Member Avatar for teknolog

I've been having a problem where all programs would stop responding - even Windows Explorer. When this happens, I can still switch between processes, but when I try to do anything in the new process, it stops responding also. This continues for up to 5-10 minutes after which it either starts working again, or restarts. This problem disappears for months at a time, but always comes back seemingly at random, although now it seems to be constant.

When the crashes happen, there are many errors in the event log such as:

"The driver detected a controller error on \Device\Ide\IdePort0."
"The driver detected a controller error on \Device\Harddisk0\DR0"

Interestingly, it only ever happens within about 20 minutes of the computer being switched on (if at all) - if it does not occur in this period, it will run fine (for days/weeks at a time) until I turn it off. I tried switching the BIOS mode from IDE to ACHI as I was told this could be related to the problem, but now I just get a BSOD instead of the lockups, with the same pattern. The BSOD is KERNEL DATA INPAGE ERROR.

Also, sometimes when I restart the computer after these errors, the BIOS can't find a boot volume until after a few more restarts. This leads me to believe its hardware rather than software, together with the fact that this problem has followed me over many installs of windows (and linux, which had exactly the same problem) over the years. It is wierd that until recently, the computer would be fine for months at a time, and then act like this for a few days.

The hard drive is in good health, with no problems reported on SMART attributes, although after these crashes, sometimes chkdsk automatically runs on the next reboot and repairs quite a lot of files - although this could be due to corruption from the sudden power down? I have even unplugged my secondary hard drive and CD drive which both used IDE, but I still get the problem with only 1 hard drive. My main hard drive is SATA.

I realise its probably hardware, but what sort of hardware problem would give these extremely wierd symptoms. Also if it was hardware, I wouldn't expect it to run for days/weeks at a time if there is no error in the first 20 minutes or so since boot. I have had to deal with this on and off throughout the last 3 years (since I built the thing), and now its getting more and more frequent, so I can no longer ignore it.

Does anyone have any ideas?

  • 3 Contributors
  • 3 Replies
  • 107 Views
  • 1 Hour Discussion Span
  • Latest Post Latest Post by teknolog

Dani AI

Generated

Both and are on the right track. The pattern you describe (early-boot failures, controller errors in the log and a KERNEL_DATA_INPAGE_ERROR) points to a small set of likely causes: storage hardware or link problems, filesystem/paging I/O corruption, or bad RAM. A focused, least-risk-first checklist will usually find the offender.

Start with logs and SMART

  • Inspect Event Viewer for disk-related entries (look for Event ID 11 and Event ID 51) and copy exact messages.
  • Dump SMART and self-test results (both Windows and Linux builds of smartmontools work). Example commands:
    smartctl -a \\.\PhysicalDrive0
smartctl -t long \\.\PhysicalDrive0
smartctl -l selftest \\.\PhysicalDrive0

    Look specifically at Reallocated Sector Count, Current Pending Sector, and UDMA CRC Error Count (CRC errors → cable/link).

Hardware-isolation steps (cheap, fast)

  • Swap the SATA cable and use a different motherboard SATA port (avoid on-board RAID ports or add-in controllers).
  • Try a different power connector from the PSU.
  • If possible, connect the drive to another PC (or use a USB-SATA adapter) to see if errors follow the drive or the machine.
  • Run the drive vendor’s extended diagnostics (Seagate SeaTools, WD Data Lifeguard, etc.).

Memory, drivers and BIOS

  • Run MemTest86 for multiple full passes to rule out RAM corruption: https://www.memtest86.com/
  • If you plan to switch IDE/AHCI modes, enable the appropriate driver first (example for msahci on Windows 7):
    reg add "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\msahci" /v Start /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f

    Apply BIOS defaults or update BIOS only if vendor notes address SATA/controller stability.

If long SMART self-tests fail or pending/reallocated sectors appear, replace the drive. If UDMA CRC errors drop to zero after cable/port swap, the cable/port was the cause. These steps prioritize data safety while isolating drive vs controller vs RAM. For the kernel bugcheck, see Microsoft’s diagnostic notes: and use smartmontools to get authoritative SMART details: smartmontools.

Recommended Answers

All 3 Replies

Member Avatar for JorgeM

I think its a drive problem even though you are not getting SMART errors. If you think your drive is good, purchase an additional SATA controller and plug the hard drive into a new controller to rule out an issue with your existing controller.

Member Avatar for Oxiegen

I agree with JorgeM.
Those symptoms points towards a harddrive failure.
It's better to be safe than sorry, backup your data while you still can.

Member Avatar for teknolog

Thanks, I will look into both the controller and the drive in more detail. I've already been making regular backups of data in case it is the drive.

Be a part of the DaniWeb community

We're a friendly, industry-focused community of developers, IT pros, digital marketers, and technology enthusiasts meeting, networking, learning, and sharing knowledge.