Unexpected BSOD (0x000000f4) on a new system

easwar2641993 · May 30, 2012

I have got a strange BSOD (0x000000f4) while chatting with an Intel customer agent about some warranty details.Agent asked me to get the AA number on the board and for that I opened the case and got the AA number just below the processor.I haven't touched anything except wires outside and the case.After noting and typing the AA number,I closed the case and moved some wires inorder to make enough space for outlet fans.And when I looked in the screen,the screen was black.I mean a black wallpaper with same icons and taskbar.Actually I have put a wallpaper of a landscape before and I found so strange when I saw a black wallpaper.and I saw a very small glitch on the right bottom of the taskbar,I mean a graphics issue.Then occurred a BSOD CRITICAL_OBJECT_TERMINATION with code 0x000000f4 with some numbers.My system specs is same as when you click the "my system specs".And then no more BSOD till now.What might be the cause?both internet explorer and mozilla firefox were opened at that time and no other programs.

easwar2641993 · May 30, 2012

It is occurring again and again.Same BSOD while surfing.Please help

easwar2641993 · May 30, 2012

I solved the issue.
I found system freeze and so many hangs and errors and finally bsod when I touched the sata cable of HDD.I replaced the cable and touched and moved it and no errors ,no freezes or bsods.So this is solved.

usasma · May 30, 2012

Thanks for letting us know!

easwar2641993 · Jun 2, 2012

usasma said:
Thanks for letting us know!

Sorry.After working good for a 2 or 3 days,the same BSOD came again.I have changed the SATA wire.No problems were found with wires and Hard Disk is checked with both seatools and hdtunes.No problems were found.I am uploading the latest dump file and please check it out if you get enough time.

I will tell you all details.

About the problem: The problem occurs in random fashion.It occurred while surfing the internet,shut downing the system or even when the system is kept idle.
In all cases BCCode is F4/03

What I have done for resolving issues:1)Drivers for chipset,lan,graphics card and sound card are all updated to latest version.BIOS is also latest version.
2)According to Windows update,Windows is fully updated.
3)Checked all wires and replaced old ones.
4)Ran prime95 64bit for 3 hours,RAM for 6 passes by memtest ,seatools for the seagate driver and hdtunes status "ok".
5)No overclocking and temperatures of all components are within normal range except the processor reached 72 degree C while running prime95 but according to Intel,72 degree C is normal under extensive load.

My suspicion:I am not sure though I am telling.Before the first BSOD but on that day itself ,a few hours before the first BSOD,I have updated the Hard Disk firmware to latest version.I don't remember which version but they offerred me the firmware when I registered this sea gate Hard Disk.I updated it for no reason I regret.But they told me it offers reliability and performance.

usasma · Jun 2, 2012

This is for the first set of memory dumps (I'll make another post with the most recent dump file(s).

USB bus drivers (likely your USB 3.0 controller) aren't installed. Please visit the motherboard manufacturer's website and install them.

Please start with these free diagnostics: Initial Hardware Diagnostics
Be sure to run the hard drive test as one of the memory dumps shows I/O errors.

The following info is just FYI, I've already addressed the issues that I saw in the above paragraphs

- Further info on BSOD error messages available at: http://www.carrona.org/bsodindx.html
- Info on how to troubleshoot BSOD's (DRAFT): http://www.carrona.org/userbsod.html
- How I do it: http://www.carrona.org/howidoit.html

3RD PARTY DRIVERS PRESENT IN THE DUMP FILES

Code:

[font=lucida console]
vsflt53.sys    Tue Apr 12 07:31:35 2011 (4DA43817)
amdxata.sys    Fri Mar 19 12:18:18 2010 (4BA3A3CA)
iaStor.sys     Mon Sep 13 21:23:32 2010 (4C8ECE94)
MpFilter.sys   Fri Mar 09 06:05:26 2012 (4F59E3F6)
SASKUTIL64.SYS Tue Jul 12 17:00:01 2011 (4E1CB5D1)
SASDIFSV64.SYS Thu Jul 21 19:03:00 2011 (4E28B024)
HECIx64.sys    Thu Sep 22 12:38:44 2011 (4E7B6494)
e1c62x64.sys   Thu Mar 15 23:57:28 2012 (4F62BA28)
nvhda64v.sys   Wed Apr 18 13:07:54 2012 (4F8EF4EA)
RTKVHD64.sys   Tue Mar 27 05:01:50 2012 (4F7181FE)
nvlddmkm.sys   Tue May 15 03:35:36 2012 (4FB20748)
[/font]

Code:

[font=lucida console]
Loading Dump File [C:\Users\FUBAR\_jcgriff2_\dbug\__Kernel__\053012-15771-01.dmp]
Built by: 7601.17803.amd64fre.win7sp1_gdr.120330-1504
Debug session time: Wed May 30 05:12:03.649 2012 (UTC - 4:00)
System Uptime: 0 days 0:03:11.539
BugCheck F4, {3, fffffa8005994b30, fffffa8005994e10, fffff800035d2510}
Probably caused by : wininit.exe
PROCESS_NAME:  svchost.exe
BUGCHECK_STR:  0xF4_svchost.exe
DEFAULT_BUCKET_ID:  VISTA_DRIVER_FAULT
FAILURE_BUCKET_ID:  X64_0xF4_svchost.exe_IMAGE_wininit.exe
Bugcheck code 000000F4
Arguments 00000000`00000003 fffffa80`05994b30 fffffa80`05994e10 fffff800`035d2510
BiosVersion = BLH6710H.86A.0151.2012.0312.1138
BiosReleaseDate = 03/12/2012
CPUID:        "Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-2400 CPU @ 3.10GHz"
MaxSpeed:     3100
CurrentSpeed: 3093
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨``
Loading Dump File [C:\Users\FUBAR\_jcgriff2_\dbug\__Kernel__\053012-14664-01.dmp]
Built by: 7601.17803.amd64fre.win7sp1_gdr.120330-1504
Debug session time: Wed May 30 03:59:58.867 2012 (UTC - 4:00)
System Uptime: 0 days 1:24:09.131
BugCheck F4, {3, fffffa800543d060, fffffa800543d340, fffff80003586510}
Probably caused by : csrss.exe
PROCESS_NAME:  csrss.exe
BUGCHECK_STR:  0xF4_IOERR
DEFAULT_BUCKET_ID:  VISTA_DRIVER_FAULT
FAILURE_BUCKET_ID:  X64_0xF4_IOERR_IMAGE_csrss.exe
Bugcheck code 000000F4
Arguments 00000000`00000003 fffffa80`0543d060 fffffa80`0543d340 fffff800`03586510
BiosVersion = BLH6710H.86A.0151.2012.0312.1138
BiosReleaseDate = 03/12/2012
CPUID:        "Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-2400 CPU @ 3.10GHz"
MaxSpeed:     3100
CurrentSpeed: 3093
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨``
  
  [/font]

usasma · Jun 2, 2012

Ahhh - this one shows Daemon Tools being installed. Please do the following:

Daemon Tools (and Alcohol % software) are known to cause BSOD's on some Win7 systems (mostly due to the sptd.sys driver, although I have seen dtsoftbus01.sys blamed on several occasions).
Please uninstall the program, then use the following free tool to ensure that the troublesome sptd.sys driver is removed from your system (pick the 32 or 64 bit system depending on your system's configuration): DuplexSecure - FAQ

Some free alternatives (I don't use them, so I can't comment on them)
KernSafe iSCSI initiator, Virtual CD/DVD-RW Emulator, Virtual Encryption Disk and Virtual CD/DVD-ROM Emulator All-in-One free software.
MagicISO - Convert BIN to ISO, Create, Edit, Burn, Extract ISO file, ISO/BIN converter/extractor/editor

Otherwise it still shows the I/O error - so the hard drive is still suspect.

The following info is just FYI, I've already addressed the issues that I saw in the above paragraphs

- Further info on BSOD error messages available at: http://www.carrona.org/bsodindx.html
- Info on how to troubleshoot BSOD's (DRAFT): http://www.carrona.org/userbsod.html
- How I do it: http://www.carrona.org/howidoit.html

3RD PARTY DRIVERS PRESENT IN THE DUMP FILES

Code:

[font=lucida console]
vsflt53.sys     Tue Apr 12 07:31:35 2011 (4DA43817)
iaStor.sys      Mon Sep 13 21:23:32 2010 (4C8ECE94)
amdxata.sys     Fri Mar 19 12:18:18 2010 (4BA3A3CA)
MpFilter.sys    Fri Mar 09 06:05:26 2012 (4F59E3F6)
dtsoftbus01.sys Fri Jan 13 08:45:46 2012 (4F10358A)
nvhda64v.sys    Wed Apr 18 13:07:54 2012 (4F8EF4EA)
SASKUTIL64.SYS  Tue Jul 12 17:00:01 2011 (4E1CB5D1)
SASDIFSV64.SYS  Thu Jul 21 19:03:00 2011 (4E28B024)
HECIx64.sys     Thu Sep 22 12:38:44 2011 (4E7B6494)
RTKVHD64.sys    Tue Mar 27 05:01:50 2012 (4F7181FE)
nvlddmkm.sys    Tue May 15 03:35:36 2012 (4FB20748)
[/font]

Code:

[font=lucida console]
Loading Dump File [C:\Users\FUBAR\_jcgriff2_\dbug\__Kernel__\060212-12542-01.dmp]
Built by: 7601.17803.amd64fre.win7sp1_gdr.120330-1504
Debug session time: Sat Jun  2 07:58:45.879 2012 (UTC - 4:00)
System Uptime: 0 days 0:43:02.143
BugCheck F4, {3, fffffa800587f060, fffffa800587f340, fffff800035e3510}
Probably caused by : wininit.exe
PROCESS_NAME:  wininit.exe
BUGCHECK_STR:  0xF4_IOERR
DEFAULT_BUCKET_ID:  VISTA_DRIVER_FAULT
FAILURE_BUCKET_ID:  X64_0xF4_IOERR_IMAGE_wininit.exe
Bugcheck code 000000F4
Arguments 00000000`00000003 fffffa80`0587f060 fffffa80`0587f340 fffff800`035e3510
BiosVersion = BLH6710H.86A.0151.2012.0312.1138
BiosReleaseDate = 03/12/2012
CPUID:        "Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-2400 CPU @ 3.10GHz"
MaxSpeed:     3100
CurrentSpeed: 3093
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨``
  
  [/font]

easwar2641993 · Jun 2, 2012

usasma said:
Ahhh - this one shows Daemon Tools being installed. Please do the following:

Daemon Tools (and Alcohol % software) are known to cause BSOD's on some Win7 systems (mostly due to the sptd.sys driver, although I have seen dtsoftbus01.sys blamed on several occasions).
Please uninstall the program, then use the following free tool to ensure that the troublesome sptd.sys driver is removed from your system (pick the 32 or 64 bit system depending on your system's configuration): DuplexSecure - FAQ

Some free alternatives (I don't use them, so I can't comment on them)
KernSafe iSCSI initiator, Virtual CD/DVD-RW Emulator, Virtual Encryption Disk and Virtual CD/DVD-ROM Emulator All-in-One free software.
MagicISO - Convert BIN to ISO, Create, Edit, Burn, Extract ISO file, ISO/BIN converter/extractor/editor

Otherwise it still shows the I/O error - so the hard drive is still suspect.

The following info is just FYI, I've already addressed the issues that I saw in the above paragraphs

- Further info on BSOD error messages available at: http://www.carrona.org/bsodindx.html
- Info on how to troubleshoot BSOD's (DRAFT): http://www.carrona.org/userbsod.html
- How I do it: http://www.carrona.org/howidoit.html

3RD PARTY DRIVERS PRESENT IN THE DUMP FILES

Code:

[FONT=lucida console] vsflt53.sys Tue Apr 12 07:31:35 2011 (4DA43817) iaStor.sys Mon Sep 13 21:23:32 2010 (4C8ECE94) amdxata.sys Fri Mar 19 12:18:18 2010 (4BA3A3CA) MpFilter.sys Fri Mar 09 06:05:26 2012 (4F59E3F6) dtsoftbus01.sys Fri Jan 13 08:45:46 2012 (4F10358A) nvhda64v.sys Wed Apr 18 13:07:54 2012 (4F8EF4EA) SASKUTIL64.SYS Tue Jul 12 17:00:01 2011 (4E1CB5D1) SASDIFSV64.SYS Thu Jul 21 19:03:00 2011 (4E28B024) HECIx64.sys Thu Sep 22 12:38:44 2011 (4E7B6494) RTKVHD64.sys Tue Mar 27 05:01:50 2012 (4F7181FE) nvlddmkm.sys Tue May 15 03:35:36 2012 (4FB20748) [/FONT]

http://www.carrona.org/drivers/driver.php?id=vsflt53.sys
http://www.carrona.org/drivers/driver.php?id=iaStor.sys
http://www.carrona.org/drivers/driver.php?id=amdxata.sys
http://www.carrona.org/drivers/driver.php?id=MpFilter.sys
http://www.carrona.org/drivers/driver.php?id=dtsoftbus01.sys
http://www.carrona.org/drivers/driver.php?id=nvhda64v.sys
http://www.carrona.org/drivers/driver.php?id=SASKUTIL64.SYS
http://www.carrona.org/drivers/driver.php?id=SASDIFSV64.SYS
http://www.carrona.org/drivers/driver.php?id=HECIx64.sys
http://www.carrona.org/drivers/driver.php?id=RTKVHD64.sys
http://www.carrona.org/drivers/driver.php?id=nvlddmkm.sys

BSOD BUGCHECK SUMMARY

Code:

[FONT=lucida console] Loading Dump File [C:\Users\FUBAR\_jcgriff2_\dbug\__Kernel__\060212-12542-01.dmp] Built by: 7601.17803.amd64fre.win7sp1_gdr.120330-1504 Debug session time: Sat Jun 2 07:58:45.879 2012 (UTC - 4:00) System Uptime: 0 days 0:43:02.143 BugCheck F4, {3, fffffa800587f060, fffffa800587f340, fffff800035e3510} Probably caused by : wininit.exe PROCESS_NAME: wininit.exe BUGCHECK_STR: 0xF4_IOERR DEFAULT_BUCKET_ID: VISTA_DRIVER_FAULT FAILURE_BUCKET_ID: X64_0xF4_IOERR_IMAGE_wininit.exe Bugcheck code 000000F4 Arguments 00000000`00000003 fffffa80`0587f060 fffffa80`0587f340 fffff800`035e3510 BiosVersion = BLH6710H.86A.0151.2012.0312.1138 BiosReleaseDate = 03/12/2012 CPUID: "Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-2400 CPU @ 3.10GHz" MaxSpeed: 3100 CurrentSpeed: 3093 ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨`` [/FONT]

Thanks for the reply.

Since I don't use any USB 3.0 devices ,I disabled USB 3.0 support from the BIOS as per Intel agent's advice.But I will follow you.

After the first BSOD,I checked Hard Disk and found no issues(I have used HDTunes and Seatools).But after the recent BSOD,when I checked Hard Disk,I got
Current Pending Sector warning and hence health status warning in HDTunes and with Seatools,Short DST Fail(Used both Windows and DOS version).

My question is since this happened for my new hard disk,it might be because of frequent unexpected shut downs which caused HDD to function improperly?

I have uninstalled Daemon Tools.The first BSOD was not in the presence of Daemon Tools.So I don't think so Daemon Tools caused this issue.

I have enabled driver verifier and caused a C9 BSOD due to Daemon Tools and uninstalled.After that no BSOD occurred even at normal use than idle and turned off verifier after some hours use.

easwar2641993 · Jun 3, 2012

usasma said:
Ahhh - this one shows Daemon Tools being installed. Please do the following:

Daemon Tools (and Alcohol % software) are known to cause BSOD's on some Win7 systems (mostly due to the sptd.sys driver, although I have seen dtsoftbus01.sys blamed on several occasions).
Please uninstall the program, then use the following free tool to ensure that the troublesome sptd.sys driver is removed from your system (pick the 32 or 64 bit system depending on your system's configuration): DuplexSecure - FAQ

Some free alternatives (I don't use them, so I can't comment on them)
KernSafe iSCSI initiator, Virtual CD/DVD-RW Emulator, Virtual Encryption Disk and Virtual CD/DVD-ROM Emulator All-in-One free software.
MagicISO - Convert BIN to ISO, Create, Edit, Burn, Extract ISO file, ISO/BIN converter/extractor/editor

Otherwise it still shows the I/O error - so the hard drive is still suspect.

The following info is just FYI, I've already addressed the issues that I saw in the above paragraphs

- Further info on BSOD error messages available at: http://www.carrona.org/bsodindx.html
- Info on how to troubleshoot BSOD's (DRAFT): http://www.carrona.org/userbsod.html
- How I do it: http://www.carrona.org/howidoit.html

3RD PARTY DRIVERS PRESENT IN THE DUMP FILES

Code:

[FONT=lucida console] vsflt53.sys Tue Apr 12 07:31:35 2011 (4DA43817) iaStor.sys Mon Sep 13 21:23:32 2010 (4C8ECE94) amdxata.sys Fri Mar 19 12:18:18 2010 (4BA3A3CA) MpFilter.sys Fri Mar 09 06:05:26 2012 (4F59E3F6) dtsoftbus01.sys Fri Jan 13 08:45:46 2012 (4F10358A) nvhda64v.sys Wed Apr 18 13:07:54 2012 (4F8EF4EA) SASKUTIL64.SYS Tue Jul 12 17:00:01 2011 (4E1CB5D1) SASDIFSV64.SYS Thu Jul 21 19:03:00 2011 (4E28B024) HECIx64.sys Thu Sep 22 12:38:44 2011 (4E7B6494) RTKVHD64.sys Tue Mar 27 05:01:50 2012 (4F7181FE) nvlddmkm.sys Tue May 15 03:35:36 2012 (4FB20748) [/FONT]

http://www.carrona.org/drivers/driver.php?id=vsflt53.sys
http://www.carrona.org/drivers/driver.php?id=iaStor.sys
http://www.carrona.org/drivers/driver.php?id=amdxata.sys
http://www.carrona.org/drivers/driver.php?id=MpFilter.sys
http://www.carrona.org/drivers/driver.php?id=dtsoftbus01.sys
http://www.carrona.org/drivers/driver.php?id=nvhda64v.sys
http://www.carrona.org/drivers/driver.php?id=SASKUTIL64.SYS
http://www.carrona.org/drivers/driver.php?id=SASDIFSV64.SYS
http://www.carrona.org/drivers/driver.php?id=HECIx64.sys
http://www.carrona.org/drivers/driver.php?id=RTKVHD64.sys
http://www.carrona.org/drivers/driver.php?id=nvlddmkm.sys

BSOD BUGCHECK SUMMARY

Code:

[FONT=lucida console] Loading Dump File [C:\Users\FUBAR\_jcgriff2_\dbug\__Kernel__\060212-12542-01.dmp] Built by: 7601.17803.amd64fre.win7sp1_gdr.120330-1504 Debug session time: Sat Jun 2 07:58:45.879 2012 (UTC - 4:00) System Uptime: 0 days 0:43:02.143 BugCheck F4, {3, fffffa800587f060, fffffa800587f340, fffff800035e3510} Probably caused by : wininit.exe PROCESS_NAME: wininit.exe BUGCHECK_STR: 0xF4_IOERR DEFAULT_BUCKET_ID: VISTA_DRIVER_FAULT FAILURE_BUCKET_ID: X64_0xF4_IOERR_IMAGE_wininit.exe Bugcheck code 000000F4 Arguments 00000000`00000003 fffffa80`0587f060 fffffa80`0587f340 fffff800`035e3510 BiosVersion = BLH6710H.86A.0151.2012.0312.1138 BiosReleaseDate = 03/12/2012 CPUID: "Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-2400 CPU @ 3.10GHz" MaxSpeed: 3100 CurrentSpeed: 3093 ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨`` [/FONT]

I am told by a Seagate engineer that bad sector related problems can be solved via Long tests by Seatools in DOS.Then I performed these steps.
1)Hard Disk is tested with seatools by Short DST Test -FAIL.
2)It is again tested with seatools by Long DST Test-FAIL.
Then after that I got a box asking to repair the "blocks" with some numbers.16 errors are found and the error code is EEA29A50
I clicked to repair and it performed a short DST test after repairing and got PASS result.I restarted the system again and performed the same test and got PASS.
I booted to Windows and checked with HDTunes and health status "OK".(Previously it was a "warning")

This time,I set BIOS settings to default such that all components are enabled and again I booted to Seatools in DOS and performed an entire disk erase by writing Zero.After that I installed a fresh copy of Windows 7 and installed all drivers required for motherboard,graphics card etc.The only difference I notice is this time,booting is faster than before.

Till now no problems and if it occurs again,I will report.

Dave76 · Jun 3, 2012

Good work on the hardware diagnostics.

Let us know if you have any other issues.

usasma · Jun 3, 2012

Just FYI - at work we don't ever repair disks.
We have found that most times the bad sectors are a "warning" that the disk is going to fail again soon - so we just replace the hard drive.

If you choose to continue to use the disk (as some people do), be sure to backup your data regularly as there's no telling if/when the hard drive will die on you.

Good luck!

easwar2641993 · Jun 3, 2012

usasma said:
Just FYI - at work we don't ever repair disks.
We have found that most times the bad sectors are a "warning" that the disk is going to fail again soon - so we just replace the hard drive.

If you choose to continue to use the disk (as some people do), be sure to backup your data regularly as there's no telling if/when the hard drive will die on you.

Good luck!

The problem has been identified.

Well,I just can't do my work while expecting for that "unknown" BSOD.So I just wanted to do some more "research" from the hardware point of view.I switched off fans and other things inorder to hear sounds produced by system(I have hearing issues and stupid hearing aids will take all sounds).

1)I heard some grinding like noises from hard drive during boot up and it stopped just after showing welcome screen.
2)Just after shut down I heard a single click sound from hard disk.
3)I felt some vibrations in the hard disk when I took it in my hand.
IMPORTANT OBSERVATION:when I was doing nothing in the system but still hard disk is on my hand,I felt like it's motor suddenly has stopped.And system stopped responding,all icons went away,only wallpaper and finally a beautiful BSOD with code f4.I am happy to identify the cause.

But still I am following you if it is really a hard disk issue or not.Should I RMA it?May be that updating the firmware for no reason made this hard disk to operate like this?then why should they offer to update for better performance.I am not going to update a HDD firmware in my life anymore!

easwar2641993 · Jun 3, 2012

usasma said:
Just FYI - at work we don't ever repair disks.
We have found that most times the bad sectors are a "warning" that the disk is going to fail again soon - so we just replace the hard drive.

If you choose to continue to use the disk (as some people do), be sure to backup your data regularly as there's no telling if/when the hard drive will die on you.

Good luck!

I am totally disagreeing about replacing my hard disk.Since seagate always sends "CERTIFIED REPAIRED HARD DISK" and not a new one.
I am not liking these repaired hdds because once I had a 320gb seagate HDD and it has got some serious issue of not recognizing after 2 years of purchasing.Then I got replacement hard disk which was a "CERITIFIED REPAIRED HDD" and just for testing I tested it with HDTunes and found 2 warnings-Reallocated Sector count and Spin re-try count.But "unfortunately" Seatools found no issues with this HDD and PASSed in all tests.After 1 year of using it,I got the some error due to bad sectors and this time,Seatools found issues and got replaced again.This time too,stupid Seagate sent me "Certified repaired hard disk" and found the same 2 warning in HDTunes and seatools found no issues.

I don't know what should I do?Because even after replacement,we have to use Hard disk but have to expect disk failure since it got 2 warnings in HDTunes.We are in a very tight budget and cannot afford a new hard disk this time.But no choice.

Is this "CERTIFIED REPAIRED HARD DISK" good?Can we safely put important data to it?

usasma · Jun 3, 2012

If you're hearing noises from the hard drive - that's not a good thing.
NEVER rely on your hardware, ALWAYS backup up!

Seagate is a reputable company, but they have standards for what they can/cannot do.

For example, there's one company that I deal with that will not pay us to replace a hard drive unless it fails their diagnostic test. In most cases that isn't a problem - but on occasion we do get different results depending on the test we use. The customer wants to be sure - but the company won't do anything because it passed their test. What is the customer to do at this point?

If money is that tight, then use the hard drive - but be sure you keep an updated backup at all times.
Seagate will fix/repair/replace the hard drive under whatever warranty they offer you - but that's no help if you haven't backed up your stuff.

Good luck!

easwar2641993 · Jun 4, 2012

usasma said:
If you're hearing noises from the hard drive - that's not a good thing.
NEVER rely on your hardware, ALWAYS backup up!

Seagate is a reputable company, but they have standards for what they can/cannot do.

For example, there's one company that I deal with that will not pay us to replace a hard drive unless it fails their diagnostic test. In most cases that isn't a problem - but on occasion we do get different results depending on the test we use. The customer wants to be sure - but the company won't do anything because it passed their test. What is the customer to do at this point?

If money is that tight, then use the hard drive - but be sure you keep an updated backup at all times.
Seagate will fix/repair/replace the hard drive under whatever warranty they offer you - but that's no help if you haven't backed up your stuff.

Good luck!

I have already sent to nearest Seagate unit and waiting for either a "Certified Repaired HDD" or a new HDD if I am lucky.By the way I am using my previous "CERTIFIED REPAIRED HDD" of 320GB Size whose health state is a warning state in HDTunes but passes all tests in both Seatools for DOS and Windows.I think after a lot of searches in internet,that this "CRHDD" is just good as new but there are people who says this is bad but may be their mishandling or unluckiness.
Since only Reallocated Sector count and Spin retry count are in warning state and I learned Reallocated Sector count won't become a problem if it's number is constant.Also S.M.A.R.T of HDD detected that there was a problem before it became a "CRHDD",and it is corrected by Seagate and they just can't or forgot to reset that S.M.A.R.T info.
Till now there is no errors,blue screen,reallocated sector count is only 33 which is still constant.I will report if the same BSOD occurs again and that might be due Motherboard itself or the power chord of HDD which I haven't replaced yet.
Computer is a bit slow but really it is unnoticeable.It might be because of smaller Cache.This 320GB has a 16MB while 1TB had a 64MB cache.

easwar2641993 · Jun 8, 2012

usasma said:
If you're hearing noises from the hard drive - that's not a good thing.
NEVER rely on your hardware, ALWAYS backup up!

Seagate is a reputable company, but they have standards for what they can/cannot do.

For example, there's one company that I deal with that will not pay us to replace a hard drive unless it fails their diagnostic test. In most cases that isn't a problem - but on occasion we do get different results depending on the test we use. The customer wants to be sure - but the company won't do anything because it passed their test. What is the customer to do at this point?

If money is that tight, then use the hard drive - but be sure you keep an updated backup at all times.
Seagate will fix/repair/replace the hard drive under whatever warranty they offer you - but that's no help if you haven't backed up your stuff.

Good luck!

I am using the PC with that "Certified Repaired HDD" 320GB and still I haven't got a replacement drive.May be because the nearest Seagate center is actually a lot farther than the place where I am living.

Besides,the system is running very good and has no errors,no crashes,no BSODs and reallocated sector count is still constant.Also Driver Verifier is enabled for the last 3 days and till now no errors,no crashes even while playing Assassin's Creed and Mass Effect.Also there is no "warning/error events" in event id and I think the system is highly stable now.
My questions
1)Is it good to enable verifier for the lifetime?(Because I have no fps issues with games and all)
2)Driver verifier checks bug in the drivers if it is present right?So since verifier is enabled for the last 3 days and found no bugs in the current drivers.So can I use these drivers for the lifetime provided new games and software are supported in the present version of drivers?(I have enabled verifier for all non-Microsoft drivers and enabled all options excluding low resource simulation)
3)Can I mark this thread as solved only after getting and checking replacement drive or if the thread is not closed for more days then does it violate the rules.(I have read rules but it is not mentioned)

usasma · Jun 8, 2012

NO - DO NOT leave Driver Verifier on. It tests drivers and this will adversely affect the performance of your system over the long run.

NO - things change. A PC is a dynamic thing that is always in need of updates. For example, a poorly designed driver can have a fault that you cannot see now - but a Windows Update may expose this fault at a later date.

As for SOLVED - that's up to you. I'll continue to post back in reply to anything that you may post - regardless if the post is marked SOLVED or not.

easwar2641993 · Jun 25, 2012

usasma said:
NO - DO NOT leave Driver Verifier on. It tests drivers and this will adversely affect the performance of your system over the long run.

NO - things change. A PC is a dynamic thing that is always in need of updates. For example, a poorly designed driver can have a fault that you cannot see now - but a Windows Update may expose this fault at a later date.

As for SOLVED - that's up to you. I'll continue to post back in reply to anything that you may post - regardless if the post is marked SOLVED or not.

I got back the replacement drive and it was so late since the current model was unavailable when my product reached there.Till the product came,I was using another 320GB Ceritified Repaired HDD and ran fine with no issues at all.

The replacement drive is again a Certified Repaired HDD but it passes all the tests including HDTunes.Now I have installed Windows and till now no issues.If any problems occur then I will post them here

usasma · Jun 25, 2012

Thanks for letting us know!

easwar2641993 · Jun 28, 2012

usasma said:
Thanks for letting us know!

Looks like Hard Disk is in good state now.No crashes,bsods.This thread will be marked as solved for NOW.

And thanks a lot for posting your ideas here,Sir John.I have learned some new ideas about BSODs from your posts in recent threads.

Unexpected BSOD (0x000000f4) on a new system

New member

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

New member

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

New member

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Mr. Cranky Pants

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

New member

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Mr. Cranky Pants

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Mr. Cranky Pants

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

New member

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

New member

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Endeavor to Persevere

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Mr. Cranky Pants

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

New member

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

New member

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Mr. Cranky Pants

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

New member

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

New member

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Mr. Cranky Pants

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

New member

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Mr. Cranky Pants

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

New member

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Similar threads

My Computer

My Computer

My Computer

My Computer

My Computer

My Computer

My Computer

My Computer

My Computer

My Computer

My Computer

My Computer

My Computer

My Computer

My Computer

My Computer

My Computer

My Computer

My Computer

My Computer