test old hardware

I am a software wonk; the hardware works,
doesn't it? I have an oldish box with an
ASUS motherboard, 80G hard drive, 1G ram.
I have Win2k on it and there have been few
problems until recently. I now see assorted
problems, especially when booting, that may
be hardware problems.

I intend to wipe the hard drive, and install
WinXP, but I would first like to test the
hardware. Can someone please recommend
test programs? Note, there is nothing on it
I expect to save.

Thanks,
Mike.

Mike -- Email Ignored schrieb:

> I am a software wonk; the hardware works,
> doesn't it? I have an oldish box with an
> ASUS motherboard, 80G hard drive, 1G ram.
> I have Win2k on it and there have been few
> problems until recently. I now see assorted
> problems, especially when booting, that may
> be hardware problems.

The affected hardware may be the CMOS battery. Do you get the proper
date/time on reboot?

DoDi

On Thu, 22 Jan 2009 17:00:54 +0100, Hans-Peter Diettrich wrote:

> Mike -- Email Ignored schrieb:
>
>> I am a software wonk; the hardware works, doesn't it? I have an oldish
>> box with an ASUS motherboard, 80G hard drive, 1G ram. I have Win2k on
>> it and there have been few problems until recently. I now see assorted
>> problems, especially when booting, that may be hardware problems.
>
> The affected hardware may be the CMOS battery. Do you get the proper
> date/time on reboot?
>
> DoDi

Date and time are correct. Can you suggest ant tests
I can use before installing a new system?

Mike.

On Thu, 22 Jan 2009 12:48:39 -0500, gfretwell wrote:

[...]
>
> You can test the memory with simmtester (simmtester.com). Use the burn
> in option, set the count at a big number and let it run overnight. The
> best hard drive tests usually come from the manufacturer and are going
> to be on their web site. Seatools from Seagate.com does a pretty good
> job on any drive. Those are the main things that go wrong with hardware.
> Boot problems are going to be driver conflicts as often as anything.

These problems appeared after several years of problem-free
function. If it is a driver problem, it would have to
be something I got on an update, or a virus.

Mike.

On Thu, 22 Jan 2009 19:33:05 -0500, gfretwell wrote:

> On Thu, 22 Jan 2009 20:37:35 GMT, Mike -- Email Ignored
> <> wrote:
>
>>On Thu, 22 Jan 2009 12:48:39 -0500, gfretwell wrote:
>>
>>[...]
>>>
>>> You can test the memory with simmtester (simmtester.com). Use the burn
>>> in option, set the count at a big number and let it run overnight. The
>>> best hard drive tests usually come from the manufacturer and are going
>>> to be on their web site. Seatools from Seagate.com does a pretty good
>>> job on any drive. Those are the main things that go wrong with
>>> hardware. Boot problems are going to be driver conflicts as often as
>>> anything.
>>
>>These problems appeared after several years of problem-free function.
>>If it is a driver problem, it would have to be something I got on an
>>update, or a virus.
>
> Ah the joys of automatic update ;-)
>
> You still might have a simm that is getting flaky. Do you ever get
> strange BSOD"s. I had that on one of my machines and simmtester nailed a
> bad simm on about the 10th loop of the burn in test.

I don't do automatic updates but I do a manual update now
and then. I did get a BSOD once on a boot, but I got by on
a reboot. Once it stopped working altogether. It kept
reporting one bad file or another. I used the install disk
to repair it, and it ran fine for a day or two. Now I am
getting unexpected reboots, but after one or two of these,
it seems stable all day.

I don't see any software called "simmtester". At simmtester.com
I see something called "DocMemory". Is that what you mean?

Mike.

In news:J0ael.1594$ Mike -- Email Ignored
wrote:

> and then. I did get a BSOD once on a boot, but I got by on
> a reboot. Once it stopped working altogether. It kept
> reporting one bad file or another. I used the install disk
> to repair it, and it ran fine for a day or two. Now I am
> getting unexpected reboots, but after one or two of these,
> it seems stable all day.

Hi Mike, I think You have hard drive problems -
either logical ones or even hardware ones (bad sectors).

You may use the Win2k internal tools or the HD manufacturer
tools (better).
Before going to WinXP You would even need to test Your HD.
As You then should use filesystem NTFS these tests may be done
automatically during partitioning and formatting.
But I would prefer the HD manufacturer tool.

Or even better install a larger disk than Your current 80 GB.
Nowadays You can get a 500 GB disk for small money.
But You have to check the BIOS first if it supports that size.
Horst

"Mike -- Email Ignored" <> wrote
>
> I am a software wonk; the hardware works,
> doesn't it? I have an oldish box with an
> ASUS motherboard, 80G hard drive, 1G ram.
> I have Win2k on it and there have been few
> problems until recently. I now see assorted
> problems, especially when booting, that may
> be hardware problems.
>
> I intend to wipe the hard drive, and install
> WinXP, but I would first like to test the
> hardware. Can someone please recommend
> test programs? Note, there is nothing on it
> I expect to save.

Hi Mike,

Run memtest86 to test your RAM: http://www.memtest86.com/

Run Win2k's checkdisk util (somewhere in Administrative Tools, I think, or
Accessories) on your hard disk to check for bad sectors. It could well be
time for a new HD.

My suggestion is that you install Debian Linux before installing WinXP:
http://www.debian.org/distrib/ - doing so will give thorough diagnostic
output on all aspects of the system (CPU, motherboard devices, disks and
other peripherals) which may well not be revealed when you install XP (which
tends to ignore non-fatal errors).

Good luck,

Chris (hardware wonk, who gets other people to make his software work)

On Thu, 22 Jan 2009 12:48:39 -0500, gfretwell wrote:

[...]

> You can test the memory with simmtester (simmtester.com). Use the burn
> in option, set the count at a big number and let it run overnight. The
> best hard drive tests usually come from the manufacturer and are going
> to be on their web site. Seatools from Seagate.com does a pretty good
> job on any drive. Those are the main things that go wrong with hardware.
> Boot problems are going to be driver conflicts as often as anything.

I just downloaded these from www.seagate.com:

seatoolsforwindowssetup.exe
SeaToolsDOS213bEURO.ISO

My understanding is that a disk from the ISO uses its own
DOS system and will on a box that has no system.

* Is this correct?

Now the box I intend to test now has Win2k now, but not much
longer. I have these additional questions:

* It there any reason to use one or the other on a Win2k box?

* Will either or both destroy data?

* Is there a disk size limit? The tutorial indicates for the
DOS version indicates a 32G limit for at least part
of the tests. I intend to test an 80G drive.

Thanks for your help.
Mike.

On Jan 22, 6:14*am, Mike -- Email Ignored <m_d_berger_1...@yahoo.com>
wrote:
> ... the hardware works, doesn't it? *

Next time the case is open check for capacitor plague.
Ref. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capacitor_plague

Regards, ... Peter E.