# Advice re. testing PC hardware.



## michaelrmgreen (Jan 22, 2012)

I've been presented with an Acer Aspire One to fix (model AOA 110-Ab /ZG5 with 1.5Gb ram and 8Gb SSD running XP sp3).

The problem manifested itself originally as error messages about corrupt files. This is a recent problem, the system had been running OK for a couple of years. These messages were intermittent but not resolved by running chkdsk /r. I immediately suspected the memory, but four rounds of memtest86+ couldn't find any error. 

I have reinstalled the OS from the owner's originals disks without any error messages, but when I later installed some drivers not present on the CD, the zip files copies to the system proved faulty, but tested OK on the USB stick they had been transferred from.

So the question is can anyone suggest a methodology for identifying any hardware problem?


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## phoenix (Jan 22, 2012)

An 8 GB flash, under constant use in WinXP for several years, is probably starting to fail.  Flash has a limited number of writes that each cell can handle before failing.  And SSDs fail in spectacular ways.  

I'd look into whether or not the SSD is replaceable in those things or not.


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## michaelrmgreen (Jan 22, 2012)

phoenix said:
			
		

> An 8 GB flash, under constant use in WinXP for several years, is probably starting to fail.  Flash has a limited number of writes that each cell can handle before failing.  And SSDs fail in spectacular ways.
> 
> I'd look into whether or not the SSD is replaceable in those things or not.



Haha, yes you're probably right...

Me: "What do you use it for?"
Her: "Oh, I just take it to conferences."
Me: "So just Powerpoint then?"
Her: "Yes, just Powerpoint. And SPSS"

Seems easy to replace: http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?p=15128092

Still, I'd like to confirm the SSD is malfunctioning.


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## DutchDaemon (Jan 22, 2012)

Did you try sysutils/smartmontools?


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## michaelrmgreen (Jan 22, 2012)

DutchDaemon said:
			
		

> Did you try sysutils/smartmontools?



Good evening Dr. D. Thanks for the suggestion. As the system has XP installed I used this: http://gsmartcontrol.berlios.de/home/index.php/Downloads and the corresponding underlying component: http://sourceforge.net/apps/trac/smartmontools/ as per your recommendation. However the output indicates that SMART isn't supported by the SSD or the system. I think a more head-on approach is required.


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## michaelrmgreen (Jan 24, 2012)

Subsequent to trying smartmontools I tried the Seagate 'Seatools for Windows' utility but that fell over during startup. I then found an Intel tool (the SSD is an Intel made item) but that gave no useful information. It seems aimed at the recent 2.5 inch SSD units. Anyone any further ideas?


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## michaelrmgreen (Jan 26, 2012)

The saga continues...
I've now tried HD Tune Pro (http://www.hdtune.com/) and it says the disk is OK. So if the memory is OK and the disk is OK what now? The owner says she can't simply replace the system because "They don't make them this small any more". Suggestions please.


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## michaelrmgreen (Feb 1, 2012)

Well, I think this is finished, so I've marked it 'solved'. It's not solved but I can't identify the problem. The owner will have to struggle on with as it is until a suitable replacement becomes available.


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## ChalkBored (Feb 1, 2012)

Did hdtune give you a pass/fail answer or did it provide a list of results that showed the disk was fine?

The drive could still be bad, but not bad enough to cross the pass/fail threshold.

There are (or were) ways to stick Windows on a usb stick. You could try that and see if it still has problems. It's much cheaper than buying a new SSD just to find out it wasn't the problem. And if it did fix the problem, it would be usable until you did get the replacement SSD for it.


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## michaelrmgreen (Feb 1, 2012)

HD Tune Pro gives detailed feedback and showed no errors. The disk MIGHT still be faulty but nothing can find the fault. I might try the alternate media route.


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