Okay, I know this site is about bikes, but I know that there are some computer guru's on here and I don't know where else to go.

I am having problems updating itunes, games for windows live and have had trouble getting the opensource nzgps project files.

I can download them on to my hard drive, and when I go to run them, the file is always corrupt. Except for the nzgps project files, which corrupt mapsource. I have been able to fix mapsource (but not get the nzgps project files).

Any ideas on what is corrupting the files? I am scared it is something a little more serious and don't know where to go for help!

Have you put in new ram recently?

AarowNZ wrote:Have you put in new ram recently?

No

are you using a download manager to download files?

VERT wrote:are you using a download manager to download files?

No, just straight through explorer or chrome - same result on both.

Do a error check on your hard drive plus make sure you have no spyware/viruses.

computer says no....cough

Also a possible your current ram maybe screwed. You can use a program like memtest86 to test it but you have to put the program on a cd or floppy and run it as a boot disk.

Also you could try downloading the file on a different comp and burning it to CD then running it on your comp to see if there is a problem with you network card or router.

AarowNZ wrote:You can use a program like memtest86 to test it but you have to put the program on a cd or floppy and run it as a boot disk.

>>> Best piece of advice so far.
If I were you, I would start by downloading MemTest:
http://www.memtest.org/download/4.00/me ... 00.iso.zip

Burn it to a CD-ROM (it comes in ISO format) and then boot your PC off that and here's the important bit - leave the machine to run overnight for a MINIMUM of 8 hours continuously.
I realise that's a big ask, but if you're in doubt about your machine, the first thing to do is verify it's not a hardware problem and the simplest way to do that is to stress test your PC. Memtest86 won't test every single component in your PC - but it will stress test your CPU, memory, motherboard, disk drives and associated components, so it's a really good base test to confirm your PC is stable and relatively happy. Conversely passing memtest86 is not a gaurantee that your machine is 100%, but it's a good indicator that the basic components are functional and can take a decent amount of real world use. Some faults don't appear immediately (eg: cooling related faults or power supply issues are two classics that can occur over longer periods of time), so running the machine under load for a decent period is a must to get reliable results.

To really make the point - stress testing is always the first thing I do when I update my PC's hardware or build a machine up for some reason.


As far as root causes go - I wouldn't speculate too much until you've stress tested the PC. It could be a funny memory issue, or it could be other things too.


My advice to you re: root causes is to think about the timing of the problem.

How long has the problem been occuring for? think about facts, not just "I think it's been going on for 2 weeks" - when did you actually first experience the issue?

Did anything occur around the time you think the problem started? Don't limit yourself to computer stuff either - eg: physical changes to your home or work location where the computer lives.

Have you made any hardware or software changes to the machine - again - don't limit yourself to what you think may or may not be related. Just think about the timing of the problem. What else has happened around that time - anything at all?

Does anyone else use the machine? Even if you are convinced "nothing has occured", if it's a PC that other folks are using - you might not even be aware of relevant info.


>>> Those are some good questions to get you thinking about the problem and Memtest86 is a good first step to working towards solving your fault. If anything fails in Memtest86 over an 8 hour window - then start looking at that harder. If not start considering my questions about. Write out a list of relevant info if you need to.