Forgot to mention that this is on a Hp DV5000 Laptop running Windows XP..Has a Seagate 60GB hard drive..If any of this matters..

Kevin

Kevin what do you think is wrong with your hard drive that caused you to install this software?

Below is a link to the Seagate site where you can download their small diagnostic program

Here is a link that might be useful: Seagate diagnostic tools

Well to be honest the laptop runs pretty normal.I got this software hint from PCPitstop.They mentioned it monitors your PC temp..considering that this is a laptop and at one point this thing got quite hot.I took some of it apart and cleaned out lots of dust..Got a can of air and blew out the whole thing real well..Has ran a lot cooler since and I keep it cleaned out now..Just thought the temp watching of the software was interesting.

With all that said..I do very seldom have a issue at start up..Only has happen about 3-4 times in a years time though..What happens is when I turn the laptop on it gets stuck on a blank screen and I have to shut it down by holding the power button.Then it starts up fine after that..I also get some freeze ups from time to time..Mostly when the kids go on to play games at NickJr.com or simular sites..I have one site it seems to do it for me too but for the most part not real often anywhere else..

Last night I did some google searching and found the seagate tools site..Being somewhat a Novice with computers I downloaded the easier windows based test..It comes up with errors on all the test other than the S.M.A.R.T test, lol..This test recommends I run the DOS version to fix the errors..I am a little scared to try it..I have been looking though the manual instructions of this testing software..but I am just a little nervous about trying it..

When I bought the laptop 4 years ago I never got a start-up CD but while setting up the PC It gave me the option/recomendation to create one..I did do it then but have not since then..

Thanks for your reply,
Any suggestions?
Kevin

I believe that the CD you created when the computer was new was a "recovery" disk designed to be used if you have major problems and need to take your system all the way back to when it was new. Be aware that if you use this, you will have to get all your updates again, as the computer will be just as it was when you took it out of the box four years ago. This can be a lifesaver, but not to be used for the usual problems that one can encounter.

Have you ever used the "error checking" or "check disk" feature of your computer? If not, this would certainly be worth doing and it is already built right in on your computer. You don't say whether you are using XP or VISTA, but I'm assuming that four years ago this would be XP. To use this application, double click My Computer, then right click "C" if this is your hard drive, click Properties, click Tools tab, then choose Error Checking. There will be two items that you want to check before running. Then click to run error checking. You will get a message that error checking will run the next time you boot up. I always go ahead and shut down, reboot, and let error checking (or check disk)run and fix any errors it finds. In many cases, this will correct any problems you have. This will take some time, so don't be in a hurry. Follow this by doing disk defrag.