7 yr old computer, is it dying?

I get the impression that you think a chkdsk is defragmentation.

They are different.

Chkdsk checks the disk for bad blocks, retrieves all the data it can from the bad blocks, and then marks them so that no more data is written to them.

Defragmentation on the other hand arranges scattered files into a compact order, so that the hard drive can read them faster.

You should perform a chkdsk to get rid of the bad blocks before a defrag. That should take care of the bad blocks problem on your hard drive for awhile.

In addition, although it is generally considered a sign that its about time to replace the drive, (and you should back up your data just in case), it does not absolutely foretell future hardware failure.

Virus, malware, or just problems during software installation can cause "soft" bad blocks on the hard drive that do not indicate hardware failure.

Run chkdsk and then check the log file for details on what it found, and if it was able to perform a full repair during the scan.

Best of Luck
makeitso




[edit on 2/22/08 by makeitso]

Thanks, makeitso I did NOT know that.

Even though I plan to replace this old computer, I will need to keep the old one: a couple of my software applications are NOT compatible with Vista **Surprise, surprise** and will need to keep the old computer functional for sometime.

I tried to run chkdsk /f /r

I get a message.
Something about an NIFS file and somthing cannot be locked

reply to post by DontTreadOnMe

---

If it looked like this: external image

The error is intentional.
It can't run chkdsk on the "C" drive, while the OS is running.

It wants to know if you will allow it run on reboot instead.

Press y for yes, press enter, and reboot.
It will scan/repair during startup. This may take some time. Be patient.

Best of Luck



[edit on 2/22/08 by makeitso]

Haha my 8year old PC beat yours!!! 320MB Ram (and thats updated recently), 19GB, 1.5Ghz CPU. Sucks because at 8 years ago my PC cost like $1,300 dollars.

Anyways I'm glad you came up with this thread Don'tTreadOnMe or else I would have never learned about CHKSYS...

If worse comes to worse, you can do what I always do every year, reformat my hard drive. Then again all my 8 year old computer is good for now is Word Processing and Surfing the Internet. I honestly don't use it for anything else. If I had speakers to go with it, then I would love it.

P.S. If your concern about spyware and adware. My best advice is to disable Internet Explorer, after I did that, barely got any. Apparently most adware and spyware sneak into your PC that way. Here's how you do it:

1) Get on Internet Explorer > Tools > Internet Option > "Connection" Tab
2) Click on the "Lan Setting" Button
3) Under Proxy Server, Click on the "Use a Proxy Server for your Lan" Checkbox
4) Change settings to Address: "0.0.0.0." and any Port: "80"

This would block all information trying to come in and out through Internet Explorer, Only Problem is that some software (i.e. anti-spyware) can't update themselves. So just enable it when you do plan on updating your software, then disable Internet Explorer again.

[edit on 24-2-2008 by skyblueff0]