'Surface-Scan'/'Bad Sectors check' after instalation 'Disk Write Error'

Hi while installing the software for my new scanner (UMAX Astra 2000U) i got this blue screen that said "Disk Write Error : Unable to write to disk in drive C:, Data or files may be lost, Press any key to continue" i pressed a key and the instalatin continued. I tried to exit the instalation, fearing it was mistake to continue, and the PC crashed. Upon reseting it went into 'SCAN-Disk" as it normally does when you you don't re-boot properly but then it went into this thing called "Surface Scan" where it was looking for "BAD Sectors" which i had never seen before. Anyway the scan was taking forever so i pressed 'x' to skip the scan. The P.C booted up fine so i figured i'd try installing the scanner software again.

This time i got the Disk Write Error again but i just "pressed a key to continue" and let the installation finish, getting the error screen twice more. I should note the instalation contained
3 programs "Vista Scan", the driver and scan interface, "Presto! Photo ALbum", and "Presto! Page Manager Deluxe". I got the Error messages all during the installation of the "Presto! Page Manager Deluxe". The other programs installed fine, if memory serves me correctly.

Once the intalation was done i rebooted and got this message on a black screen:
" One or more of your disk drives may have developed bad sectors , press any key to run scan disk." then it went again into Scan-Disk with a Surface-Scan. This time i let it run, it took almost 2 hours but found no 'Bad Sectors' during the scan. The Computer Booted up fine and the scanner works fine using "Vista Scan". I've opened " Pge Manager"
that had the instalation probs , ihaven't used it much but it seems fine.

So what caused this Disk Write Error during instalation? could it have been the CD or softwares fault? Why would my P.C think i had 'Bad Sectors' and then not find any?
How serious is all this and is there anything i should check?

thanks for your time.

P.S : It's only hapend to me a few times on this forum, but please don't respond to this to say you don't know the answer.

Software Information
--------------------
Operating System : Windows 98 SE
DirectX : DirectX 8.1

Hardware Information
--------------------
CPU : AMD Athlon Processor 800 MHz
Bus Speed : 100 MHz
Motherboard : ASUSTeK <A7V>
System : System System Name
BIOS : Award ASUS A7V ACPI BIOS Revision 1003
Memory : 128 MB
Sound : SB Live! Wave Out [A000]
Video : ASUS AGP-V7100 SDRAM v12.60

 

I guess the pressure is on with dont reply if you dont know the anwser.
Well, there is many things that could cause that, Did you let it or run the surfuse scan when you installed the OS. Do you have Smart Monitoring on in your Bios, which could cause that. I can tell you this, you could do better by updating your Direct X from 8.1 to the latest from 3 years ago.

 

Yeah sorry about that "don't reply without the answer" thing. Obviously no one's going to know exactly whats wrong. I do want suggestions. I didn't realize it sounded rude until after i had posted. whoops sorry. It's just if some one responds to say " i have no idea" then other people think your questions been answered.

** The place i ordered my PC from installed my OS so i don't know if a surface scan was done at the time. But this recent scan is the first one i've ever done.

** I don't think i have Smart-Monitoring on my Bios. I've never done anything to my BIOS so i'm pretty sure i don't. However one curious BIOS-related thing i've always noticed is that during boot-up, right before the Windows Logo comes on i've always gotten this message:

"Ultra Bios Version, 2.01 (Build 19). Detecting /" after a few seconds of detecting it adds
"Ultra Bios not installed because they're are no drives attached" then the computer boots up normal. I've never understood that message. Could that be a problem?

** Yeah i know my Direct X is old, i can't update it 'cause i have this whole other drama too complicated for this thread. I'm worried about updating my Direct X without updating my display/video driver wich i can't do without updating my chipset driver cause there's this whole VIA chipset driver clashing with Nvidia display drama. Anyway when i'm ready to tackle that i'll start another thread. But would my Direct X be part of my problem?

Thanks Robert

 

This error message can be related to PCI steering issues and can be resolved by ..you guessed it.. updating your chipset drivers .. looks like you're in a catch 22.

 

Hi i went to my Hard Drive Manufacterer's Web site(Western Digital), and they suggest an Online Diagnostic Scan. The Online Scan turns on my Hard Drives "Smart-Monitoring" . But in 'BadFlash' ' s response he said "Do you have Smart Monitoring on in your Bios, which could cause that". I don't know if he meant that Smart-Monitoring could cause the Disk Write Error or prompt the "BAD Sector check" . But i'm confued. Someone's telling me i need the Smart Monitoring to check the Drive, some one else is saying that could cause the problem? Any clarififcation would be greatly appretiated.

Here's the link to my H.D diagnostic info site:http://support.wdc.com/dlg/disclaim.asp

Thanks Robert

PS. heres a recap of my questions from my first post: So what caused this Disk Write Error during instalation? could it have been the CD or softwares fault? Why would my P.C think i had 'Bad Sectors' and then not find any?
How serious is all this and is there anything i should check?