Corrupt file downloads on grandma's computer

I recently spent the weekend working on my grandma's computer. I reinstalled her OS and got her set up using mail and stuff.

that being said, I was faced with a major problem. Almost every file that I download onto her computer turns out being corrupt. Installers for programs, Windows XP service pack 2, zip files, etc, they all say "file is corrupt" when run. Using a download manager does not seem to help.

I have been using logmein.com to fix most of the problems that she has long distance, which doesn't allow me to see whats happening on boot. That is why I cannot run checkdisk to see if that may be a problem.

Does anyone know how to fix this?

Thank you in advance.

-Jdban

 

I just had a thought. Could a faulty IDE cable be to blame?
Her cd drive has had similar errors as her hard drive. They might be on the same cable.

 

Could be the hard drive, the IDE cable, maybe even power supply. Any way it looks, it probably means a trip to see grandma.

I'd recommend running the hard drive manufacturer's diagnostic tools, then chkdsk, and if the drive still completes all successfully, change the IDE cable.

If the issue remains, it could even be RAM - but why not start with the cheaper solutions first?

 

I did give her new ram last time I was up there.
I kind of broke part of one of the ram slots, a part that holds a ram stick in.
Might that be it?

 

Perhaps. Or maybe its something less sinister. Does her motherboard have an Nvidia chipset, and is she using the Nvidia firewall?

 

Woo, I don't know about that. Were there any extra slots that you could put it in? Otherwise, I'd say run Memtest86+ on it while you're at it, if you want to verify it. Here is a link to a bootable CD image, there is also a link to making a bootable floppy for it to run off of, if you don't have it on disc somewhere.

I too am interested in knowing if the broken part would cause any problems, as I recently broke one too but at least it's at work (on a soon to be replaced PC) and I had a spare slot, so no one else knows yet :innocent

I'm not familiar with nVidia, so you will want to check on Adrynalyne's advice as well.

 

She has 4 slots, each with 256 mb ram in them. I can take out 1 of the chips in the broken slot, but i'd rather not unless its causing trouble.

I initially gave her a firewall of Comodo Firewall, but after she was having trouble with it, and it screwed up my internet, I uninstalled it. She is running no other firewall. She is running XP SP1 (because sp2 didn't download). I don't know how to find out her mobo chipset, but I do know that she is using an intel integrated graphics chip.


I am going up to her house on saturday (2 hour drive) for a short time.
I will need to set up a list of stuff to check when I am there that optimizes the amount of work I do.

 

I'd like to do as much as I can remotely before I get there.

 

Well, that scratches my theory. The Nvidia firewall sometimes corrupts all downloads, until you turn off offloading.

 

go here: http://support.dell.com/support/top.../details?~ck=ln&~tab=2&c=us&l=en&lnki=0&s=gen
and plug in her service tag of 5PSHX41

THats her computer's configuration except for an added pci wifi card and 2 extra sticks of ram

 

Well, unless grandma can be led through how to make a bootable disk for memtest, how to replace an IDE cable, or if you can walk her through how to enter the Recovery Console to run chkdsk over the phone, it looks like only running the hdd manufacturer's tests would be possible remotely.

Most of the large manufacturer's have tests that can be run through a web browser.

Until we know the results of the tests and swapping the IDE cable, I don't think we can give a list of what to do. I'm betting on IDE cable then hard drive issue, but I could be wrong.

 

I'll switch the ide cable on sunday when I'm up there. I really hope that's it, because it's a very easy fix.

 

Back from grandma's!
The cd drive and hdd were on different IDE cables, so that wasn't the problem.
I ran Memtest86+ and it found TONS of errors.
What I did was took out all 4 chips and ran the test on one chip alone.
When that chip was determined good, I tested it in each slot. Passed all tests. (Slots not the cause of the problem)
Then I tested the other sticks separately, and one was chock full of errors. I put all the other sticks in (now she has 768 or so) and everything works fine.

Thanks guys.