Multiple symptoms - single problem or just a bad month?

I have just had a third computer with a hard drive problem. The first PC also seemed to have a bad CMOS battery. It is an HP XP PC with two HDs; one crashed, the other lost most of its files. The second is a Compaq 98 PC - seems to have been only a battery problem, because it is not having boot problems now. The third is a Clone 98. It does not seem to have a battery problem, but the HD will not boot, and when I boot from a floppy I get an error that the HD has no FAT or FAT32 partition.

Is this all just bad timing (like the month three of our old monitors went out at the same time), or does anyone know of a virus, worm, etc. that could be involved? We have a firewall - Netopia R5300 router with built in firewall. Verio supposedly configured it before sending it to us, but I have not yet figured out how to block ports.

SO... my two questions:
1. Is there something going on (is paranoia justified - is someone really out to get someone)
2. How do I block ports on my router

Firstly the cmos battery would seem to be a genuine fault. as for the third is the hdd spinning up, can you here it??

Generaly you block ports by entering the routers settings and setting rules. I do not now your particluar router, so the manual that came with it maybe a good place t start.

Alright, I suggest that you IMMEDIATELY check both the internal and external power supplies for all machines, as well as make sure you have a UPS or at least a surge protector.


If the light on the surge protector is flickering in any way, the surge protector is dead.

All of your problems sound like power issues, bad power sources can destroy HD's quicker than hell. Bad sectors get written all over the disks, including the allocation tables.

Power supply could be the answer, but having two HDDs close together is not a good idea unless you mount them in chassis with front fans that suck air in over them. Hot stale air can build up around them and het is a great HDD killer.

The Clone machine sounds as if it has a corrupt partition. Get the diagnostic tool from the manufacturer's website and run that.

The fact that you are having these problems in spates, does suggest a mains power supply problem. As suggested you should use surge protection. Have you had any other "strange" symptoms, such as an increase in blown lightbulbs or the like?

Cheers

Oh yeah, I suppose I should throw this out there:


I don't have the link anymore, but there is an iso out there for a cd called the Ultimate Boot CD, just google for it...

It has several versions of FDISK, every HD utility from like 9 manufacturers, an AV, and many other things on it. It's a PC tech's wet dream.

has the clone 98 comp ever worked, you usually get that error when you have a brand new HDD that has never been formatted, usually OEM and straight from the munufacturer.

Is this in a company or home, you could have a saboteur!!! :eek: