Basic test HDD error 8 Cache Test

[vovin999]

Hi!

I have been having some trouble with my HP Pavilion 061 lately. It freezes quite often, and playing games on it is a complete no-go, as it freezes only after a few minutes.

During the last freeze, the computer won't even start Windows in Safe Mode. It gets to a point, and then freezes until the computer turns off and the On/off LED starts blinking, unless I turn it off myself by holding the button in for five seconds.

Anyways to my question. When I start from Recovery (F10) and run PC-Doctor 5 For Windows PE Basic Test, I get the following information for the Main HDD: Error - Cache Test, and a message-box that I got error code 8 and to contact HP technical support. It also tells me that recovery is not recommended at this time.

So from this I gather I've got some sort of cache memory error related to my Master harddrive; however being somewhat handy with computers I'd rather fix the problem myself than contact HP technical support if at all possible. However, "error code 8" is not enough information to help me pinpoint the problem at hand. I've searched all over the web for some sort of description for error code 8, without luck.

Do you by any chance have any advice or info on my problem? It would be greatly apppreciated!!

[fwilson]

vovin999,

This indicates the cache memory in the HD is failing.  The error codes in this OEM version are dictated by HP and meaningful to their support personnel.

If your system and or drive are still under warranty contact HP for a replacement.  If it is not and you want to replace the drive yourself the best way to retrieve the data from the drive is to mount it in another system or external enclosure and copy it to a safe place.

You should use the recovery disks from HP to restore the system so that when completed you will have the recovery console and other utilities, like PC-Doctor.  HP support will be able to get these to you if you do not already have them.

-Fred