Intermittent Corruption of boot drive MBR/BCD/Bootmanager

**McTahr** · 12-16-2012, 07:00 PM

So, this is something I've been working around for a bit and thought I'd pick some of your brains over. (Probably Synk of all people, given the issue.)

I run a RocketRAID 2640x4 setup with a JBOD SAS 140g raptor boot drive and two 1tb SATA drives running in RAID 1. Windows Vista install, updated and kept clean regularly with no viruses or such issues.

Occasionally, the master boot record, boot manager, and boot configuration data devour themselves into a black abyss and my windows installation vanishes from the face of the earth. This in and of itself is an easy enough fix, and not the issue. The issue is that it happens again. And again. Every few days.

This started occurring following a hardware swap. I replaced two old (one not working) video cards with two fresher models from the Cyber Monday Newegg sales, along with swapping out the RAM and replacing one of the 1tb drives that was going bad. I followed standard precautions for working on hardware.

I've run standard disk check, and will be running SeaTools and some other diagnostics shortly, but picking up some theories and leads from the peanut gallery can't hurt in the mean time.

Current ideas:
-Faulty RAM. For intermittent issues it's generally my go-to.
-Drive got bumped or otherwise decided to start crapping out. Seems unlikely given ESD/handling precautions taken, but no one's perfect, and I do have poor luck with drives.
-Cthulhu has arisen.

Obviously, hardware should always be the first approach, but I'm lazy goddamnit, and if I can get out of this without having to return/re-getify that RAM, I'll be happy.

12-16-2012, 07:00 PM	#1
McTahr For the right price... Join Date: Sep 2006 Posts: 1,268	Intermittent Corruption of boot drive MBR/BCD/Bootmanager So, this is something I've been working around for a bit and thought I'd pick some of your brains over. (Probably Synk of all people, given the issue.) I run a RocketRAID 2640x4 setup with a JBOD SAS 140g raptor boot drive and two 1tb SATA drives running in RAID 1. Windows Vista install, updated and kept clean regularly with no viruses or such issues. Occasionally, the master boot record, boot manager, and boot configuration data devour themselves into a black abyss and my windows installation vanishes from the face of the earth. This in and of itself is an easy enough fix, and not the issue. The issue is that it happens again. And again. Every few days. This started occurring following a hardware swap. I replaced two old (one not working) video cards with two fresher models from the Cyber Monday Newegg sales, along with swapping out the RAM and replacing one of the 1tb drives that was going bad. I followed standard precautions for working on hardware. I've run standard disk check, and will be running SeaTools and some other diagnostics shortly, but picking up some theories and leads from the peanut gallery can't hurt in the mean time. Current ideas: -Faulty RAM. For intermittent issues it's generally my go-to. -Drive got bumped or otherwise decided to start crapping out. Seems unlikely given ESD/handling precautions taken, but no one's perfect, and I do have poor luck with drives. -Cthulhu has arisen. Obviously, hardware should always be the first approach, but I'm lazy goddamnit, and if I can get out of this without having to return/re-getify that RAM, I'll be happy. __________________ Gone.