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It has been over 2 months since this last happened.
I think it was because I had to do a couple of forced reboots on my Media Machine, and I did not check the drive after I did it, I used CHKDSK from within windows 8 and it said I was OK. But I neglected to check for Read Element Failure using GWscan/WDdiag.
It all starts with Windows 8 not responding quickly - It starts showing the Aperture Circle rotating, when you go from Application to Application, or moving from Explorer Window to another Explorer window. Or, in the case of this morning, I was watching something on VLC, and it began stuttering. At first I thought it was my Settings for Playback in VLC so I changed them and when I tried to restart the app, it would not come up. Then my system totally froze up when I pulled up Task Manager. So I did a hard reboot.
After that, the system appeared to boot up but it froze solid. So I checked my 500GB System disk and sure enough, Read Element Failure. I'm using GWscan now to fix it. My latest advice has been to use Vivard to do a drive remap, but that is bad advice so I apologize to a few people I told to use Vivard - Don't use Vivard unless GWscan or WDdiag returns a "Too Many Errors to Fix" message, Then and Only then should you use Vivard, and I would not use Vivard on any SSD drives.
I've posted a hundred times, Read Element Failure can cause all manner of errors, it will make Windows 8 become unstable, it can cause your system to get stuck in a Boot Loop. This is why I always say, check your Hard Drives FIRST before you get into more detailed repair procedures. If you check your drive, and it finds errors, fixes them and you are still in a reboot loop, then you can try Automatic Repair from an Install Disk- But only after running a CHKDSK from a bootable media like Hiren's Boot CD- When you use the Mini XP which is on that disk, Windows 8 can still be checked using the XP CHKDSK from a command line.
I started GWscan about 15 minutes ago and now It's a third of the way done, GWscan and WDdiag, which are both the same program, usually take about 1 hour and 15 minutes for a 500 GB drive, maybe a little longer for a TB drive. Vivard on the other hand, can take up to 4 hours just for an 80 GB drive!
So I apologize for telling a few people to use Vivard to fix what GWscan or WDdiag could have fixed much more quickly. Only use Vivard when your drive has too many errors to fix conventionally using those other two programs.
Another sign of Read Element Failure will be an increased Temperature on the drive - It it becomes hotter than 50 centigrade, you should run GWscan. Both of my SATA drives were incredibly hot this morning, so I get to test my Seagate 1 TB drive after I'm done with the 500 Gigger.
My problem with the Media PC is that I keep the main drives outside of the case for quick Hot Swap. I used to keep them in a couple of cheap SATA cases but they were Kingwin and sucked. I keep them laid out flat from an Open Case, and my cat likes to play with the wires and sit on my hard drives. Heh. Does anyone know what kind of case I could use to mount an HP Pavilion Asus MN2 NodusN Motherboard? The connections do not look proprietary...
5 more minutes... then I can test my 1TB drive...
I think it was because I had to do a couple of forced reboots on my Media Machine, and I did not check the drive after I did it, I used CHKDSK from within windows 8 and it said I was OK. But I neglected to check for Read Element Failure using GWscan/WDdiag.
It all starts with Windows 8 not responding quickly - It starts showing the Aperture Circle rotating, when you go from Application to Application, or moving from Explorer Window to another Explorer window. Or, in the case of this morning, I was watching something on VLC, and it began stuttering. At first I thought it was my Settings for Playback in VLC so I changed them and when I tried to restart the app, it would not come up. Then my system totally froze up when I pulled up Task Manager. So I did a hard reboot.
After that, the system appeared to boot up but it froze solid. So I checked my 500GB System disk and sure enough, Read Element Failure. I'm using GWscan now to fix it. My latest advice has been to use Vivard to do a drive remap, but that is bad advice so I apologize to a few people I told to use Vivard - Don't use Vivard unless GWscan or WDdiag returns a "Too Many Errors to Fix" message, Then and Only then should you use Vivard, and I would not use Vivard on any SSD drives.
I've posted a hundred times, Read Element Failure can cause all manner of errors, it will make Windows 8 become unstable, it can cause your system to get stuck in a Boot Loop. This is why I always say, check your Hard Drives FIRST before you get into more detailed repair procedures. If you check your drive, and it finds errors, fixes them and you are still in a reboot loop, then you can try Automatic Repair from an Install Disk- But only after running a CHKDSK from a bootable media like Hiren's Boot CD- When you use the Mini XP which is on that disk, Windows 8 can still be checked using the XP CHKDSK from a command line.
I started GWscan about 15 minutes ago and now It's a third of the way done, GWscan and WDdiag, which are both the same program, usually take about 1 hour and 15 minutes for a 500 GB drive, maybe a little longer for a TB drive. Vivard on the other hand, can take up to 4 hours just for an 80 GB drive!
So I apologize for telling a few people to use Vivard to fix what GWscan or WDdiag could have fixed much more quickly. Only use Vivard when your drive has too many errors to fix conventionally using those other two programs.
Another sign of Read Element Failure will be an increased Temperature on the drive - It it becomes hotter than 50 centigrade, you should run GWscan. Both of my SATA drives were incredibly hot this morning, so I get to test my Seagate 1 TB drive after I'm done with the 500 Gigger.
My problem with the Media PC is that I keep the main drives outside of the case for quick Hot Swap. I used to keep them in a couple of cheap SATA cases but they were Kingwin and sucked. I keep them laid out flat from an Open Case, and my cat likes to play with the wires and sit on my hard drives. Heh. Does anyone know what kind of case I could use to mount an HP Pavilion Asus MN2 NodusN Motherboard? The connections do not look proprietary...
5 more minutes... then I can test my 1TB drive...
Last edited:
My Computer
System One
-
- OS
- Windows 8 Pro with Media Center/Windows 7
- Computer type
- PC/Desktop
- System Manufacturer/Model
- Asus M2N-MX SE Plus § DualCore AMD Athlon 64 X2, 2300 MHz (11.5 x 200) 4400+ § Corsair Value Select
- CPU
- AMD 4400+/4200+
- Motherboard
- Asus M2N-MX SE Plus/Asus A8M2N-LA (NodusM)
- Memory
- 2 GB/3GB
- Graphics Card(s)
- GeForce 8400 GS/GeForce 210
- Sound Card
- nVIDIA GT218 - High Definition Audio Controller
- Monitor(s) Displays
- Hitachi 40" LCD HDTV
- Screen Resolution
- "1842 x 1036"
- Hard Drives
- WDC WD50 00AAKS-007AA SCSI Disk Device
ST1000DL 002-9TT153 SCSI Disk Device
WDC WD3200AAJB-00J3A0 ATA Device
WDC WD32 WD-WCAPZ2942630 USB Device
WD My Book 1140 USB Device
- PSU
- Works 550w
- Case
- MSI "M-Box"
- Cooling
- Water Cooled
- Keyboard
- Dell Keyboard
- Mouse
- Microsoft Intellimouse
- Internet Speed
- Cable Medium Speed
- Browser
- Chrome/IE 10
- Antivirus
- Eset NOD32 6.x/Win Defend
- Other Info
- Recently lost my Windows 8 on my main PC, had to go back to Windows 7.