Six month computer not working

[HoBo]

Hello everyone, I have been having trouble with my computer for a while now and I could really use some help from experienced Windows 7 users. This is the first computer I have ever built and I have put alot of money and time into it.

The problem: The computer was working for a long time until about two months ago when I left it off for about three days. After three days, I came to turn it on and the windows screen came on and just froze there. I then tried a start up repair and that could not find the problem, so I restarted it and it ran a check disk and to my surprise it started to say that all my files were either corrupt or unreadable. Next, I reformatted it and installed the OS again and it worked for a few weeks, then I had the same problem. So I have had to keep reformatting the hard drive everytime ive had the problem and now after a fresh reformat I started updating and installing my products like Xfire and Norton. Now everytime I log on, the computer slows and freezes up with hardly and programs running on startup, Norton.

My dad has tried to help me, but he really only knows more about Windows XP and older versions.

My Computer Specs:
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit OEM
Motherboard: ASUS M4A78T-E
Processor:AMD Phenom(tm) II X4 955 Processor (4 CPUs), 3.2GHz
Memory: OCZ 4 Gigs Ram
Hard Drive:320GB Western Digital Caviar Blue
Graphics Card: XFX ATI RADEON HD 5770

 

[karlsnooks]

Hobo,
Welcome to SevenForums.

When you say you reformat, what are you reformatting?

Until the problem source is located, 100% remove Norton and use Microsoft Security Essentials which is fast, non-interfering, very good, free and used by the majority of the people answering questions here.

After we locate the problem, then you can reinstall Norton and see if all works well.
http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/

 

[karlsnooks]

Hobo,

Definitely of assistance to us will be more info in your System Specs.

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HOW TO FILL OUT YOUR SYSTEM SPECS

In the line at the top of www.SevenForums.com you will see UserCP.
That is an abbreviation for User Control Panel.
Click on UserCP.
In the left-hand column, under Your Profile you will see Edit System Spec.
Click on Edit System Spec
You can copy and paste from the output of Speccy, Speccy - System Information - Free Download to fill out much of the info. Be sure to use the Other Info section of your System Specs for such info as your optical drive, your wireless adapter, your speakers, etc.

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[HoBo]

Thank you for the reply Karl, when I say reformatting I mean i have to take my hard drive, put it into my other computer and wipe it completely to do a fresh install of my operating system.

 

[karlsnooks]

Thank you for the reply Karl, when I say reformatting I mean i have to take my hard drive, put it into my other computer and wipe it completely to do a fresh install of my operating system.

Ok. Let me recommend using the approach in the following tutorial. That Clean All step is essential for guaranteeing that your disk is truly clean.
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/91339-ssd-hdd-optimize-windows-reinstallation.html

 

[HoBo]

Sorry about the long wait Karl, but I followed the tutorial and Windows started working again. However, im starting to get a new problem, i started my computer when I returned from school and startup repair came up so I did the system restore and it started to work.

I shutdown the computer, went to bed, went to school, and when I turned it on it stops on the Starting Windows screen and then I restart and have to run the start up repair.

Im not sure if it could be a bad hard drive (its as old as the computer), or the copy of Windows which is an OEM version. Im also not sure if its because I cange the power save options so my computer doesn't go into sleep mode.

 

[karlsnooks]

Hobo,
Glad to hear that one problem is solved.

To get the widest range of answers to your new problem, I suggest you start a brand new thread addressing your present problem.

Thanks for getting back with the results for fixing the old problem.

 

[CarlTR6]

Hobo, have you run Check Disk on that hard drive?

Run CHKDSK /R /F from an elevated (Run as adminstrator) Command Prompt. Please do this for each hard drive on your system.
When it tells you it can't do it right now - and asks you if you'd like to do it at the next reboot - answer Y (for Yes) and press Enter. Then reboot and let the test run. It may take a while for it to run, but keep an occasional eye on it to see if it generates any errors. See "CHKDSK LogFile" below in order to check the results of the test.

Elevated Command Prompt:
Go to Start and type in "cmd.exe" (without the quotes)
At the top of the Search Box, right click on Cmd.exe and select "Run as administrator"

CHKDSK LogFile:
Go to Start and type in "eventvwr.msc" (without the quotes) and press Enter
Expand the Windows logs heading, then select the Application log file entry.
Double click on the Source column header.
Scroll down the list until you find the Chkdsk entry (wininit for Windows 7)

 

[karlsnooks]

VIEW CHKDSK (CHECK DISK) LOG

The log giving the results from running Check Disk can be viewed using the Event Viewer.

WIN key | type EVENTVWR.MSC | ENTER key

Wait for the Summary of Administrative Events section in the middle pane to be populated.

In the left-pane, navigate to Windows Logs | Application

In the middle-pane, click on the word Source.
This will sort the events by Source

Scroll to find the event(s) titled WinInit and with the Event ID 1001.

Under the General tab, there is a scrollable display of the output from CHECK DISK.

You can click in that scrollable area, select all of the text with Ctrl + A and then paste your selection into NotePad, WordPad, Word or the editor of your choice.

A “copy” giving event info, time, and so forth can also be made by:
In the right-hand pane, in the Event 1001, wininit section, click on Copy, then on Copy Details as Text. Now you can paste into your favorite editor.

 

[kodi]

Have you got another hard drive you can try?