Constant CRC errors in rar files?

August 31, 2009

As of two months ago nearly all the rar files (r01,r02,r03,etc) I download that are between 40mb-100mb never extract properly.
These are the error messages I get

With 7z – "CRC failed in ‘name of file’. File is broken"
With Winrar – "Packed data CRC failed in ‘name of file’. The volume is corrupt" with WinRAR (tried several versions)

Now I know you can set winrar to ignore the message and continue. But I need to know, is this due to some sort of hardware failure?
I ran memtest 86+ for 14 hours with no errors. Possibly my harddrive is going? (despite not finding any errors with hd diagnostic software)

So then I decided to move the exact same files over to my old computer. They extract perfectly. So its obviously not caused by the download source.

The strange thing is I can extract 1gig rar files perfectly. But if the 1 gig extracts into smaller rar files I cannot extract those.

I already replaced the RAM with new memory. To no avail.

If this helps my specs are :
Windows 7 operating system (tried it on my dual-boot Windows XP SP3 as well)
ASUS Striker Extreme motherboard
8 Gigs Crucial Ballistix DDR2
500gb Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 drive
1tb Western Digital external drive
ATI Radeon 2900xt graphics card

Oh, and i’ve formatted my harddrive twice since these errors. I’m hoping its something as cheap as replacing the CMOS battery. 😛
—–
Solidus – I know the files aren’t corrupt due to the download itself because the exact same files extract perfect when I move them to a different computer.
Oh and i’ve tried re-downloading. No luck.

types of viruses lol (including oprah winfrey)?

August 30, 2009

New Viruses on the loose!

Oprah Winfrey virus:
Your 200MB hard drive suddenly shrinks to 80MB and then slowly expands back to 200MB.

AT&T virus:
Every three minutes it tells you what great service you are getting.

MCI virus:
Every three minutes it reminds you that you’re paying too much for the AT&T virus.

Politically Correct virus:
Never calls itself a "virus", but instead refers to itself as an "electronic microorganism."

Arnold Schwarzenegger virus:
Terminates and stays resident. It’ll be back.

Government Economist virus:
Nothing works, but all your diagnostic software says everything is fine.

New World Order virus:
Probably harmless, but it makes a lot of people really mad just thinking about it.

Federal Bureaucrat virus:
Divides your hard disk into hundreds of little units, each of which does practically nothing, but all of which claim to be the most important part of your computer.

Texas virus:
Makes sure that it’s bigger than any other file.

Adam and Eve virus:
Takes a couple of bytes out of your Apple.

Congressional virus:
The computer locks up, screen splits erratically with a message appearing on each half blaming the other side for the problem.

Airline virus:
You’re in Dallas but your data is in Singapore.

Freudian virus:
Your computer becomes obsessed with marrying to its own motherboard.

Public Television virus:
Your programs stop every few minutes to ask for money.

Elvis virus:
Your computer gets fat, slow and lazy, then self destructs only to resurface at shopping malls and service stations across rural America.

Nike virus:
Just does it.

Congressional virus #2:
Runs every program on the hard drive simultaneously, but doesn’t allow the user to accomplish anything.

Star Trek virus:
Invades your system in places where no virus has gone before.

Health Care virus:
Tests your system for a day, finds nothing wrong, and sends you a bill for ,500.

Can a hard drive be failing yet pass all diagnostics?

August 13, 2009

I have been having sever data corruption issues with the game World of warcraft. i have run every diagnostic software known to me including checkdisk (windows xp sp3) Microsoft’s memory diagnostic tool and seagates hard drive diagnostic tool both windows and bootable CD versions and every diagnostic comes back squeaky Clean and ive even swapped my ram entirely. I have done a full system restore on my computer and i still cant get a stable install which leads me to believe i have a hard drive issue yet it passes every test. so basically my question is as stated above, is it possible for a hard drive to be going bad yet not fail diagnostics. If so is there any way to verify or at least gather further evidence that its the hard drive before i spend money on a new hard drive. (note it appears as if only world of warcraft is currently effected, i suspect its highly complicated file system is more likely to be damaged by a failing hard drive)
i have installed all patches and all blizz will tell me is its a hard drive issue or a ram issue. and it cant be a virus as i JUST reformatted my hard drive. i have also updated every driver in my system. and while its not a data coruption issue limewire shuts down when i attempt to preview a file

Audio problems?

August 11, 2009

All sounds on my computer have stopped working…any ideas? Is there any diagnostic software that I can run to find the problem?

Is this a sign of the times?? My recent computer virus include?

July 27, 2009

Politically correct virus: Never calls itself a "virus" but instead refers to itself as an "electronic microorganism’.
Government Economist virus: nothing works, but all your diagnostic software says everything is fine.
New World Order virus: Probably harmless, but it makes a lot of people really mad just thinking about it.
Federal Bureaucrat virus: Divides your hard disks into hundreds of little units, each of which does practically nothing, but all which claim to be the most important part of your computer.
Texas virus: Makes sure that it’s bigger than other file.
Adam and Eve virus: Takes a couple of bytes out of your Apple
Congressional virus#1: The computer locks up, screen splits erratically with a message blaming the other side for the problem.
Congressional virus#2: Runs every program on the hard drive simultaneously but doesn’t allow the user to accomplish anything.
Airline virus: You’re in Dallas but your data is stuck in Singapore.
Freudian virus: your computer becomes obsessed with marrying itself to the motherboard.
Public Television virus: Your programs stop every few minutes to ask for money.
Nike virus: Just does it.
Elvis virus: Your computer gets fat and lazy, self destructs only to resurface in some shopping malls or service stations in rural America.
Star trek virus : Invades your system where no other virus has gone before.
Health Care virus: Test your system for a day, finds nothing wrong and then sends you a bill for ,500.