

Is this really necessary? I haven't had a BSOD in over 3 months, which incidentally would be the first BSOD that I noticed corruption occuring. All the issues with corruption are occurring without BSOD and just during general use. Also, if the instructions are correct, it would seem that the windows kernel would only generate a dump file when the instructions to generate the dump have already been done after which the bsod would then have to occur for the dump file to generate. I hate to be the cynic to my own issue, but I would just like to make sure that this would help.

VistaKing said:

We could tell you what caused the BSOD a few months ago . You could also do a hard drive test using the manufacture of the Drive Diag test .

You could go to this link and burn the .iso which has all of the manufacture's diagnostic software

Ultimate Boot CD - Overview

Are SMART tools similar to the diagnostic iso? I have run SMART tools on the hard drive in both windows and linux and im finding roughly 400 bad sectors and 400 read / write errors. Im also seeing alot of old_age and pre_fail flags popping up. At this point im pretty sure the drive is ready to die and will just pick up a new one. So sad to see a hard drive go.

VistaKing said:

Backup your data ! Purchase a new drive do a clean install of Windows and reinstall your programs and you should be back to normal .

Thats the next step. Right now its pretty late and I should get some rest. Thanks for assistance, even if there isnt much you can do with a dying hard drive. Maybe i'll splurge on a SSD.

mitchell65 said:

Hi Devosion
Just out of interest did your PC come with Windows pre installed?

It did not. It's my own custom build.