Computer help - non-music/recording problem!

I have a similar issue with my office PC. Used to be my main recording one I built that had the dual HDD failures.

Over the last year it will randomly crash (blue screen) for no reason. Windows repair locks up. After a couple tries it will eventually boot and be fine for weeks or months, then act up again.

I did clone the HDD OS drive to a SSD and it still has the same issues. The scan that Pinky suggested shows there is nothing wrong with the drive. Not surprising as it is only 3 months old. I can only assume it is a OS issue or something else is failing. Maybe as simple as missing Windows files? I really don't have a clue. Firefox crashes at least 3 times a week. The PC only once a month or so.

On this build I used a W7 OEM disc that I can't find. I was actually surprised that I didn't have an issue placing it on a new SSD. It is only my laziness that hasn't brought it to my favorite computer techs to find the problem. It not my recording PC so not something I need to have fixed immediately.

That will happen here shortly as my studio will be torn down for rebuild next week.
 
Locked up this morning when I left Firefox running for 45 minutes or so while I went out to the store. No issue since. The corrupt files all seem to be Windows O/S-associated. Unfortunately (as is always the case these days wiht new computers), it didn't come with any Win discs. The backup is all on the partitioned hard drive (typical HP set up). Around here a basic 'lookie' (no guarantee of fix) is $80 or more, I don't have any computer geek friends to do it for free.
From Jimmy's comments, cloning onto a new HD probably would not fix anything at all, I'd just be copying the corrupt stuff over. Obviously I'm trying to avoid Win 10.
 
mjbphotos said:
Locked up this morning when I left Firefox running for 45 minutes or so while I went out to the store. No issue since. The corrupt files all seem to be Windows O/S-associated. Unfortunately (as is always the case these days wiht new computers), it didn't come with any Win discs. The backup is all on the partitioned hard drive (typical HP set up). Around here a basic 'lookie' (no guarantee of fix) is $80 or more, I don't have any computer geek friends to do it for free.
From Jimmy's comments, cloning onto a new HD probably would not fix anything at all, I'd just be copying the corrupt stuff over. Obviously I'm trying to avoid Win 10.
Click to expand...

Does HP have any onboard diagnostics? It sounds like you're using the preloaded windows and they usually have a recovery and/or diagnostics partition.

If you know the manufacturer of your hard drive, most of them have their own diagnostic software for Windows that you can download from their website. I believe the Seagate tools will at least do basic SMART and other tests even on non-Seagate drives, so you could always start with that. As we've been saying, you may just be dealing with symptoms of a much larger, more fatal issue. You need to know for certain the hard drive is NOT dying.

http://www.seagate.com/support/downloads/item/seatools-win-master/
 
Pinky said:
You need to know for certain the hard drive is NOT dying.
Click to expand...

100%.

I don't completely agree with #23.
If you've managed to repair damaged files and things are running well, a clone isn't a bad option.
The better, safer, option is assuming (or proving) drive failure early symptoms and getting a new hard drive.
There's some reason you had a bunch of corrupt files!

The third option (which shouldn't be an option) is saying job done - thanks fellas. ;)
 
Bit simplistic but. Have the covers off and whist the PC is running gently push and pull at every cable and connector. My living room PC was prone to stoppages and it turned out to be a dodgy SATA to Molex adaptor.

Dave.
 
Clone the drive including the operating system

mjbphotos said:
I know there are some folks here considerably more ept (as opposed to me be inept) about computers. All signs are that my HD (1Tb, currently about 620Gb filled) is failing - browsers (any of them) lock up with no warning, usually all I can do is a cold reboot to fix things. Ran checkdisk a couple of times, it found a couple of bad indexes the first time. Running Win 7.

So, before I lose everything ... will back up the few new photo folders and recording folders I haven't backed up recently.
I have 3 USB drives including a powered LaCie with backup software.
How do I (exact step-by-step) do an 'image file' of my hard drive (onto a USB drive, obviously) and then copy it to a new hard drive? Could I use an external SS drive for this, so I wouldn't have to pull the old hard drive, or is that not an option? If there is a website that gives step-by-step on this, please point me to it. Everything I search out when looking to debug the problems seems to be aimed at IT pros. I'd like to be able to just swap hard drives and continue my usual work, rather than have to start again and download software, drivers etc.
Click to expand...

Go to XXCLONE, A New Way of Cloning the Windows System Disk. Free software that will allow you to make an exact copy of your current drive. The destination drive must be as big or bigger as
your current drive. I've used it 6 or 7 times when I've purchased larger drives. You don't have to reinstall the operating system or any programs you are using.
Check it out!
 
If you finally choose to get a new drive, cloning will save you from having to reload and re-register all your programs. But as you said, you might be carrying the problem over to the new drive. If you choose to clone, I have used DriveImage XML for many years and it works well.

CCleaner is great I use it almost everyday at my day job.

You might have some memory problems. Random errors and crashes. Either the hard drive or the RAM. I hate problems like this.

To trouble shoot the RAM, pull all the memory sticks and place them back in one at a time testing the computer for a while after each stick you add. If you have only one RAM stick, then buy another one and use it to test.
 
MISteve said:
Go to XXCLONE, A New Way of Cloning the Windows System Disk. Free software that will allow you to make an exact copy of your current drive. The destination drive must be as big or bigger as
your current drive. I've used it 6 or 7 times when I've purchased larger drives. You don't have to reinstall the operating system or any programs you are using.
Check it out!
Click to expand...

Steve, when you say the destination drive must be "as big or bigger" does that mean raw Gbytes or the used space?

I would like you see to clone a 1TB drive which only has about 150G of data on it to an SSD but obviously, 1TB SSDs are still arms and legs.

Dave.
 
I did that when I bought my first SSD for my O/S, but it wasn't a straight forward process. I went from a 1TB spinning drive to a 90GB SSD with room to spare. I had to shrink the volume then resize the partition, maybe(?); can't exactly remember. There were unmovable files that prevented the volume from shrinking enough. I found a way around it but, again, can't remember what I did. Eventually, I got the volume small enough to fit on the SSD and I was able to clone it and not lose all the registry settings.
:thumbs up:
 
IMO the smart move is backup everything important, format, re-install. Depending what happens after that will eliminate so many questions and narrow the problem almost 100%.
 
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