BleepingComputer.com: possible bad sector on hard drive?

possible bad sector on hard drive causing the hiccup.

I have been referred to this forum for remaining issues of programs, hanging or not responding when I click around.

I was being helped in the virus forum by bleepin curls, who was absolutely awesome!
the thread is here
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/topic412268.html/page__st__105__gopid__2380143#entry2380143

Please don't make us read through some other thread. Just tell us what your problem is. Thanks.

Sorry the other person helping me told me to refer to that thread.
I did post the problem Im having as well.
"issues of programs/browsers 'hanging' or 'not responding' when I click around. "
I will occassionlly get the blue circle cursor when a program or browser says not responding and it hangs or pauses

This post has been edited by sweb: 21 August 2011 - 01:35 PM

FWIW: The MRL personnel suggest that...so that members will know that you have made a trip to a malware forum here at BC and members won't suggest such again as a possible solution to system problem.

The procedures and information revealed in a malware forum...generally won't summarize any system issues after the malware suspicion/actuality has been neutralized...just as any info from this forum would not necessarily be very useful to someone assisting you in one of our malware forums.

Different animals, different questions/techniques for resolving the problem, as stated/perceived .

Bad sectors...are not necessarily problematical...but I'm curious as to why you make it so prominent in your title?

Bad Sectors on Hard Disk - http://www.datarecovery.com.sg/data_recovery/bad_sector_on_hard_disk.htm

Bad Sectors On Hard Drives - http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=1583&page=3

Louis

only because thats what the other person suggested.

Please download BlueScreenView (in zip file)
Extract the contents of bluescreenview.zip and then double-click on the BlueScreenView.exe file, and click on Run, to run the program. (No installation is required.)
When scanning is done (please be patient), go ...

• Edit > Select All
  
• File > Save Selected Items, and save the report to your Desktop as BSOD.txt.

Close the BlueScreenView window.
Open BSOD.txt using Notepad and go ...

• Edit > Select All
  
• Edit > Copy, and then paste the entire contents of the text file into your next reply.

I downloaded that program but when I open BlueScreenView.exe file I dont see a 'Run' option.

Hmmm .... you are running Vista: I wonder whether you need to right-click on BlueScreenView.exe and choose to "Run as Administrator"?

You did extract the contents of the zip file properly, I assume?

What happens? Does Bluescreenview run and the interface open? There is a chance that the system is not saving the minidumps, and that there is nothing for Bluescreenview to find.

Edit to add: the "Run" dialog box


and the Bluescreenview interface, when no minidumps are present.

This post has been edited by AustrAlien: 22 August 2011 - 02:20 AM

Yes thats what it looks like, your second img. I attached a screenshot.
I did Run as Administrator as well

It seems there are no minidumps available for BlueScreenView to find.

Please disable "automatic restart on system failure".

"Automatic restart" can be disabled from within Windows:

Disable Automatic Restart .... VISTA

When the system fails it will not re-start: Instead, you will see a BSOD (blue screen of death) with error message, such as the example shown below.

• Record the error message details, which will be contained in the areas indicated within the red lines in the above image.
  
  Please post the error details in your next reply, when it happens.

You may need to press and hold for 5 seconds, the ON/OFF button, to switch off your computer.


Please Publish a Snapshot using Speccy, and post a link to it in this thread.

This is a convenient and accurate way of providing us with details of your computer specifications. I want to find the brand of hard drive being used so that I can provide instructions for you to test the hard drive for possible problems. I note that in your previous thread you reported the STOP 0x77 error, which is probably what prompted CatByte to suggest possible bad sectors.

This post has been edited by AustrAlien: 22 August 2011 - 04:29 PM

Ok I followed your instructions. Here is the link to the snapshot
http://speccy.piriform.com/results/Po0rPbxyMZqKWFijqAr6gjQ

I also did this >
You may need to press and hold for 5 seconds, the ON/OFF button, to switch off your computer.
However I did not get a blue screen..

I wanted to add that when we initially bought this laptop, there was a hard drive failure in the 1st month and dell sent us another hard drive that we had to install on our own

This post has been edited by sweb: 24 August 2011 - 12:31 PM

From the Speccy report:

Quote

Toshiba do not provide a diagnostic utility, so I suggest using the diagnostic utility from either Hitachi or Seagate. I will provide instructions for using Seagate's SeaTools for DOS, to be run from a bootable CD.

Please download SeaTools for DOS (CD) from Seagate's SeaTools for DOS web page

or use the following direct download link to download the latest version of SeaTools for DOS:
Download SeaTools for DOS ISO Image

The downloaded file name is SeaToolsDOS223ALL.ISO

Burn the downloaded .ISO image to a CD using the appropriate burning software.

If you do not already have a suitable burning program for writing .ISO images to disc ...

• Download and install ImgBurn.
  Ensure that you UN-check the box agreeing to install the Ask toolbar during the installation.
  
• Place a new (blank) CD disc in the drive tray.
  
• Choose Write image file to disc.
  
  • Under Source, click on the Browse button: Navigate to and select the .ISO file that you wish to burn.
    
  • Place a check-mark in the box beside Verify.
  
  
• Click
  
  When the CD has been burned and verified as successful, it will be bootable.

Boot from the CD.

(You may need to access the BIOS Setup Menu or the Boot Menu and change the boot order to enable booting from CD before hard drive.)


• From Basic tests on the Main Menu, run the Short test and then the Long test.
  
  (The long test will take some considerable time to complete.)
  The results will be shown as either a PASS or FAIL.
  There is a chance that during the Long test, you may be offered the opportunity to attempt repairs on the hard drive:
  
  • If so, go ahead and attempt to do so, but ONLY after backing up all important personal files.

Note: You may wish to view the following ...

• Learn more about SeaTools for DOS. (view a 24 page pdf document)
  
• See the tutorial on the usage of SeaTools for DOS.

Please let us know the results of the tests.

Edit to add note:
You said: "I also did this >
You may need to press and hold for 5 seconds, the ON/OFF button, to switch off your computer."
It was not my intention for you to do the above: Only after you have encountered a BSOD, and have recorded the error message, would you need to do that to turn off the computer.

This post has been edited by AustrAlien: 24 August 2011 - 06:48 PM

Ok I will have to see if I can burn a cd.


Am I leaving this disabled?
"Please disable "automatic restart on system failure".

"Automatic restart" can be disabled from within Windows:
Disable Automatic Restart .... VISTA

sweb, on 25 August 2011 - 11:36 AM, said:

Yes, leave that disabled. If/When your system crashes again, it will not restart, and you will be able to see and record the details of the BSOD error message.

i recently ran the superantispyware and it found 300 threats.
should i run something else?