Mart - "not enough free memory to run this program"

Hi Mart

I ran Samsung's proggy on C and it showed four errors before it stopped
checking with only 6% of the drive done. I ran it three times in all, once
getting as far as 27% before it stopped dead in its tracks (arrow keys or
"exit" didn't work so I "reset"). I ran the utility on D also (which is a
twin Samsung with no problems) to see if it would complete that one. It
found no errors and went much further--but locked up at 89%. So I
telephoned Samsung who promises service 24/7, and after a long wait got
transferred to their tech department--which was closed :'(

I then visited the ScanDefrag site and clicked a link there to an MS page
discussing what to do when ScanDisk won't complete. I'd already tried
turning off the Quick Launch and running programs, as well as Safe Mode--so
used the last resort mentioned, DOS--which took thirteen hours but actually
finished! :-))) When its surface scan first started up it showed two areas
where there were "some bad sectors"-- but the checking went right over them
and the end summary was that "ScanDisk found no problems on C."

So this means those bad sectors are probably corrupted bits of
programs?--possibly Windows ? The errors I'm still getting even after
clearing the swapfile (per Noel's instructions) are "not enough memory to
run this . . ." (every time I open System Information) and blue screens that
shut down OE when I have sound scripts playing in email. And my Me won't
make any new start-up disks now--says the A drive is "not ready" although I
have no problem copying files over to floppies.

Is there anything else I can check/repair/update or is it time to reinstall
Windows over itself?

Your help is much appreciated!

carol




"Mart" wrote in message
...
"caroloyl" wrote:-

DOS is Greek to me, so I have one more question--about setting up
Samsung's "Hutil" on a floppy. Here are their instructions:

Hutil is the correct utility! - but wait for a moment before downloading
and
see later instructions instead.

What is a bootable "diskette prepared from the internet"? Am I to put
the
program on and run it from an Me Startup disk?

Just create a WinMe Startup (floppy) disk via Control Panel | Add/Remove
Programs \ Startup Disk - and follow the screen prompts.

Having created the disk, go to the Samsung page which I suggested (see
below) and select HUTIL and click on 'Download Program' near the top of
the
page. Download the Shdiag.exe file as follows:-

Choose the 'Save' option and save it to the Startup floppy disk which you
have just created.

Close down your PC, insert the Startup floppy then power-up your PC, which
should now boot from the floppy disk instead of your C: drive.

From the menu, select option 4 - Minimal and at the A:\ prompt (which may
take a few seconds to appear) type: "shdiag" (no quotes) the press Return.

Just follow the screen prompts as shown on the various Samsung pages.

I cannot help you any further as I do not have a Samsung HDD and so the
utility will not work any further than the opening screen shot. It is
designed only to work with a PC which has a Samsung HDD installed.

I've read the instructions for using the diagnostic and think I'm OK
there.

Good, and good luck!!

Looks like this could be the answer to a thorough "ScanDisk" that will
complete.

But be prepared for the worse though g

Sorry I'm so ignorant.

By no means as ignorant as you may think!!

Your help is MUCH appreciated. carol.

Lets just hope it works g and I'm sure that Noel, Mike or others will
continue with their support if/when necessary.

Mart




"Mart" wrote in message
...
Samsung FAQ's/Knowledge Base. - Where Can I Obtain A Free Hard Drive
Diagnostic Utility?



http://erms.samsungusa.com/customer/...?PG_ID=1&AT_ID
=5539&PROD_SUB_ID=26&PROD_ID=-1

HTH and good luck

Mart

If Scandisk is showing Bad Sectors in a scan, it's a very definite sign that
the disk is about to die (or at least cannot be expected to live).
Back up your data NOW - and get a new disk.

--
Noel Paton (MS-MVP 2002-2006, Windows)

Nil Carborundum Illegitemi
http://www.crashfixpc.com/millsrpch.htm

http://tinyurl.com/6oztj

Please read http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm on how to post messages to NG's
"caroloyl" wrote in message
...
Hi Mart

I ran Samsung's proggy on C and it showed four errors before it stopped
checking with only 6% of the drive done. I ran it three times in all,
once
getting as far as 27% before it stopped dead in its tracks (arrow keys or
"exit" didn't work so I "reset"). I ran the utility on D also (which is a
twin Samsung with no problems) to see if it would complete that one. It
found no errors and went much further--but locked up at 89%. So I
telephoned Samsung who promises service 24/7, and after a long wait got
transferred to their tech department--which was closed :'(

I then visited the ScanDefrag site and clicked a link there to an MS page
discussing what to do when ScanDisk won't complete. I'd already tried
turning off the Quick Launch and running programs, as well as Safe
Mode--so
used the last resort mentioned, DOS--which took thirteen hours but
actually
finished! :-))) When its surface scan first started up it showed two
areas
where there were "some bad sectors"-- but the checking went right over
them
and the end summary was that "ScanDisk found no problems on C."

So this means those bad sectors are probably corrupted bits of
programs?--possibly Windows ? The errors I'm still getting even after
clearing the swapfile (per Noel's instructions) are "not enough memory to
run this . . ." (every time I open System Information) and blue screens
that
shut down OE when I have sound scripts playing in email. And my Me won't
make any new start-up disks now--says the A drive is "not ready" although
I
have no problem copying files over to floppies.

Is there anything else I can check/repair/update or is it time to
reinstall
Windows over itself?

Your help is much appreciated!

carol




"Mart" wrote in message
...
"caroloyl" wrote:-

DOS is Greek to me, so I have one more question--about setting up
Samsung's "Hutil" on a floppy. Here are their instructions:

Hutil is the correct utility! - but wait for a moment before downloading
and
see later instructions instead.

What is a bootable "diskette prepared from the internet"? Am I to put
the
program on and run it from an Me Startup disk?

Just create a WinMe Startup (floppy) disk via Control Panel | Add/Remove
Programs \ Startup Disk - and follow the screen prompts.

Having created the disk, go to the Samsung page which I suggested (see
below) and select HUTIL and click on 'Download Program' near the top of
the
page. Download the Shdiag.exe file as follows:-

Choose the 'Save' option and save it to the Startup floppy disk which you
have just created.

Close down your PC, insert the Startup floppy then power-up your PC,
which
should now boot from the floppy disk instead of your C: drive.

From the menu, select option 4 - Minimal and at the A:\ prompt (which
may
take a few seconds to appear) type: "shdiag" (no quotes) the press
Return.

Just follow the screen prompts as shown on the various Samsung pages.

I cannot help you any further as I do not have a Samsung HDD and so the
utility will not work any further than the opening screen shot. It is
designed only to work with a PC which has a Samsung HDD installed.

I've read the instructions for using the diagnostic and think I'm OK
there.

Good, and good luck!!

Looks like this could be the answer to a thorough "ScanDisk" that will
complete.

But be prepared for the worse though g

Sorry I'm so ignorant.

By no means as ignorant as you may think!!

Your help is MUCH appreciated. carol.

Lets just hope it works g and I'm sure that Noel, Mike or others will
continue with their support if/when necessary.

Mart




"Mart" wrote in message
...
Samsung FAQ's/Knowledge Base. - Where Can I Obtain A Free Hard Drive
Diagnostic Utility?



http://erms.samsungusa.com/customer/...?PG_ID=1&AT_ID
=5539&PROD_SUB_ID=26&PROD_ID=-1

HTH and good luck

Mart

Carol wrote:-

So this means those bad sectors are probably corrupted bits of
programs?--possibly Windows ?

err.. no - it means 'bad sectors'!!

Noel wrote:-

If Scandisk is showing Bad Sectors in a scan, it's a very definite sign
that the disk is about to die (or at least cannot be expected to live).
Back up your data NOW - and get a new disk.

Noel, I'm (almost) with you on this one - especially with Carol's history on
this issue (back a couple of months or so). I think there was also some
mention of problems with a Maxtor HDD back in June, so not quite sure where
Samsung drives fit on the time-line. Ah! - the Maxtor was an external USB
device, almost out of warranty. So are the Samsung drives 'brand new',
'second-hand' replacements or the 'originals' and just plain old
'knackered'? My guess being the latter g

However, I also recall a 'cooked motherboard' (albeit now replaced)
somewhere in the jigsaw and wonder if there *may* be a connection.

Carol, if you were thinking of throwing some hard earned cash at this
machine (I know new HDD's aren't that expensive), it maybe worth considering
throwing it at a new XP box instead. Remember, WinMe's life-span has almost
expired too g

Mart

Hi Guys

Seems I've got me a "her-story" going here in the Me newsgroup :-(

I do have an 80 GB external Maxtor I had to reformat just under its warranty
wire (a while back: file system got corrupted during a lock-up--been fine
ever since). But the most recent Maxtor snafu was a 2-year-old 20 GB C
drive that failed last February. I had it replaced with a new 80 GB Samsung
and another identical Samsung installed in the D slot, pushing my tiny old
backup D drive (a 4-year-old 8 GB Maxtor) into the E position. Both D and E
are fine at this moment--or so ScanDisk says.

At that time, amongst other things, I also had an inadequate onboard video
card replaced with a new motherboard and stand-alone video card--and that
new was the mobo that failed in July. The tech didn't put a chassis exhaust
fan into the new box and never mentioned any need for an air-conditioned
environment. I knew there was a fan in it because I could hear one
running--but only discovered it was a small cooling fan on top of the
processor when, after my problems began, the guy told me the computer could
be overheating and to remove the side of the box to blow air over the works.
No other computer I've had, including the one replaced in February, failed
from overheating. All were run in this same low-tech house (no
air-conditioning or central heat even) and had two fans with one venting the
cabinet--I know 'cause I took them all apart last summer. I still can't
comprehend the omission--for a few measly bucks I'd have been spared eight
weeks of grief and the price of a another new motherboard.

Question: If the overheating is related to the bad sectors on the new C
drive, why haven't the other two drives been similarly affected? I read at
Samsung that hard drive surface damage was commonly caused by rough
handling--like dropping--and that they'd developed some complicated method
of cushioning their drives to prevent physical injury. I have not dropped
or handled anything roughly; and when the tower left the house for fans and
another motherboard in August, it went down the road packed in its original
thick corrugated-cardboard box with its molded Styrofoam bracing in place.

I Googled "bad clusters" and got a number of forum Q & A's in the results.
I found some folks choosing to live with a few, even partitioning them
off--and others immediately replacing the affected drive. One reply said:
"Bad clusters represent errors in a file system. They may be soft errors,
for example where power failed or the OS crashed during a write to disk. It
could be where there are some bad bits on RAM that was used to hold data on
the way to the filesystem. It may be that the computer has problems with its
power circuitry, either in the power supply or in the power distribution
circuits, filters, regulators and so on on the motherboard. Or the
underlying problem may be failed sectors on the disk."

So I've really been hoping the problem was corrupt data because something
definitely got screwed with the "stationery-newsgroup streaming-sound
preview maxed-out-TIF OE lockup" fiasco that happened the night before
ScanDisk Thorough suddenly popped in at bootup. There were no bad sectors
before that and OE had always played sound scripts without making blue
screens.

I also read a number of Microsoft Knowledge Base articles starting with
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/q127055 --but didn't apply any but the
ScanDisking-from-DOS info I found. I went to a lot of trouble getting a
thorough ScanDisk report so I'm especially not understanding why I was
urged to do a 13-hour surface check if the results were ignorable.

As the drive is only 10 months into its three-year warranty and my hopes
have been dashed, I requested a Samsung return-authorization today. I've
been keeping double backups of gigabytes of data I don't care to lose on
both the new D drive and external Maxtor, and am prepared to bite the
bullet.

Thanks for the advice.

calamity carol


"Mart" wrote in message
...
Carol wrote:-

So this means those bad sectors are probably corrupted bits of
programs?--possibly Windows ?

err.. no - it means 'bad sectors'!!

Noel wrote:-

If Scandisk is showing Bad Sectors in a scan, it's a very definite sign
that the disk is about to die (or at least cannot be expected to live).
Back up your data NOW - and get a new disk.

Noel, I'm (almost) with you on this one - especially with Carol's history
on
this issue (back a couple of months or so). I think there was also some
mention of problems with a Maxtor HDD back in June, so not quite sure
where
Samsung drives fit on the time-line. Ah! - the Maxtor was an external USB
device, almost out of warranty. So are the Samsung drives 'brand new',
'second-hand' replacements or the 'originals' and just plain old
'knackered'? My guess being the latter g

However, I also recall a 'cooked motherboard' (albeit now replaced)
somewhere in the jigsaw and wonder if there *may* be a connection.

Carol, if you were thinking of throwing some hard earned cash at this
machine (I know new HDD's aren't that expensive), it maybe worth
considering
throwing it at a new XP box instead. Remember, WinMe's life-span has
almost
expired too g

Mart




"Noel Paton" wrote in message
...
If Scandisk is showing Bad Sectors in a scan, it's a very definite sign
that
the disk is about to die (or at least cannot be expected to live).
Back up your data NOW - and get a new disk.

--
Noel Paton (MS-MVP 2002-2006, Windows)

Nil Carborundum Illegitemi
http://www.crashfixpc.com/millsrpch.htm

http://tinyurl.com/6oztj

Please read http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm on how to post messages to NG's
"caroloyl" wrote in message
...
Hi Mart

I ran Samsung's proggy on C and it showed four errors before it stopped

checking with only 6% of the drive done. I ran it three times in all,
once
getting as far as 27% before it stopped dead in its tracks (arrow keys
or
"exit" didn't work so I "reset"). I ran the utility on D also (which is
a
twin Samsung with no problems) to see if it would complete that one. It
found no errors and went much further--but locked up at 89%. So I
telephoned Samsung who promises service 24/7, and after a long wait got
transferred to their tech department--which was closed :'(

I then visited the ScanDefrag site and clicked a link there to an MS
page
discussing what to do when ScanDisk won't complete. I'd already tried
turning off the Quick Launch and running programs, as well as Safe
Mode--so
used the last resort mentioned, DOS--which took thirteen hours but
actually
finished! :-))) When its surface scan first started up it showed two
areas
where there were "some bad sectors"-- but the checking went right over
them
and the end summary was that "ScanDisk found no problems on C."

So this means those bad sectors are probably corrupted bits of
programs?--possibly Windows ? The errors I'm still getting even after
clearing the swapfile (per Noel's instructions) are "not enough memory
to
run this . . ." (every time I open System Information) and blue screens
that
shut down OE when I have sound scripts playing in email. And my Me
won't
make any new start-up disks now--says the A drive is "not ready"
although
I
have no problem copying files over to floppies.

Is there anything else I can check/repair/update or is it time to
reinstall
Windows over itself?

Your help is much appreciated!

carol




"Mart" wrote in message
...
"caroloyl" wrote:-

DOS is Greek to me, so I have one more question--about setting up
Samsung's "Hutil" on a floppy. Here are their instructions:

Hutil is the correct utility! - but wait for a moment before
downloading
and
see later instructions instead.

What is a bootable "diskette prepared from the internet"? Am I to
put
the
program on and run it from an Me Startup disk?

Just create a WinMe Startup (floppy) disk via Control Panel |
Add/Remove
Programs \ Startup Disk - and follow the screen prompts.

Having created the disk, go to the Samsung page which I suggested (see
below) and select HUTIL and click on 'Download Program' near the top of
the
page. Download the Shdiag.exe file as follows:-

Choose the 'Save' option and save it to the Startup floppy disk which
you
have just created.

Close down your PC, insert the Startup floppy then power-up your PC,
which
should now boot from the floppy disk instead of your C: drive.

From the menu, select option 4 - Minimal and at the A:\ prompt (which

may
take a few seconds to appear) type: "shdiag" (no quotes) the press
Return.

Just follow the screen prompts as shown on the various Samsung pages.

I cannot help you any further as I do not have a Samsung HDD and so the
utility will not work any further than the opening screen shot. It is
designed only to work with a PC which has a Samsung HDD installed.

I've read the instructions for using the diagnostic and think I'm OK
there.

Good, and good luck!!

Looks like this could be the answer to a thorough "ScanDisk" that
will
complete.

But be prepared for the worse though g

Sorry I'm so ignorant.

By no means as ignorant as you may think!!

Your help is MUCH appreciated. carol.

Lets just hope it works g and I'm sure that Noel, Mike or others will
continue with their support if/when necessary.

Mart




"Mart" wrote in message
...
Samsung FAQ's/Knowledge Base. - Where Can I Obtain A Free Hard
Drive
Diagnostic Utility?




http://erms.samsungusa.com/customer/...?PG_ID=1&AT_ID
=5539&PROD_SUB_ID=26&PROD_ID=-1

HTH and good luck

Mart

Have you run Samsung's disk test utility? - it's unlikely they'll RMA the
disk without the results of that.....
http://www.samsung.com/Products/Hard...ies/shdiag.htm

--
Noel Paton (MS-MVP 2002-2006, Windows)

Nil Carborundum Illegitemi
http://www.crashfixpc.com/millsrpch.htm

http://tinyurl.com/6oztj

Please read http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm on how to post messages to NG's
"caroloyl" wrote in message
...
Hi Guys

Seems I've got me a "her-story" going here in the Me newsgroup :-(

I do have an 80 GB external Maxtor I had to reformat just under its
warranty
wire (a while back: file system got corrupted during a lock-up--been fine
ever since). But the most recent Maxtor snafu was a 2-year-old 20 GB C
drive that failed last February. I had it replaced with a new 80 GB
Samsung
and another identical Samsung installed in the D slot, pushing my tiny old
backup D drive (a 4-year-old 8 GB Maxtor) into the E position. Both D and
E
are fine at this moment--or so ScanDisk says.

At that time, amongst other things, I also had an inadequate onboard video
card replaced with a new motherboard and stand-alone video card--and that
new was the mobo that failed in July. The tech didn't put a chassis
exhaust
fan into the new box and never mentioned any need for an air-conditioned
environment. I knew there was a fan in it because I could hear one
running--but only discovered it was a small cooling fan on top of the
processor when, after my problems began, the guy told me the computer
could
be overheating and to remove the side of the box to blow air over the
works.
No other computer I've had, including the one replaced in February, failed
from overheating. All were run in this same low-tech house (no
air-conditioning or central heat even) and had two fans with one venting
the
cabinet--I know 'cause I took them all apart last summer. I still can't
comprehend the omission--for a few measly bucks I'd have been spared eight
weeks of grief and the price of a another new motherboard.

Question: If the overheating is related to the bad sectors on the new C
drive, why haven't the other two drives been similarly affected? I read
at
Samsung that hard drive surface damage was commonly caused by rough
handling--like dropping--and that they'd developed some complicated method
of cushioning their drives to prevent physical injury. I have not dropped
or handled anything roughly; and when the tower left the house for fans
and
another motherboard in August, it went down the road packed in its
original
thick corrugated-cardboard box with its molded Styrofoam bracing in place.

I Googled "bad clusters" and got a number of forum Q & A's in the results.
I found some folks choosing to live with a few, even partitioning them
off--and others immediately replacing the affected drive. One reply said:
"Bad clusters represent errors in a file system. They may be soft errors,
for example where power failed or the OS crashed during a write to disk.
It
could be where there are some bad bits on RAM that was used to hold data
on
the way to the filesystem. It may be that the computer has problems with
its
power circuitry, either in the power supply or in the power distribution
circuits, filters, regulators and so on on the motherboard. Or the
underlying problem may be failed sectors on the disk."

So I've really been hoping the problem was corrupt data because something
definitely got screwed with the "stationery-newsgroup streaming-sound
preview maxed-out-TIF OE lockup" fiasco that happened the night before
ScanDisk Thorough suddenly popped in at bootup. There were no bad sectors
before that and OE had always played sound scripts without making blue
screens.

I also read a number of Microsoft Knowledge Base articles starting with
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/q127055 --but didn't apply any but the
ScanDisking-from-DOS info I found. I went to a lot of trouble getting a
thorough ScanDisk report so I'm especially not understanding why I was
urged to do a 13-hour surface check if the results were ignorable.

As the drive is only 10 months into its three-year warranty and my hopes
have been dashed, I requested a Samsung return-authorization today. I've
been keeping double backups of gigabytes of data I don't care to lose on
both the new D drive and external Maxtor, and am prepared to bite the
bullet.

Thanks for the advice.

calamity carol


"Mart" wrote in message
...
Carol wrote:-

So this means those bad sectors are probably corrupted bits of
programs?--possibly Windows ?

err.. no - it means 'bad sectors'!!

Noel wrote:-

If Scandisk is showing Bad Sectors in a scan, it's a very definite sign
that the disk is about to die (or at least cannot be expected to live).
Back up your data NOW - and get a new disk.

Noel, I'm (almost) with you on this one - especially with Carol's history
on
this issue (back a couple of months or so). I think there was also some
mention of problems with a Maxtor HDD back in June, so not quite sure
where
Samsung drives fit on the time-line. Ah! - the Maxtor was an external USB
device, almost out of warranty. So are the Samsung drives 'brand new',
'second-hand' replacements or the 'originals' and just plain old
'knackered'? My guess being the latter g

However, I also recall a 'cooked motherboard' (albeit now replaced)
somewhere in the jigsaw and wonder if there *may* be a connection.

Carol, if you were thinking of throwing some hard earned cash at this
machine (I know new HDD's aren't that expensive), it maybe worth
considering
throwing it at a new XP box instead. Remember, WinMe's life-span has
almost
expired too g

Mart




"Noel Paton" wrote in message
...
If Scandisk is showing Bad Sectors in a scan, it's a very definite sign
that
the disk is about to die (or at least cannot be expected to live).
Back up your data NOW - and get a new disk.

--
Noel Paton (MS-MVP 2002-2006, Windows)

Nil Carborundum Illegitemi
http://www.crashfixpc.com/millsrpch.htm

http://tinyurl.com/6oztj

Please read http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm on how to post messages to NG's
"caroloyl" wrote in message
...
Hi Mart

I ran Samsung's proggy on C and it showed four errors before it stopped

checking with only 6% of the drive done. I ran it three times in all,
once
getting as far as 27% before it stopped dead in its tracks (arrow keys
or
"exit" didn't work so I "reset"). I ran the utility on D also (which
is
a
twin Samsung with no problems) to see if it would complete that one.
It
found no errors and went much further--but locked up at 89%. So I
telephoned Samsung who promises service 24/7, and after a long wait got
transferred to their tech department--which was closed :'(

I then visited the ScanDefrag site and clicked a link there to an MS
page
discussing what to do when ScanDisk won't complete. I'd already tried
turning off the Quick Launch and running programs, as well as Safe
Mode--so
used the last resort mentioned, DOS--which took thirteen hours but
actually
finished! :-))) When its surface scan first started up it showed two
areas
where there were "some bad sectors"-- but the checking went right over
them
and the end summary was that "ScanDisk found no problems on C."

So this means those bad sectors are probably corrupted bits of
programs?--possibly Windows ? The errors I'm still getting even after
clearing the swapfile (per Noel's instructions) are "not enough memory
to
run this . . ." (every time I open System Information) and blue screens
that
shut down OE when I have sound scripts playing in email. And my Me
won't
make any new start-up disks now--says the A drive is "not ready"
although
I
have no problem copying files over to floppies.

Is there anything else I can check/repair/update or is it time to
reinstall
Windows over itself?

Your help is much appreciated!

carol




"Mart" wrote in message
...
"caroloyl" wrote:-

DOS is Greek to me, so I have one more question--about setting up
Samsung's "Hutil" on a floppy. Here are their instructions:

Hutil is the correct utility! - but wait for a moment before
downloading
and
see later instructions instead.

What is a bootable "diskette prepared from the internet"? Am I to
put
the
program on and run it from an Me Startup disk?

Just create a WinMe Startup (floppy) disk via Control Panel |
Add/Remove
Programs \ Startup Disk - and follow the screen prompts.

Having created the disk, go to the Samsung page which I suggested (see
below) and select HUTIL and click on 'Download Program' near the top
of
the
page. Download the Shdiag.exe file as follows:-

Choose the 'Save' option and save it to the Startup floppy disk which
you
have just created.

Close down your PC, insert the Startup floppy then power-up your PC,
which
should now boot from the floppy disk instead of your C: drive.

From the menu, select option 4 - Minimal and at the A:\ prompt (which

may
take a few seconds to appear) type: "shdiag" (no quotes) the press
Return.

Just follow the screen prompts as shown on the various Samsung pages.

I cannot help you any further as I do not have a Samsung HDD and so
the
utility will not work any further than the opening screen shot. It is
designed only to work with a PC which has a Samsung HDD installed.

I've read the instructions for using the diagnostic and think I'm OK
there.

Good, and good luck!!

Looks like this could be the answer to a thorough "ScanDisk" that
will
complete.

But be prepared for the worse though g

Sorry I'm so ignorant.

By no means as ignorant as you may think!!

Your help is MUCH appreciated. carol.

Lets just hope it works g and I'm sure that Noel, Mike or others
will
continue with their support if/when necessary.

Mart




"Mart" wrote in message
...
Samsung FAQ's/Knowledge Base. - Where Can I Obtain A Free Hard
Drive
Diagnostic Utility?




http://erms.samsungusa.com/customer/...?PG_ID=1&AT_ID
=5539&PROD_SUB_ID=26&PROD_ID=-1

HTH and good luck

Mart

Hi Noel

I downloaded Samsung's "Hutil" (their program specific to my drive),
unzipped, then copied it to one of my three Me startup disks (Me refused to
make a fresh one) then ran the program from DOS three times. The disk
passed all tests up to the "read surface scan" then the program stalled out.
Because none of the surface scans would finish so I could get a report, I
wrote down the errors it found. I have no idea why the first try found an
extra error, but the other numbers are consistent:

1--Locked up at 14.252% Errors found we
LBA 702132
LBA 703098
LBA 3296270
LBA 3297237
2--Locked up at 27.769% Errors found we
LBA 703098
LBA 3296270
LBA 3297237
3--Locked up at 6.084% Errors found we
LBA 703098
LBA 3296270
LBA 3297237

On their application form, I explained to Samsung that their test had failed
to complete and gave them the list of errors. I received the necessary
authorization--which is good for a month--this morning.


When I used the DOS thorough ScanDisk the other day, two blocks marked "bad"
(ones that contained "some bad sectors") were in the top row of the graph
display-- separated, but very near the beginning. There were no other bad
blocks and the sum of bad sectors (98 KB) has not increased since November
16th. How is it if those blocks were marked bad, the surface ScanDisk
reported no problems were found???

I need to be absolutely sure that the disk's surface is actually damaged--if
Samsung only finds corrupt data they will definitely demand ransom! Is it
possible that a file corruption could cause physical damage to a disk? Is
there anything at all else I could try to investigate this issue? I'm sure
not looking forward to any part of this surgery :-(

Much thanks for your help.

carol


"Noel Paton" wrote in message
...
Have you run Samsung's disk test utility? - it's unlikely they'll RMA the
disk without the results of that.....
http://www.samsung.com/Products/Hard...ies/shdiag.htm

--
Noel Paton (MS-MVP 2002-2006, Windows)

Nil Carborundum Illegitemi
http://www.crashfixpc.com/millsrpch.htm

http://tinyurl.com/6oztj

Please read http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm on how to post messages to NG's
"caroloyl" wrote in message
...
Hi Guys

Seems I've got me a "her-story" going here in the Me newsgroup :-(

I do have an 80 GB external Maxtor I had to reformat just under its
warranty
wire (a while back: file system got corrupted during a lock-up--been
fine
ever since). But the most recent Maxtor snafu was a 2-year-old 20 GB C
drive that failed last February. I had it replaced with a new 80 GB
Samsung
and another identical Samsung installed in the D slot, pushing my tiny
old
backup D drive (a 4-year-old 8 GB Maxtor) into the E position. Both D
and
E
are fine at this moment--or so ScanDisk says.

At that time, amongst other things, I also had an inadequate onboard
video
card replaced with a new motherboard and stand-alone video card--and
that
new was the mobo that failed in July. The tech didn't put a chassis
exhaust
fan into the new box and never mentioned any need for an air-conditioned
environment. I knew there was a fan in it because I could hear one
running--but only discovered it was a small cooling fan on top of the
processor when, after my problems began, the guy told me the computer
could
be overheating and to remove the side of the box to blow air over the
works.
No other computer I've had, including the one replaced in February,
failed
from overheating. All were run in this same low-tech house (no
air-conditioning or central heat even) and had two fans with one venting
the
cabinet--I know 'cause I took them all apart last summer. I still can't
comprehend the omission--for a few measly bucks I'd have been spared
eight
weeks of grief and the price of a another new motherboard.

Question: If the overheating is related to the bad sectors on the new C
drive, why haven't the other two drives been similarly affected? I read
at
Samsung that hard drive surface damage was commonly caused by rough
handling--like dropping--and that they'd developed some complicated
method
of cushioning their drives to prevent physical injury. I have not
dropped
or handled anything roughly; and when the tower left the house for fans
and
another motherboard in August, it went down the road packed in its
original
thick corrugated-cardboard box with its molded Styrofoam bracing in
place.

I Googled "bad clusters" and got a number of forum Q & A's in the
results.
I found some folks choosing to live with a few, even partitioning them
off--and others immediately replacing the affected drive. One reply
said:
"Bad clusters represent errors in a file system. They may be soft
errors,
for example where power failed or the OS crashed during a write to disk.
It
could be where there are some bad bits on RAM that was used to hold data
on
the way to the filesystem. It may be that the computer has problems with
its
power circuitry, either in the power supply or in the power distribution
circuits, filters, regulators and so on on the motherboard. Or the
underlying problem may be failed sectors on the disk."

So I've really been hoping the problem was corrupt data because
something
definitely got screwed with the "stationery-newsgroup streaming-sound
preview maxed-out-TIF OE lockup" fiasco that happened the night before
ScanDisk Thorough suddenly popped in at bootup. There were no bad
sectors
before that and OE had always played sound scripts without making blue
screens.

I also read a number of Microsoft Knowledge Base articles starting with
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/q127055 --but didn't apply any but the
ScanDisking-from-DOS info I found. I went to a lot of trouble getting a
thorough ScanDisk report so I'm especially not understanding why I was
urged to do a 13-hour surface check if the results were ignorable.

As the drive is only 10 months into its three-year warranty and my hopes
have been dashed, I requested a Samsung return-authorization today.
I've
been keeping double backups of gigabytes of data I don't care to lose on
both the new D drive and external Maxtor, and am prepared to bite the
bullet.

Thanks for the advice.

calamity carol


"Mart" wrote in message
...
Carol wrote:-

So this means those bad sectors are probably corrupted bits of
programs?--possibly Windows ?

err.. no - it means 'bad sectors'!!

Noel wrote:-

If Scandisk is showing Bad Sectors in a scan, it's a very definite
sign
that the disk is about to die (or at least cannot be expected to
live).
Back up your data NOW - and get a new disk.

Noel, I'm (almost) with you on this one - especially with Carol's
history
on
this issue (back a couple of months or so). I think there was also some
mention of problems with a Maxtor HDD back in June, so not quite sure
where
Samsung drives fit on the time-line. Ah! - the Maxtor was an external
USB
device, almost out of warranty. So are the Samsung drives 'brand new',
'second-hand' replacements or the 'originals' and just plain old
'knackered'? My guess being the latter g

However, I also recall a 'cooked motherboard' (albeit now replaced)
somewhere in the jigsaw and wonder if there *may* be a connection.

Carol, if you were thinking of throwing some hard earned cash at this
machine (I know new HDD's aren't that expensive), it maybe worth
considering
throwing it at a new XP box instead. Remember, WinMe's life-span has
almost
expired too g

Mart




"Noel Paton" wrote in message
...
If Scandisk is showing Bad Sectors in a scan, it's a very definite sign
that
the disk is about to die (or at least cannot be expected to live).
Back up your data NOW - and get a new disk.

--
Noel Paton (MS-MVP 2002-2006, Windows)

Nil Carborundum Illegitemi
http://www.crashfixpc.com/millsrpch.htm

http://tinyurl.com/6oztj

Please read http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm on how to post messages to
NG's
"caroloyl" wrote in message
...
Hi Mart

I ran Samsung's proggy on C and it showed four errors before it
stopped

checking with only 6% of the drive done. I ran it three times in
all,
once
getting as far as 27% before it stopped dead in its tracks (arrow
keys
or
"exit" didn't work so I "reset"). I ran the utility on D also (which
is
a
twin Samsung with no problems) to see if it would complete that one.
It
found no errors and went much further--but locked up at 89%. So I
telephoned Samsung who promises service 24/7, and after a long wait
got
transferred to their tech department--which was closed :'(

I then visited the ScanDefrag site and clicked a link there to an MS
page
discussing what to do when ScanDisk won't complete. I'd already
tried
turning off the Quick Launch and running programs, as well as Safe
Mode--so
used the last resort mentioned, DOS--which took thirteen hours but
actually
finished! :-))) When its surface scan first started up it showed two
areas
where there were "some bad sectors"-- but the checking went right
over
them
and the end summary was that "ScanDisk found no problems on C."

So this means those bad sectors are probably corrupted bits of
programs?--possibly Windows ? The errors I'm still getting even
after
clearing the swapfile (per Noel's instructions) are "not enough
memory
to
run this . . ." (every time I open System Information) and blue
screens
that
shut down OE when I have sound scripts playing in email. And my Me
won't
make any new start-up disks now--says the A drive is "not ready"
although
I
have no problem copying files over to floppies.

Is there anything else I can check/repair/update or is it time to
reinstall
Windows over itself?

Your help is much appreciated!

carol




"Mart" wrote in message
...
"caroloyl" wrote:-

DOS is Greek to me, so I have one more question--about setting up
Samsung's "Hutil" on a floppy. Here are their instructions:

Hutil is the correct utility! - but wait for a moment before
downloading
and
see later instructions instead.

What is a bootable "diskette prepared from the internet"? Am I to
put
the
program on and run it from an Me Startup disk?

Just create a WinMe Startup (floppy) disk via Control Panel |
Add/Remove
Programs \ Startup Disk - and follow the screen prompts.

Having created the disk, go to the Samsung page which I suggested
(see
below) and select HUTIL and click on 'Download Program' near the top
of
the
page. Download the Shdiag.exe file as follows:-

Choose the 'Save' option and save it to the Startup floppy disk
which
you
have just created.

Close down your PC, insert the Startup floppy then power-up your PC,
which
should now boot from the floppy disk instead of your C: drive.

From the menu, select option 4 - Minimal and at the A:\ prompt
(which

may
take a few seconds to appear) type: "shdiag" (no quotes) the press
Return.

Just follow the screen prompts as shown on the various Samsung
pages.

I cannot help you any further as I do not have a Samsung HDD and so
the
utility will not work any further than the opening screen shot. It
is
designed only to work with a PC which has a Samsung HDD installed.

I've read the instructions for using the diagnostic and think I'm
OK
there.

Good, and good luck!!

Looks like this could be the answer to a thorough "ScanDisk" that
will
complete.

But be prepared for the worse though g

Sorry I'm so ignorant.

By no means as ignorant as you may think!!

Your help is MUCH appreciated. carol.

Lets just hope it works g and I'm sure that Noel, Mike or others
will
continue with their support if/when necessary.

Mart




"Mart" wrote in message
...
Samsung FAQ's/Knowledge Base. - Where Can I Obtain A Free Hard
Drive
Diagnostic Utility?





http://erms.samsungusa.com/customer/...?PG_ID=1&AT_ID
=5539&PROD_SUB_ID=26&PROD_ID=-1

HTH and good luck

Mart

Hi Noel

I downloaded Samsung's "Hutil" (their program specific to my drive),
unzipped, then copied it to one of my three Me startup disks (Me refused to
make a fresh one) then ran the program from DOS three times. The disk
passed all tests up to the "read surface scan" then the program stalled out.
Because none of the surface scans would finish so I could get a report, I
wrote down the errors it found. I have no idea why the first try found an
extra error, but the other numbers are consistent:

1--Locked up at 14.252% Errors found we
LBA 702132
LBA 703098
LBA 3296270
LBA 3297237
2--Locked up at 27.769% Errors found we
LBA 703098
LBA 3296270
LBA 3297237
3--Locked up at 6.084% Errors found we
LBA 703098
LBA 3296270
LBA 3297237

On their application form, I explained to Samsung that their test had failed
to complete and gave them the list of errors. I received the necessary
authorization--which is good for a month--this morning.


When I used the DOS thorough ScanDisk the other day, two blocks marked "bad"
(ones that contained "some bad sectors") were in the top row of the graph
display-- separated, but very near the beginning. There were no other bad
blocks and the sum of bad sectors (98 KB) has not increased since November
16th. How is it if those blocks were marked bad, the surface ScanDisk
reported no problems were found???

I need to be absolutely sure that the disk's surface is actually damaged--if
Samsung only finds corrupt data they will definitely demand ransom! Is it
possible that a file corruption could cause physical damage to a disk? Is
there anything at all else I could try to investigate this issue? I'm sure
not looking forward to any part of this surgery :-(

Much thanks for your help.

carol


"Noel Paton" wrote in message
...
Have you run Samsung's disk test utility? - it's unlikely they'll RMA the
disk without the results of that.....
http://www.samsung.com/Products/Hard...ies/shdiag.htm

--
Noel Paton (MS-MVP 2002-2006, Windows)

Nil Carborundum Illegitemi
http://www.crashfixpc.com/millsrpch.htm

http://tinyurl.com/6oztj

Please read http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm on how to post messages to NG's
"caroloyl" wrote in message
...
Hi Guys

Seems I've got me a "her-story" going here in the Me newsgroup :-(

I do have an 80 GB external Maxtor I had to reformat just under its
warranty
wire (a while back: file system got corrupted during a lock-up--been
fine
ever since). But the most recent Maxtor snafu was a 2-year-old 20 GB C
drive that failed last February. I had it replaced with a new 80 GB
Samsung
and another identical Samsung installed in the D slot, pushing my tiny
old
backup D drive (a 4-year-old 8 GB Maxtor) into the E position. Both D
and
E
are fine at this moment--or so ScanDisk says.

At that time, amongst other things, I also had an inadequate onboard
video
card replaced with a new motherboard and stand-alone video card--and
that
new was the mobo that failed in July. The tech didn't put a chassis
exhaust
fan into the new box and never mentioned any need for an air-conditioned
environment. I knew there was a fan in it because I could hear one
running--but only discovered it was a small cooling fan on top of the
processor when, after my problems began, the guy told me the computer
could
be overheating and to remove the side of the box to blow air over the
works.
No other computer I've had, including the one replaced in February,
failed
from overheating. All were run in this same low-tech house (no
air-conditioning or central heat even) and had two fans with one venting
the
cabinet--I know 'cause I took them all apart last summer. I still can't
comprehend the omission--for a few measly bucks I'd have been spared
eight
weeks of grief and the price of a another new motherboard.

Question: If the overheating is related to the bad sectors on the new C
drive, why haven't the other two drives been similarly affected? I read
at
Samsung that hard drive surface damage was commonly caused by rough
handling--like dropping--and that they'd developed some complicated
method
of cushioning their drives to prevent physical injury. I have not
dropped
or handled anything roughly; and when the tower left the house for fans
and
another motherboard in August, it went down the road packed in its
original
thick corrugated-cardboard box with its molded Styrofoam bracing in
place.

I Googled "bad clusters" and got a number of forum Q & A's in the
results.
I found some folks choosing to live with a few, even partitioning them
off--and others immediately replacing the affected drive. One reply
said:
"Bad clusters represent errors in a file system. They may be soft
errors,
for example where power failed or the OS crashed during a write to disk.
It
could be where there are some bad bits on RAM that was used to hold data
on
the way to the filesystem. It may be that the computer has problems with
its
power circuitry, either in the power supply or in the power distribution
circuits, filters, regulators and so on on the motherboard. Or the
underlying problem may be failed sectors on the disk."

So I've really been hoping the problem was corrupt data because
something
definitely got screwed with the "stationery-newsgroup streaming-sound
preview maxed-out-TIF OE lockup" fiasco that happened the night before
ScanDisk Thorough suddenly popped in at bootup. There were no bad
sectors
before that and OE had always played sound scripts without making blue
screens.

I also read a number of Microsoft Knowledge Base articles starting with
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/q127055 --but didn't apply any but the
ScanDisking-from-DOS info I found. I went to a lot of trouble getting a
thorough ScanDisk report so I'm especially not understanding why I was
urged to do a 13-hour surface check if the results were ignorable.

As the drive is only 10 months into its three-year warranty and my hopes
have been dashed, I requested a Samsung return-authorization today.
I've
been keeping double backups of gigabytes of data I don't care to lose on
both the new D drive and external Maxtor, and am prepared to bite the
bullet.

Thanks for the advice.

calamity carol


"Mart" wrote in message
...
Carol wrote:-

So this means those bad sectors are probably corrupted bits of
programs?--possibly Windows ?

err.. no - it means 'bad sectors'!!

Noel wrote:-

If Scandisk is showing Bad Sectors in a scan, it's a very definite
sign
that the disk is about to die (or at least cannot be expected to
live).
Back up your data NOW - and get a new disk.

Noel, I'm (almost) with you on this one - especially with Carol's
history
on
this issue (back a couple of months or so). I think there was also some
mention of problems with a Maxtor HDD back in June, so not quite sure
where
Samsung drives fit on the time-line. Ah! - the Maxtor was an external
USB
device, almost out of warranty. So are the Samsung drives 'brand new',
'second-hand' replacements or the 'originals' and just plain old
'knackered'? My guess being the latter g

However, I also recall a 'cooked motherboard' (albeit now replaced)
somewhere in the jigsaw and wonder if there *may* be a connection.

Carol, if you were thinking of throwing some hard earned cash at this
machine (I know new HDD's aren't that expensive), it maybe worth
considering
throwing it at a new XP box instead. Remember, WinMe's life-span has
almost
expired too g

Mart




"Noel Paton" wrote in message
...
If Scandisk is showing Bad Sectors in a scan, it's a very definite sign
that
the disk is about to die (or at least cannot be expected to live).
Back up your data NOW - and get a new disk.

--
Noel Paton (MS-MVP 2002-2006, Windows)

Nil Carborundum Illegitemi
http://www.crashfixpc.com/millsrpch.htm

http://tinyurl.com/6oztj

Please read http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm on how to post messages to
NG's
"caroloyl" wrote in message
...
Hi Mart

I ran Samsung's proggy on C and it showed four errors before it
stopped

checking with only 6% of the drive done. I ran it three times in
all,
once
getting as far as 27% before it stopped dead in its tracks (arrow
keys
or
"exit" didn't work so I "reset"). I ran the utility on D also (which
is
a
twin Samsung with no problems) to see if it would complete that one.
It
found no errors and went much further--but locked up at 89%. So I
telephoned Samsung who promises service 24/7, and after a long wait
got
transferred to their tech department--which was closed :'(

I then visited the ScanDefrag site and clicked a link there to an MS
page
discussing what to do when ScanDisk won't complete. I'd already
tried
turning off the Quick Launch and running programs, as well as Safe
Mode--so
used the last resort mentioned, DOS--which took thirteen hours but
actually
finished! :-))) When its surface scan first started up it showed two
areas
where there were "some bad sectors"-- but the checking went right
over
them
and the end summary was that "ScanDisk found no problems on C."

So this means those bad sectors are probably corrupted bits of
programs?--possibly Windows ? The errors I'm still getting even
after
clearing the swapfile (per Noel's instructions) are "not enough
memory
to
run this . . ." (every time I open System Information) and blue
screens
that
shut down OE when I have sound scripts playing in email. And my Me
won't
make any new start-up disks now--says the A drive is "not ready"
although
I
have no problem copying files over to floppies.

Is there anything else I can check/repair/update or is it time to
reinstall
Windows over itself?

Your help is much appreciated!

carol




"Mart" wrote in message
...
"caroloyl" wrote:-

DOS is Greek to me, so I have one more question--about setting up
Samsung's "Hutil" on a floppy. Here are their instructions:

Hutil is the correct utility! - but wait for a moment before
downloading
and
see later instructions instead.

What is a bootable "diskette prepared from the internet"? Am I to
put
the
program on and run it from an Me Startup disk?

Just create a WinMe Startup (floppy) disk via Control Panel |
Add/Remove
Programs \ Startup Disk - and follow the screen prompts.

Having created the disk, go to the Samsung page which I suggested
(see
below) and select HUTIL and click on 'Download Program' near the top
of
the
page. Download the Shdiag.exe file as follows:-

Choose the 'Save' option and save it to the Startup floppy disk
which
you
have just created.

Close down your PC, insert the Startup floppy then power-up your PC,
which
should now boot from the floppy disk instead of your C: drive.

From the menu, select option 4 - Minimal and at the A:\ prompt
(which

may
take a few seconds to appear) type: "shdiag" (no quotes) the press
Return.

Just follow the screen prompts as shown on the various Samsung
pages.

I cannot help you any further as I do not have a Samsung HDD and so
the
utility will not work any further than the opening screen shot. It
is
designed only to work with a PC which has a Samsung HDD installed.

I've read the instructions for using the diagnostic and think I'm
OK
there.

Good, and good luck!!

Looks like this could be the answer to a thorough "ScanDisk" that
will
complete.

But be prepared for the worse though g

Sorry I'm so ignorant.

By no means as ignorant as you may think!!

Your help is MUCH appreciated. carol.

Lets just hope it works g and I'm sure that Noel, Mike or others
will
continue with their support if/when necessary.

Mart




"Mart" wrote in message
...
Samsung FAQ's/Knowledge Base. - Where Can I Obtain A Free Hard
Drive
Diagnostic Utility?





http://erms.samsungusa.com/customer/...?PG_ID=1&AT_ID
=5539&PROD_SUB_ID=26&PROD_ID=-1

HTH and good luck

Mart

The fact that the utility would not complete is almost certainly sufficient
evidence that there are physical problems with the HD.

WRT the repeated use of Scandisk not finding errors. this is quite normal -
as it ignores blocks already marked as Bad.
The fact that the bad blocks are at the beginning of the drive makes me
worry even more about its longevity - this could, if/when it starts
extending, start eating into you FAT tables and MBR and make the whole drive
unreadable except to recovery experts.

Back up your data NOW - if you really want to try to fix the drive
yourself, you could then try a low-level format and see if that brings back
the bad sectors (it WILL erase all data on the whole drive, and you will
then need to fdisk/format again), and then after that, run the utility again
to see what it says this time.

--
Noel Paton (MS-MVP 2002-2006, Windows)

Nil Carborundum Illegitemi
http://www.crashfixpc.com/millsrpch.htm

http://tinyurl.com/6oztj

Please read http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm on how to post messages to NG's
"caroloyl" wrote in message
...
When I used the DOS thorough ScanDisk the other day, two blocks marked
"bad"
(ones that contained "some bad sectors") were in the top row of the graph
display-- separated, but very near the beginning. There were no other bad
blocks and the sum of bad sectors (98 KB) has not increased since November
16th. How is it if those blocks were marked bad, the surface ScanDisk
reported no problems were found???

Noel wrote:-

The fact that the utility would not complete is almost certainly
sufficient evidence that there are physical problems with the HD.
... etc., etc., ..

I totally concur with your comments, Noel.

For whatever cause - heat, mechanical, surface, etc., - Carol has a
(terminally) 'sick disk'

Mart

Thanks for the reassurance guys--I needed that . . . and for your time
assessing this matter. I'm sure hoping this will be the end of the line for
my string of problems--and I'm consoled to find once again Millennium is not
to blame.

carol



"Mart" wrote in message
...
Noel wrote:-

The fact that the utility would not complete is almost certainly
sufficient evidence that there are physical problems with the HD.
... etc., etc., ..

I totally concur with your comments, Noel.

For whatever cause - heat, mechanical, surface, etc., - Carol has a
(terminally) 'sick disk'

Mart