HP Pavilion Slimline (2006) chkdsk

Hello,

I'm cleaning up an old HP Pavilion Slimline that is showing signs of impending death (whirring fan, clicking, and a soft "siren" sound when it's working hard). This box has been infected numerous times, and while it's been repeatedly cleaned up to return to a working state, it hasn't had any kind of regular maintenance done on it.

At present, I'm trying to defrag, after uninstalling unused programs (using Revo Uninstaller) and running CCleaner & Registry Mechanic to sweep out the cobwebs.

Defrag won't run because it says the volume is in use by another process, and do I want to run chkdsk /f at next start. I tried that, but it still wouldn't run. I booted into safe mode (took FOREVER), but chkdsk /f still won't run.

How can I find what process is using the volume, and get chkdsk to run?

 

I don't think your HD or any infection is the issue here, the whirring fan and soft siren indicate overheating to me.

Have you tried physically cleaning the system (dust bunnies etc) and checking that all fans are working?

 

No, I haven't been inside the box yet; however, there is not excessive heat coming from the vents & I can hear the fan running softly. My main concern at the moment is to run chkdsk /f. Can you help with that?

 

Additional info: chkdsk will run, but says it's running in read-only mode. There is also a message: "F parameter not specified ".

 

OK as you've discovered chkdsk won't run on the system drive as it's in use. First thing I would confirm is you have SP3 installed. Once you do so we can take things from there.

Anyway I'm still not convinced this is not a heat issue, earlier you said...

now you say

I may be mistaken but your post indicated that the whirring fan shows signs of a fault.

 

That is the first thing that I do when I work on a PC. I don't want it to overheat and die while I have it and get blamed for it. I have taken pictures of some really nasty ones and shown them to the customer and told them that this was like throwing dirt over a live person. Keep stacking it and death will soon prevail.

 

OK. I opened it up and cleaned it out. It was dirty inside, but not the worst I've seen.

Yes, it is SP3.

I'm still unable to run chkdsk /f - the volume is still in use by another process. Also, the current drive can't be locked.

When chkdsk (no /f) ran, in Stage 3 of 3 (Security Descriptors), it was unable to write to attribute 128 of file 9.

What next?

 

Run the manufacturers diagnostics on the drive. What make/model is it?

 

Have you tried it in Safe Mode?

 

It's an HP Pavilion Slimline s7527c. I've found diagnostics here: http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softwareDownloadIndex?cc=us&lc=en&dlc=en&softwareitem=ob461_1en

 

Hard drive diagnostics, any computer can have various models of drives installed. We need to know the manufacturer of the drive.

BTW, are you still hearing that siren sound after cleaning?

 

Oops. Wrong diagnostics. I'll keep looking.

Yes. I'm in safe mode now.

 

The whirring/revving and the siren sound are both intermittent. The computer hasn't been "working" while it's in safe mode, so no siren, which usually comes when its working.

I think this is the right tool set http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsuppor...askId=135&prodTypeId=18964&prodSeriesId=70270

 

Harpo, just post the manufacturer of the drive and I'll happily post a link to the correct diagnostics.

The siren is a warning and I'll repeat this is not informing you of a hard drive issue but more likely overheating.

 

I suspected the siren sound was associated with overheating, because I heard it when the machine was actively working, and not when it's sitting quiet.

The hard drive is WDC WD2500JS.

 

OK, Western Digital thanks

Download WDDiag starting from here but seriously you've already conceded that overheating is the issue. What are you doing about that?

 

I've found and am running Western Digital Data Lifeguard Diagnostics for Windows...

 

No problem, one more time though what are you doing about the siren?

 

I don't know what to do about any overheating other than cleaning out the inside, which is what I did! I'm not sure how much overheating is going on, as the outside of the box isn't uncomfortably warm and the fan isn't sounding distressed. I haven't heard the siren sound since yesterday. I haven't heard the whirring sound since the computer was brought to me - I've heard it before, as the computer has been making these sounds off and on for quite some time.

All I'm trying to do here is to clean/tune it up so it runs as well as possible for the remainder of its life.

Part of the cleaning up is to defrag. It won't defrag because some process is using the hard drive, so I'm waiting another 23 hours to see what the diagnostic comes up with.

What else should I be doing???

 

What did WD's diagnostics show?

Harpo, you have to understand that we are not psychics here. We don't know what the previous results were unless you tell us, preferably before you take further steps. Seriously why bother asking if you've already determined a course of action?