ERROR 0 for Hard-drive. What is it?

Hi,

Try running an ePSA/Diagnostic test on the system to confirm which error code you receive. Click here to view a Dell article that explains how to run this test. Let us know which error code you receive on the hard drive (for example, 2000-0142).

Hola Senor Rodrigo!

Gracias por your response but I'm afraid that by following the instructions you provided, the problem is now even more perplexing.

I ran the pre-boot test and as you can see by the first two attached photos, both the first hard-drive and the optical drive failed (even though the optical drive is and has always worked perfectly well!).

Then I ran the online diagnostics as suggested but when it came to analysing the CPU the computer crashed at (or shortly following) "SSE4.1". I have attached the stop error screen and the optical drive results. You will notice that the hard-drive seems to have passed the online diagnostics, which is very bizarre, since the first drive is ALWAYS reporting error 0 in the startup.

I tried the online diagnostics more than once, so the BSOD mentioned above doesn't seem to be an anomaly.

The most remarkable thing about this whole matter is the fact that since I ran the above tests, the computer is always successfully booting to Windows, when previously it very rarely did. I ran the pre-boot disk checking utility so perhaps some section(s) were repaired?

What to do?

Swami.

Hi, 

Can you please confirm the Alienware model name and revision that you're using? Try running a CPU stress test using the Support Assist tool. If you do not have Support Assist installed in your computer, click here for the download link. Follow the steps below to run the stress test. 

• Download and install Dell Support Assist
• Open Dell Support Assist
• Click Checkup
• Click Scan a Specific Device
• Click System Devices
• Select the CPU Stress Test and Run it. 

Let us know how it goes. 

Thanks for your prompt response Sir.
I have the M17x R3 and I did in fact run the CPU stress test in the online diagnosis utility when conducting the aforementioned tests but since it passed that stress test I didn't consider it worth mentioning.

What now?

Swami.

Hi, 

Have you received another blue screen or had a problem with it booting to Windows after you ran the PSA test?

Hola Senor!
Yes, I have experienced both problems - stop errors at various stages and unable to boot to Windows several times (some of which were due to the Ethernet port it seems, judging by the black screen with white text which appears soon after switching on the computer, both with and without the Ethernet cable being plugged-in).

Just before sending this update I ran Check Disk and it seems there are no problems with the drives, even though on EVERY SINGLE startup it mentions that the first hard-drive has error "0").

Should I reinstall Windows or just buy a new disk?

Bye,

Swami.

Hi, 

It may be best to reinstall Windows just to make sure it’s not a software related issue. If the same issues continue after the re-installation of Windows, it has to be a hardware problem. Usually, when the hard drive has a failure and needs to be replaced, it will show an error when testing it in the PSA test, so I would say it’s worth a try to reinstall Windows.