B
BlueMinou
Motherboard: ASUS P4P8X
CPU: Intel Celeron 2.4 Ghz
RAM: Shika RAM Twin-X 1 Gb
HDD: WD Caviar 200 Gb, 7200 RPM, 8 Mb cache - SATA (OEM)
OS: Windows XP Home Edition with SP1 (OEM)
Graphic Card: ASUS Radeon 9600SE
I mounted this computer in February, so everything but the CD burner is
brand new (including the floppy drive). It was running fine with a Quantum
Fireball 20 Gb hard drive. A couple of weeks ago I bought and installed a
Western Digital 160 Gb SATA hard drive. I used the Data Lifeguard Tools
program downloaded from the Western Digital website to partition & format
the drive in NTFS. I then installed a brand new Windows XP with SP1 (I read
that the service pack 1 is essential for drives larger than 137 Gb). It
worked beautifully for about 48 hours and during this period I downloaded
and installed all the Windows updates. Then the computer suddenly rebooted
on it's own but couldn't start Windows. I got messages that files were
missing and the computer kept rebooting on it's own at startup. I tried
re-formatting the OS partition in hopes of re-installing Windows but it
reported that the partition had a problem. Then after a few more attemps
Windows reported that there was no drive present.Gradually, the BIOS failed
to detect the drive and after six or more reboots I got the SMART message
that the drive was BAD and should be replaced.
I returned it to the store and since they didn't have a replacement after a
full week of waiting and refused to refund my money, I bought a Western
Digital 200 Gb SATA drive. The exact same thing happened after only 24
hours.
I've been doing searches on the internet but I can't even figure out which
part of my computer is causing the problem. The new Windows worked fine with
the 20 Gig P-ATA during the week I was waiting for a replacement. My BIOS
Hardware Monitor reports normal temperatures and the following Voltages:
a.. VCore Voltage: 1.504V
b.. 3.3V Voltage: 3.184V
c.. 5V Voltage: 5.026V
d.. 12V Voltage: 11.552V
I read my P4P8X Motherboard's Manual carefully and the only setting I
changed when installing the SATA drives was the IDE Configuration that I set
to S-ATA. I don't think my motherboard has a RAID controller and haven't
seen a place where I could disable it.
I have received a third HD, a recertified 200 Gb, an the exact same thing
happened after 48 hours of use.
Western Digital drives are known to be reliable so I very much doubt that I
bought three defective drives in a row. I suspect that either my BIOS or my
Windows was set-up improperly or that I should have installed a certain
driver that I'm unaware of, but I am at a total lost to explain the fact
that it worked fine then gradually deteriorated or the fact that my hardware
performed very well with a P-ATA drive.
I've searched the knowledge base and the web in general but haven't heard of
anyone having a similar problem. Help, or even a single clue would be
greatly appreciated.
I am wondering if other Windows XP users have had similar problems when
installing an over-137Gb hard drive.
CPU: Intel Celeron 2.4 Ghz
RAM: Shika RAM Twin-X 1 Gb
HDD: WD Caviar 200 Gb, 7200 RPM, 8 Mb cache - SATA (OEM)
OS: Windows XP Home Edition with SP1 (OEM)
Graphic Card: ASUS Radeon 9600SE
I mounted this computer in February, so everything but the CD burner is
brand new (including the floppy drive). It was running fine with a Quantum
Fireball 20 Gb hard drive. A couple of weeks ago I bought and installed a
Western Digital 160 Gb SATA hard drive. I used the Data Lifeguard Tools
program downloaded from the Western Digital website to partition & format
the drive in NTFS. I then installed a brand new Windows XP with SP1 (I read
that the service pack 1 is essential for drives larger than 137 Gb). It
worked beautifully for about 48 hours and during this period I downloaded
and installed all the Windows updates. Then the computer suddenly rebooted
on it's own but couldn't start Windows. I got messages that files were
missing and the computer kept rebooting on it's own at startup. I tried
re-formatting the OS partition in hopes of re-installing Windows but it
reported that the partition had a problem. Then after a few more attemps
Windows reported that there was no drive present.Gradually, the BIOS failed
to detect the drive and after six or more reboots I got the SMART message
that the drive was BAD and should be replaced.
I returned it to the store and since they didn't have a replacement after a
full week of waiting and refused to refund my money, I bought a Western
Digital 200 Gb SATA drive. The exact same thing happened after only 24
hours.
I've been doing searches on the internet but I can't even figure out which
part of my computer is causing the problem. The new Windows worked fine with
the 20 Gig P-ATA during the week I was waiting for a replacement. My BIOS
Hardware Monitor reports normal temperatures and the following Voltages:
a.. VCore Voltage: 1.504V
b.. 3.3V Voltage: 3.184V
c.. 5V Voltage: 5.026V
d.. 12V Voltage: 11.552V
I read my P4P8X Motherboard's Manual carefully and the only setting I
changed when installing the SATA drives was the IDE Configuration that I set
to S-ATA. I don't think my motherboard has a RAID controller and haven't
seen a place where I could disable it.
I have received a third HD, a recertified 200 Gb, an the exact same thing
happened after 48 hours of use.
Western Digital drives are known to be reliable so I very much doubt that I
bought three defective drives in a row. I suspect that either my BIOS or my
Windows was set-up improperly or that I should have installed a certain
driver that I'm unaware of, but I am at a total lost to explain the fact
that it worked fine then gradually deteriorated or the fact that my hardware
performed very well with a P-ATA drive.
I've searched the knowledge base and the web in general but haven't heard of
anyone having a similar problem. Help, or even a single clue would be
greatly appreciated.
I am wondering if other Windows XP users have had similar problems when
installing an over-137Gb hard drive.