Boot Error

[livesfreely]

I have Win98SE. I have partitioned my hard drive into three parts. It's been that way for about a year. Now, almost every time I run the scan disk, it tells me that there was a boot error and scandisk will fix it. I get that with all the drives most of the time. Can anyone suggest a reason for this?

I already ran Viruscheck, spybot, adware, hijack this. Nothing showed up there. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

 

[mattjurado]

1. What is the exact error? Is this from dos or windows.
2. If this is just after an improper shutdown, could be normal.
3. There's always a chance a hard disk problem could come up, so make sure you have a backup of all data.
4. If the scandisk completes after this error, what happens if you run it again immediately after?

Please answer all 4.

Matt J.

 

[edfair]

And how are the drives set up? One boot, one extended with 2 logical? Or as multiboot?

Ed Fair
Give the wrong symptoms, get the wrong solutions.

 

[livesfreely]

The drives are setup as one boot and one extended w/ 2 Logical.

 

[edfair]

Sounds like something isn't shutting down correctly.
For starters I'd use task manager to close everything but systray and explorer down before attempting shutdown. That might get you an error message of something hung.

Ed Fair
Give the wrong symptoms, get the wrong solutions.

 

[livesfreely]

1. The error is from Windows.
2. Not just after improper shutdown.
4. If I run the scandisk again, the scandisk does not show this error. If I run the scandisk after say 5 days, it would show this error again. Sometimes for all drives, and sometimes only for c (the boot drive)and e drives.

 

[mattjurado]

Then something is wrong with your filesystem (which could be a windows problem or a virus), or a hard disk problem.

1. Make sure you have a backup of all data.
2. Without knowing the circumstances of what exactly is causing this, it would be hard to diagnose. I would run complete virus and spyware scans to make sure there are no bugs on your os, and disable any background apps using MSCONFIG. Uncheck all the junk on your startup tab. You really only need systray, and maybe your antivirus modules.
3. Another culprit might be some other disk utility like Norton Utilities. Dump it if you have it.
4. Check your BIOS options in your CMOS setup. If you have S.M.A.R.T. as an option, turn it on. If you get any hard drive errors when booting after this, replace the drive.
5. Run it a week, see how it goes.

Matt J.

 

[livesfreely]

Thanks. I'll do that. I don't if you remember, but I told you that I already ran anti virus and spyware programs. The only things I have in msconfig is systray and antivirus. I'll check the BIOS options. Thanks for your help.

 

[1043]

I'm not a fan of scandisk. Try running Nortons Disk Doctor. Have you tried a scanreg /fix? Also is there a reason you have your HDD partioned into 3?

 

[wolluf]

Try the disk manufacturer's diagnostic utility - generally available from their website.

 

[TekTippy4U]

When was the last time you Defragged...
Defrag in safemode..
Your Win386.swp file may be corrupt, and/or gets corrupted as you use it....(which is maybe why it'll show up after awhile) as it may be when some file/folder on your HDD that when accessed and loaded into vcache(swapfile)...it corrupts it.
Check your advanced settings in ScanDisk....
As others say;
Backup ALL your Data/Docs..
then Delete the swapfile, it'll rebuild itself
Run Defrag
3 partitions is a great idea for separating OS, Programs, Data/Docs..
Atleast Scandisk is doing what it's supposed to be doing....Find a prob and fix it...
Cause it happens(same error)...can't stress Backup enough!
Your HDD "may" be about to fail...maybe not
Couple of Options for other Defraggers;

http://www.vopt.com/VoptXP.htm

http://www.execsoft.com/downloads/menu.asp

TT4U

Notification:
These are just "my" thoughts....and should be carefully measured against other opinions.
Backup All Important Data/Docs..All involved shall be spared the grief.

 

[TekTippy4U]

oh yeh;
Right before you do anything major (or minor)..
Start>Run SCANREGW
"Yes" to prompt
It'll make a very recent backup of REG, should it be needed

TT4U

Notification:
These are just "my" thoughts....and should be carefully measured against other opinions.
Backup All Important Data/Docs..All involved shall be spared the grief.

 

[livesfreely]

thanks to all for their help.

 

[outonalimb]

Depending on whether your HDD has SMART functionality, download a free trial of ActiveSMART from the web site below:

http://www.ariolic.com/activesmart/

It will let you know how healthy your hard drive is and whether there are any read/write problems.

This is one of the best tools i've come across for troubleshooting hard disk errors.

Regards,

 

[livesfreely]

My hard drive doesn't have SMART functionality. Thanks for all your help.