i've reseated all cables and just to make sure it wasn't some kind of issue with RAM failure, have put in a backup stick of 128mb RAM. I'm running scandisk in Windows now, hopefully any errors are mitigated or killed.

If it were me, I would run Memtest86 if you haven't already.

Repo Man11 wrote on 2025-01-22, 23:22:

If it were me, I would run Memtest86 if you haven't already.

When ScanDisk finishes I'll reseat the original ram and run it. I just really wanna make sure I don't have to buy anoooother HDD.
Sidenote, does anyone know reputable places to get floppies?^^; the 50 or so I have from my old job seem to not let me write to them at all on my windows 10 machine, even with the write protection tab in the proper place.

Repo Man11 wrote on 2025-01-22, 23:22:

If it were me, I would run Memtest86 if you haven't already.

This sounds like a good idea to me, as the Gateway itself sounds pretty "new" to OP

In my experience, this is a sign of a bad drive or compatibility issue. It's easy to isolate the issue with another computer or a PCI IDE card. I've been able to keep dying drives alive by formatting in another computer before using.

I look at the SMART values and determine the "life" left by how many hours it's already been running. Drives with these kind of hours should be iffy, but as long as it works, I'll keep using it until it starts doing that: "Disk Write Error" or "Disk Read Error". I try not to keep any "valuable" information on anything "old".

If the drive is very new, ATA133, the board may take issue with that as well. It looks like an Intel D815-EEA, which supports ATA66/100.

Razgriz wrote on 2025-01-22, 23:33:

Repo Man11 wrote on 2025-01-22, 23:22:

If it were me, I would run Memtest86 if you haven't already.

When ScanDisk finishes I'll reseat the original ram and run it. I just really wanna make sure I don't have to buy anoooother HDD.
Sidenote, does anyone know reputable places to get floppies?^^; the 50 or so I have from my old job seem to not let me write to them at all on my windows 10 machine, even with the write protection tab in the proper place.

I'll assume you're using a USB floppy drive? I don't believe Windows 10 would even know what to do with it even if it was able to give it a drive letter. I don't have a USB floppy, but I want to get one now, as it sounds like a fun/tricky problem to diagnose.

Do the floppies work in the Gateway?

Major Jackyl wrote on 2025-01-22, 23:36:

This sounds like a good idea to me, as the Gateway itself sounds pretty "new" to OP […]
Show full quote

Repo Man11 wrote on 2025-01-22, 23:22:

If it were me, I would run Memtest86 if you haven't already.

This sounds like a good idea to me, as the Gateway itself sounds pretty "new" to OP

In my experience, this is a sign of a bad drive or compatibility issue. It's easy to isolate the issue with another computer or a PCI IDE card. I've been able to keep dying drives alive by formatting in another computer before using.

The attachment Screenshot 2025-01-22 171504.png is no longer available

The attachment Screenshot 2025-01-22 171618.png is no longer available

I look at the SMART values and determine the "life" left by how many hours it's already been running. Drives with these kind of hours should be iffy, but as long as it works, I'll keep using it until it starts doing that: "Disk Write Error" or "Disk Read Error". I try not to keep any "valuable" information on anything "old".

If the drive is very new, ATA133, the board may take issue with that as well. It looks like an Intel D815-EEA, which supports ATA66/100.

The attachment Screenshot 2025-01-22 172605.png is no longer available

Site i bought it from deals primarily in refurbished old machines (just without hard drives) and I was actually incredibly surprised that when i did the first open and look around, it was entirely clean.

The place I bought this specific HDD from lists it as a ST3802110A and it has the Ultra ATA logo on the label.

Major Jackyl wrote on 2025-01-22, 23:40:

Razgriz wrote on 2025-01-22, 23:33:

Repo Man11 wrote on 2025-01-22, 23:22:

If it were me, I would run Memtest86 if you haven't already.

When ScanDisk finishes I'll reseat the original ram and run it. I just really wanna make sure I don't have to buy anoooother HDD.
Sidenote, does anyone know reputable places to get floppies?^^; the 50 or so I have from my old job seem to not let me write to them at all on my windows 10 machine, even with the write protection tab in the proper place.

I'll assume you're using a USB floppy drive? I don't believe Windows 10 would even know what to do with it even if it was able to give it a drive letter. I don't have a USB floppy, but I want to get one now, as it sounds like a fun/tricky problem to diagnose.

Do the floppies work in the Gateway?

I am using a USB floppy drive. Were it about 15 years ago I could have pulled out my old laptop and swapped to the right drive but alas.

I haven't tried to use floppies with it yet. Wanted to make sure everything was functional with this reinstall first.

Doesn't seem like a compatibility issue. The "product overview" is from 2006, so it is "newer" relative to the computer. I do like how quiet they are.

Burned an ISO of Memtest86 from their website and sure enough the previous RAM had gone bad. Original stick it came with was fine and the issue hasn't repeated at all so I'll be sticking with that until I can get more. What I get for going for a cheaper deal...