Hard drive error on boot: HD6 3F6

[Worzel69]

My PC is usually left on all the time.  I recently went away on holiday for 2 weeks and powered off (it is winter here so the house is cold a lot of the time - this may be relevant as colder conditions seem to make the following issue worse).  When I returned and powered on I got a blue screen hard drive error message "HD6 3F6".  I now get this message at every reboot, but also about every 12 hours on average the computer goes off by itself and I get it again, though it varies from a few hours to a few days.  I follow the instruction to launch diagnostics F2 and have run all sorts of tests - every time it passes the tests so I proceed to boot normally.  This process now seems to take a lot longer than it used to, but at least the PC does boot as normal.  The PC is only about 15 months old and I had to have the motherboard replaced a few months ago under warranty as a BIOS upgrade killed it.  I have had a few issues with Windows Explorer shutting itself down a lot recently.  Please advise what to do, thanks.

[MechPilot]

Hello @Worzel69,

I have read your post on how your desktop computer is displaying an error message "HD6 3F6" on a blue screen, and I would be happy to assist you in this matter!

Since the hard drive diagnostics indicated in this document came up with no issues, I recommend following the steps in this document on Computer Locks Up or Freezes (Windows 😎. This should help correct the appearance of a blue screen. 

If the issue continues, please contact our technical support for further assistance in this matter by clicking the link below to get the support number for your region.

www.hp.com/contacthp/

I hope this helps!

Regards 🙂

[Worzel69]

Thank you for your reply.  The page on addressing locks ups gives me a hint it may be something to do with connected devices, possibly the monitor.  When I went to the PC this morning and reactivated the screen which was sleeping, by moving the mouse, I got a new error message - I forget the exact wording but it was along the lines of Device_driver_power_failure.  I attempted to fix that as suggested but it just triggered the blue screen hard drive error message that I get periodically.  Do you think I need to reinstall the monitor drivers?  How about doing a system restore to a month or so ago when I last knew it was working okay.  Finally, what do you think about upgrading to Windows 10 as things are - could that possibly resolve the issue, or would it be better to try and fix them before upgrading. (I backed up all files last night).

[MechPilot]

Hi again Worzel69,

Thank you for the quick reply!

Instead of upgrading to Windows 10, I suggest performing recovery of your operating system. This can be done by following the steps in this resource on Performing an HP system recovery (Windows 😎. This should help diagnose if the issue is with the operating system, or a hardware defect.

If the issue persists, please call our technical support at 800-474-6836. If you live outside the US/Canada Region, please click the link below to get the support number for your region.

http://www8.hp.com/us/en/contact-hp/ww-phone-assist.html

I hope this helps!

Regards 🙂

[Worzel69]

Thanks for the input to date. Can I ask one more question before I call tech support. I have not gone as far as restoring factory settings and spending a week reinstalling software / copying back files, but I have done everything short of that: downloading software / driver updates etc including antivirus. I have run all the deep scans Norton 360 has too. The hard drive failure message still persists on every start up. Apart from start up, the PC is working fine.

i would appreciate your thoughts on my best theory.  This PC came with a 16gb mSATA solid state hard drive.  Device manager is not reporting its existence. If I ignore the diagnostics tests the PC starts, but very slowly.  Would it do this by relying on a back up version of operating system on the 3tb main hard drive? If so, it looks to me like a complete power failure of the solid state hard drive.  What do you think?

[MechPilot]

Hi again Worzel69,

Thank you for the quick reply!

After conducting some additional research to the HD6 3F6 error code, there is a possibility that the system board of your computer may be defective. To further diagnose this issue, I recommend following the steps in this document on Testing for Hardware Failures (Windows 😎. This should help, using extensive tests, if the system board or other components are defective. If there are still no indications of component failure, I recommend performing creating a backup of your important files, and recovering the operating system.

Please re-post with the results of your troubleshooting, and I look forward to your reply!

Regards

[Worzel69]

Just a quick update, I ran the full suite of extensive tests overnight (8 hours) and everything passed.  I am still thinking it might be an issue with the solid state hard drive though, given it is not recognised by Device Manager, so I may just open the case and check the connections etc.

But it looks like I am going to have backup everything, reinstall all software / files from scratch and see if that works.  Last time I did that it took me a week but hopefully I will get Windows installed and upgraded / Norton activated on Saturday then be able to tell if it was an OS issue.

[Worzel69]

Just one other thought - is there a utility that can be run that checks for the presence / corruption of key drivers?

[MechPilot]

Hi again Worzel69,

Thank you for the quick reply!

You can run the System File Checker to find and repair any system files that have been corrupted. This can be done by following the steps in this resource on Use the System File Checker tool to repair missing or corrupted system files. 

Please re-post with the results of your troubleshooting, and I look forward to your reply!

Regards 🙂

[Worzel69]

SFC reported no errors.  I backed up all my files and created a list of all software to reinstall (including a note of product keys etc) last night.  I should be able to run the recovery tonight and update Windows / install Norton 360 to see whether that solves the problem.