Halo 1 & 2 for PC
This topic has moved here: Subject: should I be worried?
  • Subject: should I be worried?
Subject: should I be worried?
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so far, i'm up to the third time i've had to wipe my hardrive and restart my system thihs month alone. should i be worried in case my computer does something, such as... exploding?
seriously though. should i be worried, or just assume that something went wrong the other times and hope it works well this one.
if there is something to fear, what is it?

  • 05.03.2005 6:09 PM PDT
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why have you had to do that?

  • 05.03.2005 8:20 PM PDT
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Well, first why did you wipe it clean?

If it was simply getting slow, it's probably spyware. You really need a few anti-spyware apps these days. Spybot Search and Destroy is great as it can prevent and monitor problems, while CrapCleaner can wipe out cookies and such. Adaware catches all the other odds and ends.

Otherwise, if you pc seems to act odd and freak out - your hard drive may have some bad sectors. Search google for a program to check that. you will probably need to made a bootable floppy and run it. I haven't ever had to do that.

RAM - if it doesn't seem to get much better after wiping it, it could be a few bad bits on the RAM. How old is the RAM, and what was its quality. Low quality RAM can build up bad byte-sectors fast. My old pc has 1MB of corrupted RAM on a 512 stick, makes it go crazy every once and a while.

  • 05.03.2005 8:44 PM PDT
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nah - sounds like HD errors to me - you're probably getting upto your MTBF, which is basically your HD life expectancy (I won't bore you with how the statistics are calculated, but I know what I'm talking about here, and it deals with Poisson Distributions). You should look into replacing your Hard Drive - very soon. That is, unless you enjoy reformatting....

  • 05.03.2005 8:56 PM PDT
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it's an 80 gig WD drive. i have a spare 20 gig, which i use as a backup.
what happens? IDK, my computer just starts acting weird. for example, it takes about 30 mins to boot up from the win XP welcome screen. it's not spyware though. i check my computer often using spybot S&D as well as ad-aware. eveything's up to date. also, i ran virus scans using norton antivirus (2005). nothing.

  • 05.04.2005 4:57 AM PDT
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Might be a bad sector or the chip/board on it is getting fried. Do you have a fan that runs air over it during use?

  • 05.04.2005 6:44 AM PDT
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i only have the crap "passive" fan that came with my computer back when it was a dell.

  • 05.04.2005 6:47 AM PDT
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If it's taking so long to start up, I would suggest having a look at the RAM. I had a similar problem not so long ago and it did indeed turn out to be the RAM.

Do you have any spare that you can experiment with, or do you just have a single stick? If you have two on your Mobo, try messing about with them. Take one out and see if there's any improvement, if not, place it back in and remove the other.

Failing that, I would then consider the HD.

  • 05.04.2005 7:29 AM PDT
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good point.

  • 05.04.2005 9:51 AM PDT
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First off, what was your problem that forced you to wipe your hard drive?

Here are some things to keep your comp in shape.

when you format the hard drive, do you choose the quick format option or the full format option? From now on, choose the full format. This option automatically detects the bad sectors and tells the system to not use those sectors. No need for another program from the net.

Spyware might be causing a problem. Microsoft Antispyware is looking good as an antispyware program.

Try gettting updates for your motherboard BIOS, which is usually from your computer manufacturers website. Update other things such as video card drivers, other drivers, other software, OS, etc. this seems like a tedious task, but it can sometimes be as easy as a few downloads and reboots.

If your comp is an old junker, TIME TO UPGRADE!!!

  • 05.04.2005 3:49 PM PDT
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Posted by: Mr MA5B
First off, what was your problem that forced you to wipe your hard drive?

Here are some things to keep your comp in shape.

when you format the hard drive, do you choose the quick format option or the full format option? From now on, choose the full format. This option automatically detects the bad sectors and tells the system to not use those sectors. No need for another program from the net.

nope, I always do the full format. time is not an issue with me.


Spyware might be causing a problem. Microsoft Antispyware is looking good as an antispyware program.

as i said, i rutenly check for spyware with more than one exelent program, but i'll look into the MS program

Try gettting updates for your motherboard BIOS, which is usually from your computer manufacturers website. Update other things such as video card drivers, other drivers, other software, OS, etc. this seems like a tedious task, but it can sometimes be as easy as a few downloads and reboots.

i have the latest bios and drivers for everything.

If your comp is an old junker, TIME TO UPGRADE!!!
it was, then i got a new harddrive, motherbord, processor, ram, oh hell, i've replaced the whole goddamn thing

  • 05.04.2005 5:13 PM PDT