Is my SSD failing me?

Nick Kaufman

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Aug 2, 2003
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I got a Samsung 850 pro about 6 months ago.
 
About a month ago, I got a BSOD. I didn't give too much thought to it.
At various points, I had the computer start chkdsk on reboot.
 
Around 10 days ago, I started having some lag in loading some programs. Then I got some error about having a windows system being corrupt and needing to fix it. After I restarted my computer, the computer wouldn't boot. After some trouble, I managed to restore from an earlier backup.
 
Today, I am having trouble with one database giving me fatal errors about missing files and invalid page headers. I can't do so yet, but once i get a chance, I ll restore from a database backup I made when I restored the pc a couple of weeks ago and see if it also has problems. If it doesn't, should I begin the process of rmaing my ssd? I mean, I haven't done anything untowards to my database since then.

Does anyone have experience with samsung and whether they will accept the exchange of an ssd that's nominally functioning?
 

wutang112878

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Nov 5, 2007
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I'm not sure about the database issue, but the lag & windows system corrupt sounds like it might possibly be an OS problem.  I'd run this System File Checker, and you might need to run it 3 times.  
 
Also, have you made any hardware changes or software installs or upgrades recently??
 
When there is a lag, I'd also run Resource Monitor (which you can get to from the Performance tab of TaskMgr) and see if you have a memory hog or some application that is making a ton of disk requests.  If you really want to bring the monitoring to the next level, then you might want Process Monitor which is a Microsoft tool but you need to install it and it will show you line by line what your computer is processing/doing.
 

Nick Kaufman

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Couperin47 said:
The Samsung Magician software includes diagnostics. First run chkdsk on the drive, then what does that software say ?
 
Samsung Magician shows the drive condition as being good. I ve done a performance check, but Samsung's software doesn't have a feature like the one my old Intel drive had for checking the integrity of the drive. I ran chkdsk from both windows and dos and it didn't show anything wrong or if it did, it got fixed automatically.
 
 
I'm not sure about the database issue, but the lag & windows system corrupt sounds like it might possibly be an OS problem.  I'd run this System File Checker, and you might need to run it 3 times.  

 

Also, have you made any hardware changes or software installs or upgrades recently??

 

When there is a lag, I'd also run Resource Monitor (which you can get to from the Performance tab of TaskMgr) and see if you have a memory hog or some application that is making a ton of disk requests.  If you really want to bring the monitoring to the next level, then you might want Process Monitor which is a Microsoft tool but you need to install it and it will show you line by line what your computer is processing/doing.
 
 
Well, I haven't changed anything dramatically other than restore an August backup after the problems occur. The way this went down was that I tried opening a program and it wouldn't load. Then I got a message about a file in the windows/appatch directory being corrupted and needing to fix it. Then I tried to do a reboot and the computer wouldn't load.
 
After I fixed this, I noticed that when I was trying to open a link from sosh towards another webpage, it would take an longer amount of time than it should have. So I did a firefox refresh and the problem was solved.
 
Yesterday I encountered this database issue that I hadn't encountered before. Restoring the backup also gave me an error.
 
It feels to me that the SSD is corrupting files. It could be a virus, but it doesn't feel like a virus. Or may be the issue has been going on for longer than I realized and even the august backup was corrupt - which is a bummer because my earlier backup is from last october.
 

Nick Kaufman

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I tried the sfc /scannow command, found certain corrupt files but couldn't fix them all. Tried another microsoft tool, it didn't help. Windows Explorer just crashed. Scanned with spybot didn't find anything of interest save the usual adware.
 
I am thinking of doing a fresh install just to make sure it's not the OS that's giving me trouble. OTOH, I shudder at the PITA this is going to be. How about a windows repair? What am I going to lose that way? Is it worth it?
 

Nick Kaufman

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Aug 2, 2003
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A Lost Time
Thanks Cooper.

FWIW, I ended up doing a clean install which was as much of a PITA as I imagined it to be. But I think it was necessary, because my computer was getting corrupt. A nice little bonus? I saved 40 gb from my drive thanks to useless Winsxs folder crap that got deleted.