A conundrum on XP Pro retail

  • Thread starter Thread starter deebs
  • Start date Start date
D

deebs

System:
AMD 4800+
3 Gig RAM
4 Seagate 250 Gig platters

Problems:
Profound.

Maybe using beta software introduced instabilities and a recent new
floor required taking the home network to pieces. The laptop and Mac
Pro work very well but the Freecom Storage Gateway will not allow access
to the internet and the PC went flaky. Very, very flaky typified by
powering down unexpectedly in the midst of things.
Safe mode gets to the Mup.sys hang (yes, I know that seems bad enough).
ESET nod32 has gone into incredible sulks.

My usual routine in the past was to confuse the PC by removing some
platters and reinstalling the OS but it won't let me do that this time.

A heck of a lot of personal data and quite a few activation based
applications are in limbo.

Should I just scrap the PC or is there some redeemable approach?

The power downs are frequent and predictably unpredictable. For
instance the PC will power down while editing or attempting to edit the
BIOS.

Does it sound like Vista is the best answer?

On the other hand I hear that Vista is not too happy with SMB.

(It's a good job I have the Mac Pro yes?)
 
And Event Viewer offers no clues?

What does "and reinstalling the OS but it won't let me do that this time"
mean exactly?
 
deebs said:
System:
AMD 4800+
3 Gig RAM
4 Seagate 250 Gig platters

Problems:
Profound.

Maybe using beta software introduced instabilities and a recent new floor
required taking the home network to pieces. The laptop and Mac Pro work
very well but the Freecom Storage Gateway will not allow access to the
internet and the PC went flaky. Very, very flaky typified by powering
down unexpectedly in the midst of things.
Click to expand...

Sudden and abrupt power-downs without an immediate and automatic attempted
restart indicate serious hardware problems.

Unfortunately, it's difficult to diagnose these inexpensively because, aside
from re-seating components and connectors, you have to swap in other
hardware - power supply, memory, CPU, motherboard. It can be *any* of
these components.
Safe mode gets to the Mup.sys hang (yes, I know that seems bad enough).
ESET nod32 has gone into incredible sulks.

My usual routine in the past was to confuse the PC by removing some
platters and reinstalling the OS but it won't let me do that this time.
Click to expand...

If there are memory problems, these will often not allow an install to
complete. You'll get "cannot copy file" errors that really mean that the
file was corrupted in memory and the copy failed for that reason - not that
the disks are damaged.

You need to address the problems indicated by the shutdowns.
A heck of a lot of personal data and quite a few activation based
applications are in limbo.
Click to expand...

Set the drive aside and use another one while you are sorting out the rest
of the hardware issues. If you need to replace the rest of the system,
save the drive and use it as the base of the new one; you will need to do a
repair install to maintain the installed apps.

Otherwise, most vendors *are* aware that systems fail and allow for
reinstallation.

For maximum safety, clone that drive to another and work with the clone, to
protect the original data copy.
Should I just scrap the PC or is there some redeemable approach?
Click to expand...

You should proceed carefully because diagnosing the problem, let alone
fixing it, can be expensive.
The power downs are frequent and predictably unpredictable. For instance
the PC will power down while editing or attempting to edit the BIOS.
Click to expand...

Clearly then this is not an OS or disk issue, since the BIOS program uses
neither.
Does it sound like Vista is the best answer?
Click to expand...

No. It sounds like there are hardware issues that no OS will or *can*
address.

You have to fix or replace the damaged hardware.
On the other hand I hear that Vista is not too happy with SMB.

(It's a good job I have the Mac Pro yes?)
Click to expand...

If you can do your work on the Mac, then yes it's good you have another
system.

However, the Mac OS is no more reliable than anything else when run on
failing or damaged hardware.

HTH
-pk
 
Excellent reply if I may so so Patrick!

Yup, software has to sit on hardware otherwise it is merely an
abstraction with no way to make things work.

Introduce dodgy hardware and...

I think I may have been in a bit of pain when I posted - I suspect mobo
and will see what my local vendors can do.


DL:
in the past it was easy to juggle platters (OS and programs on one,
personal data on the other three) to install the OS to a relatively
sparsely populated drive.
 
Next strategy:

SATA external drive to access/edit stuff from the Mac Pro.

Once saved I'll ask a vendor to supply new kit as most of the stuff
should be covered by warranties of one form or another.

I think new kit and fresh installs is probably better and more secure
than seeking a repair. Would that be a better way to do things?
 
deebs said:
Next strategy:

SATA external drive to access/edit stuff from the Mac Pro.

Once saved I'll ask a vendor to supply new kit as most of the stuff should
be covered by warranties of one form or another.

I think new kit and fresh installs is probably better and more secure than
seeking a repair. Would that be a better way to do things?
Click to expand...

The problem is that without spending the money on the parts it's very
difficult to tell which - or how many - are damaged.

The more you use the original disk on that hardware the greater the chances
of data corruption.

Sometimes it is better to walk away, but it's something you have to decide.

It's easy to set up the drive in an external case or connector to get the
data off it. Using it otherwise before you are sure all the data is safe
can make things worse.

HTH
-pk
 
Maplins to the rescue!

Magic Bridge II seems to be doing the job nicely and I think user data
on one platter with OS and programs on another may have made it a good
bit easier.

Help in need really is help indeed in deed.
 
Update 2:

1 - took the hard drives out

2 - started knoppix and all runs well.

Interim conclusion?
It looks as if the fault is on the removed platters (woo-hoo!)

(knoppix did not install yesterday - too many power downs)
 
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