pls help! programs don't work, scandisk error

[alesta]

hi there,
i recently started my computer and the scandisk started automatically, saying that one of my disk drives may have developed bad sectors. the scandisk would not finish running. it stopped, saying:

a logical assertion has failed.
Expression: Get_cStart (&de, dr) ==cSource
Source: line 1732 of scan.c

also, none of my programs work except notepad. this is quite distressing. whenever i try to run a program a message comes up saying
"this program has performed an illegal operation and will be shut down." all this that i've mentioned happened (scandisk error and programs not running)happened at the same time. although i was having some problems before that with my computer. it was very, very slow, wouldn't copy and paste sometimes, etc. i was just about to install adaware when this happened.

i would so greatly appreciate any help. thank you so much!

thanks much,
amy:)

[dlh6213]

Sounds to me like your drive is going (or has gone) bad. You should try to hook it up as a slave in a working computer ASAP and save as much of your data as you can.

[mikeSQL]

AND, you could also try going to the DOS before you get into windows at the start up and type in chdsk or. orr. orrrrrrr, mmm scandsk. I think, is that correct?

[alesta]

thank you kindly, guys, for replying. (sorry i took so long to respond--i don't have immediate computer access anymore.:)) i really appreciate your help.:)

if i could ask one more question to anyone reading..could anyone tell me why this happened? was it spyware, a virus, or just old age/wear and tear, would you guess?

thanks again!:)

take care,
amy

[oalee]

It's most probably wear and tear. In my past experiences, spywares just screw up windows and not the hardware.

[dlh6213]

I agree with oalee, I don't know of any malware that can damage hardware. It's either worn out, or has a manufacturing defect.

[alesta]

sorry for the late reply, but thanks so much oalee and dlh!:) i really appreciate the feedback. y'all have a great day!:)

take care,:)
amy