[rosh325]

Hey all,
Im kind of confused/worried and need your help. As of today, my laptop has been randomly hanging up..and i hear my hard drive making a repetative noise...sounds like its randomly speeding up every 5 seconds or so (pulsing)..then i get a blue screen that says "a problem has been detected...if this is your first time, reset...if not, check for added hardware/disable any bios options about memory shadowing"...i havent been able to write down the whole message b/c then it says "dumping memory stack" and hten it restarts. I can't find evidence of this in my even log

It's a 3 year old sony pcg-f630 vaio laptop. If it is failing, can i replace it/how hard is it to do/do they even still make my hard drive? I have already backed up all my files but im kind of confused. THe fan itself has been making noise but is still spinning at a good rate. Please help me
~dan

 

[rosh325]

Now i tried running a scan disk and got the following error:

"This disk does not have enough space to replicate bad clusters detected in file (number listed) of name ." "An unspecified error occured windows has finished checking the disk...autochk program not found-skipping auto check"

then i tried to load up windows normally to delete some files/back up stuff..and got another blue screen..saying "A problem has been detected with kernal_data_inpluse (or imput..i dont remember)_error at stop oxooooooo7a (oxe17ce9f0) (more things listed). Address bf8f2642 base at bf 800000..d.ate stamp 3f73195d.......win32k.sys......."

now i can start up to windows...but i cant do anything there (hdd light on and off...but not able to do anything)......what should i do? Reinstall windows? safe mode? please respond as im desparate at this point...thanks

 

[tomkae]

Click start\run type in "MSCONFIG" select the Diagnostic startup checkbox

 

[rosh325]

at this point..i cant even get windows to stay open for too long before it goes to the BSOD....a reinstall wouldnt help..right? How do i know if its the hard drive or an overheat?...any ideas about that error message?

 

[rosh325]

i put it into diagnostic mode..now what?

 

[rosh325]

i deleted some things and am running scan disk now...but still....i need help..anyone please..any suggestions work.......do i need to buy a specific 3.5" HDD or is any supported?

 

[rosh325]

well....even though i feel like im talking to myself :-( I ran scan disk..im assuming the bad sectors were fixed..and now the computer seems to be running fine. Does this mean my HDD is alright? THanks all, I hope to pick your brains later this year when i decide to build a desktop replacement for this rellic of a laptop.

 

[abbyk]

hey rosh - just gotta be patient sometimes

I would find out the manufacturer of drive ( aida32 will tell you )
Then download a diagnostic app from that manufacturer. It usually creates a floppy which you then boot to run.

See if all tests pass

Try that 1st - let us know how u get on

You are not alone

abby

 

[rosh325]

hey abby thanks for the response. Sorry for not being patient, just was kind of freaking out..thats all...the drive is a fujitsu so i will get the diag. floppy and let you know what happens..thanks

 

[JSanguancheu]

Hey rosh,

Yes, see if fujitsu has a diagnostic program for the HD.

I'm glad to hear you got the laptop up and working for now.

I'd still be worried about it biting the dust soon though.

If and when you need a replacement, you'll need to be looking for a 2.5" EIDE HD. They come in 20, 30, 40, 60, maybe even 80 gb sizes by now. (Haven't shopped for a laptop HD since last year.)
Laptop HDs are smaller and have a different connector than normal HDs. Make sure the one you get says 2.5" EIDE.

Replacing a HD on a laptop is usually a fairly easy affair involving a few screws. I'm sure Sony will have directions on their website.

You still have that sony restore CD or a Windows XP CD somewhere, right?

 

[rosh325]

hey all,
Well here's an update. I ran the diagnostic CD and found bad sectors which were repaired. As per replacing the drive, I found a website with directions, but it still seems pretty complicated (ill include a link). Also, can my bios recognize/can my computer handle any large drive? Seeing how my current drive apparently runs in ata 60, i didnt think a faster drive would work. If it bites the dust i may just build a new desktop.

http://www.mikeshardware.com/howtos/sonyhdswap/

 

[abbyk]

Hey rosh

sounds like u are progressing

Do you still have strange noises ? If you do you really need to identify weather its the fan or hard drive. Did you manage to clean the fan ? A can of compressed air is the best tool.

My hunch is the drive is fine. At least you have your data backed up if not.

How much free space is on the drive ? I had the impression you were low on space.

And have you done a "housecleaning" job on it ? delete temp files, run av scan, adaware, spybot, defrag, etc

Then test that baby - put it thru its paces & see if u still have any strange issues. As you backed up your data - a format/reinstall might be worth doing - but not essential if you dont want to - yet

Keep us posted, abbyk

 

[DaveBurnett]

It sounds complicated, but it isn't all that bad. ANY modern 2.5in disk will fit, you don't need to buy from Sony. The newer ones are backwards compatible so you don't need to worry about that. The only thing you need to check is if there is a maximum capacity that the Sony will support - but I supect it will cope with anything you can afford.

 

[JSanguancheu]

Hey rosh,

wow..that certainly is a lot harder than it has to be to replace the HD on the Vaio.

I've only worked with IBM, Toshiba, and Compaqs so far. Nothing that involved.

But at least you have wonderful step by step color pictures to help you out if you need to replace.

Good luck.

 

[rosh325]

Hey,
Well seeing how this laptop is fairly old im not exactly ready to pump some money into it just yet for a new hard drive. As per space, I already have an 80 gig external hooked up to it, so i transfered some files to free up space. I have defragged, cleaned up temp, etc (including running ad-aware).
Yes the pictures are very nice, but like i said, if i dont need to do it just yet i dont want to. As for the noise, i didnt know how to clean out the fan other than blowing compressed air into it (which i dont have, so i just blew into it). From what i could tell, when i have having a problem, there were two distinct noises, the fan, which was being loud, and the hard drive, which was rhythmically pulsing. I figure that + the bad sectors=a dying hard drive. Oh well, thank you all for helping me get this far and bring it back to life