BleepingComputer.com: Intermittent freezing persists after fresh re-instllation

Hello all,

I'm having some trouble finding the source of very strange freezing issues in windows 7.
Until about a week ago I had no issues with windows 7, and have been using it for several months.
Then my PC began randomly freezing for approx. a minute every now and then. I could still move the mouse, but the interface would not respond to any clicks.
Sometimes as soon as the interface came back, Windows Explorer would crash, and restart itself.
Event viewer kept showing errors about WLAN AutoConfig not being a valid win32 application. As well as the HD being corrupt, telling me to run chkdsk.
Iwent ahead and ran chkdsk, and after rebooting I got an error about BCD being missing.
I did a fresh re-install of Win7 yesterday, but the problem did not go away, so I thought my HD or RAM may have gone bad.
I ran a chkdsk again and HD Tune error check, and both came up with no errors - and SMART status is "Healthy". I then ran memtest+ on the RAM - no errors either.

When I was using the PC today, it froze for slightly longer than usual, came up with a BSOD about afd.sys and rebooted to the following error:
BOOTMGR is missing.
I've ran the Start-up repair on the disc, which did not fix the issue. Then i ran the following commands:
bootsect.exe /nt60 all
bootrec /fixboot

And neither of those helped either. I've completely cleaned the PC of dust and even re-applied thermal compound on my CPU to make sure it wasn't a heat issue.
I will now attempt to do another re-installation of win7 since I have ran out of ideas on fixing this issue.
If anyone has any ideas on what the source of this intermittent freezing could be, please let me know =]
Thanks.
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Some specs:
Intel Core2Duo 6400 2.4GHz
4x 512MB DDR2-667 RAM
WD 320GB Sata2
Geforce 8800gt 512Mb
Alfa AWUS050NH USB WiFi

Where did Win 7 DVD come from?

Run hard drive diagnostics: http://www.tacktech.com/display.cfm?ttid=287 (or http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/topic28744.html)
Make sure, you select tool, which is appropriate for the brand of your hard drive.
Depending on the program, it'll create bootable floppy, or bootable CD.
If downloaded file is of .iso type, use ImgBurn: http://www.imgburn.com/ to burn .iso file to a CD (select "Write image file to disc" option), and make the CD bootable.

NOTE. If your hard drive is made by Toshiba, unfortunately, you're out of luck, because Toshiba doesn't provide any diagnostic tool.

Additional Information:

I was just in the middle of the re-installation, and during the first reboot I got this message: "A disk read error has occured"
thought I might try connecting the hard drive to a different sata connector.. and to my surprise it booted and the installation continued.
Then during the second reboot, chkdsk came upand started scanning the HD, and had found and fixed errors.
The setup did complete.. and now I'm waiting to see if the problem still persists (which I have a feeling it will)

Any suggestions on some software that can diagnose a bad HD?
HD Tune shows no errors :/

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EDIT
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I posted without seeing there was a reply..sry.

Win7 DVD came from retail store.
Thanks for the links, I'll run the diagnostics today if I get a chance.
The HD is a Western Digital 320GB Sata II

OK .....it looks like possible HD issue.

Just recieved errors in event viewer about the HD controller :/
"The driver detected a controller error on \Device\Harddisk5\DR5."
Do sata cables go bad often? I hope I don't have to replace the entire motherboard...
--
Downloading the HD diagnostics at the moment.

Quote

Happens. I don't know how to comment on "often"

I've heard about sata cables causing trouble; not a lot but I know it does happen. Someone fixed a list of erratic problems on a forum I use (can't remember which one right now), just in the past week. He had to replace a cable.

RknRusty, on Mar 14 2010, 08:40 PM, said:

I see.. I'll swap the HD into different sata ports, using different cables to see if any errors occur.

The re-install I did yesterday was actually using the eSata port and cable, which gave the "disk read error" today.
I switched over to an internal sata cable and port for the diagnostic (Western Digital Data Lifeguard for DOS).

The extended (full media scan) test just completed.. with errors

"Errors Found - The Drive has been repaired.
Error/status code: 0223"

Going to attempt a fresh install once again.
BTW, anyone know what type or errors it could be referring to? Bad sectors possibly?
I don't understand why HD-Tune showed no errors, and neither did the SMART status O.o

The only test, which is 100% reliable is a manufacturer test.

WD code sounds promising: http://support.wdc.com/techinfo/general/errorcodes.asp

Quote

Id replace the drive as they are cheaper.

:/ Fresh Win7 installation finished, I plugged in all my other HD's (2 SATA, 1 USB), one ~30sec freeze occurred, thought i might update my bios just in case..
Bios updated OK, rebooted.. error "BOOTMGR is missing."

Quick question, since SATA does not use jumpers, how does it figure which HD has the OS on it?
Maybe after I plugged in the other HD's it could no longer find the OS HD?
When I pressed F12 during boot to select a boot source, and chose the WD 320GB, it booted up O.o

cryptodan, on Mar 15 2010, 04:44 PM, said:

Might have to.. but I want to be 100% sure it's defective first.
The Diagnostics utility supposedly "fixed" the errors, but the problem persists

guman0v, on Mar 15 2010, 10:16 PM, said:

Then its not fixed. Replace the drive.

cryptodan is right. Unfortunately, a hard drive, which develops errors will always have tendency to do it again. Even fixed it'll never be 100% reliable drive.

I should also mention that I have also done the extensive test one of my other HD's, which came up with the same result (Code 0223 Errors repaired).

I've done some trial and error setups to see what would allow windows to boot and what wouldn't.
The results are very strange. Here are some examples of my tests:

Note: I have a total of 3 Sata HD's - WD 1TB, Samsung 1TB, and WD 320GB(OS)

-All 3 connected
BOOTMGR is missing
WD 1TB Not detected by BIOS

-WD 1TB disconnected
Windows boots ok

-All 3 connected, switched cables of the 320GB and the WD 1TB
Windows boot ok

-All 3 connected, randomly swapped power cables as well as sata cables
WD 320GB will not power up

-All 3 connected, disconnected IDE DVD burner
Windows boots ok

Seeing as how I get varied results with different sata cables and power cables, could it be the power supply or motherboard?
Going to get my digital multimeter out..

Have you experienced any power issues?