G
GL
Here is a problem I find very intriguing and extremely frustrating on an
Acer Aspire 1692 laptop running XP. I apologize if the description is
long, but believe me, its just a summary.
I began receiving BSOD errors a few weeks ago on my laptop (0x000000F4
(...)). Because it only happened a couple of times and because my
computer was still able to reboot perform a chkdsk and start Windows
properly, I didn't pay a lot of attention to them. Later, I boot my
computer and it simply couldn't make it passed the Windows splash
screen. It would freeze right before the logon screen. Also, it wouldn't
make it into safe mode. I did all the troubleshooting I could think of,
from a chkdsk to all the disk checking tools you can find on UBCD4Win,
to memtest, viruses, adware, searching google with the BSOD error codes,
etc. I tried a system restore from the f8 screen and a complete repair
of my Windows installation without success. It simply wouldn't go passed
the XP splash screen. Once in a while, it would boot and the bios
wouldn't find the hard drive at all (OS not found). So I suspected my
hard drive was bad even though the diagnostic tests were telling me
otherwise, or some system files were corrupt.
So, I got tired of trying and bought a new hard drive and used the Acer
recovery cds to get a completely new installation on a fresh drive. Here
is were it gets interesting... after a few days of the new system
functioning properly, I got some BSOD again (0x000000F4 (...)), and once
in a while the bios wouldn't see the hard drive at all. Sometimes,
Windows would tell me that the delayed writing to the disk had failed
(e.g. "delayed writing has failed writing c:/$mft) before I got a BSOD.
Other times, the system woudl work perfectly for several hours. So I
flashed a new bios, fixed the Acer lunchapp.ocx bug, tried scanning for
viruses with the latest updates, uninstalled Norton, did some more
chkdsk (with /f /r), some more memtest... with no success. So if
everything stayed like that, I would have to conclude that some
intermittent hardware problem, for example cables, is the source of all
this grief.
Here is where it gets esoteric. Before I installed the new hard drive, I
put my old hard drive in an external enclosure and copied all the files
on it to a spare and empty hard drive on a desktop. By the way, my old
hard drive was working fine in an enclosure. I did not open or execute
any file on the desktop. A few days later on that desktop (while it was
idle), I see an error message "delayed writing has failed writing
f:/$mft ..." f: is the drive on which I copied my old hard drive! I
reboot the desktop and the BIOS couldn't find the drive! Exactly the
same symptoms as on my laptop...!????
Either this last part is an amazing coincidence, or there is a
software/hardware interaction I do not understand, or Sigmund Freud is
making fun of me...
Please help me before I start believing in aliens!
Guillaume
Acer Aspire 1692 laptop running XP. I apologize if the description is
long, but believe me, its just a summary.
I began receiving BSOD errors a few weeks ago on my laptop (0x000000F4
(...)). Because it only happened a couple of times and because my
computer was still able to reboot perform a chkdsk and start Windows
properly, I didn't pay a lot of attention to them. Later, I boot my
computer and it simply couldn't make it passed the Windows splash
screen. It would freeze right before the logon screen. Also, it wouldn't
make it into safe mode. I did all the troubleshooting I could think of,
from a chkdsk to all the disk checking tools you can find on UBCD4Win,
to memtest, viruses, adware, searching google with the BSOD error codes,
etc. I tried a system restore from the f8 screen and a complete repair
of my Windows installation without success. It simply wouldn't go passed
the XP splash screen. Once in a while, it would boot and the bios
wouldn't find the hard drive at all (OS not found). So I suspected my
hard drive was bad even though the diagnostic tests were telling me
otherwise, or some system files were corrupt.
So, I got tired of trying and bought a new hard drive and used the Acer
recovery cds to get a completely new installation on a fresh drive. Here
is were it gets interesting... after a few days of the new system
functioning properly, I got some BSOD again (0x000000F4 (...)), and once
in a while the bios wouldn't see the hard drive at all. Sometimes,
Windows would tell me that the delayed writing to the disk had failed
(e.g. "delayed writing has failed writing c:/$mft) before I got a BSOD.
Other times, the system woudl work perfectly for several hours. So I
flashed a new bios, fixed the Acer lunchapp.ocx bug, tried scanning for
viruses with the latest updates, uninstalled Norton, did some more
chkdsk (with /f /r), some more memtest... with no success. So if
everything stayed like that, I would have to conclude that some
intermittent hardware problem, for example cables, is the source of all
this grief.
Here is where it gets esoteric. Before I installed the new hard drive, I
put my old hard drive in an external enclosure and copied all the files
on it to a spare and empty hard drive on a desktop. By the way, my old
hard drive was working fine in an enclosure. I did not open or execute
any file on the desktop. A few days later on that desktop (while it was
idle), I see an error message "delayed writing has failed writing
f:/$mft ..." f: is the drive on which I copied my old hard drive! I
reboot the desktop and the BIOS couldn't find the drive! Exactly the
same symptoms as on my laptop...!????
Either this last part is an amazing coincidence, or there is a
software/hardware interaction I do not understand, or Sigmund Freud is
making fun of me...
Please help me before I start believing in aliens!
Guillaume