Some downloads stuck at 100% then become corrupted

[ELL4EVER]

I'm having a problem at the moment where downloads from chrome and other download sources like nvidia experience are getting stuck at or close to 100% and then being corrupted. This is causing me a few problems as my graphics driver is now buggy so the majority of my games will crash part way through and any game not downloaded from steam will be corrupted e.g. Star Citizen, crossfire. Any ideas what the problem may be? As I only use this laptop for gaming its quite annoying.

 

[ubuysa]

It could be a hard disk issue, download files are written out to disk and a duff sector or two would cause this problem.

Back up your data (just in case) and then run chkdsk /r on the disk. This will check your filesystem and correct bad sectors.

If that shows no errors then post back and we'll suggest something else.

 

[ELL4EVER]

Thanks for your help. I tried chkdsk first and there were no errors so I then tried chkdsk /r which started to repair the C drive. However I have just tried downloading the Star Citizen installer from chrome and the same problem still remains. The download did finish after being stuck on 100% but trying to open the file (which is at first blocked by my firewall?) only brings up an NSIS error message as the file has failed to complete or has been corrupted.

 

[dogbot]

I had this problem once. Downloaded a file from Microsoft 3 times and each time it was said to be corrupted. Downloaded to another drive and it was successful.

I checked the disc with software downloaded from the drive manufacturers site which checked and repaired the drive. Each time the disc was repaired, a repeat test still showed the drive to be corrupted with about half the drive failing. Nothing for it but a new drive.

 

[ubuysa]

I had this problem once. Downloaded a file from Microsoft 3 times and each time it was said to be
corrupted. Downloaded to another drive and it was successful.

I checked the disc with software downloaded from the drive manufacturers site which checked and repaired the drive. Each time the disc was repaired, a repeat test still showed the drive to be corrupted with about half the drive failing. Nothing for it but a new drive.

That's interesting dogbot, thanks! To the OP, try plugging a USB flash stick in and download to that. That should prove whether it's the hard disk or not.

 

[ELL4EVER]

Good idea, thanks for your help guys. I'll try it out tomorrow morning and let you know how it goes.

 

[ELL4EVER]

I tried downloading to my usb stick just and I still have the same problem. Could it be a problem with my wifi card or firewall?

 

[ubuysa]

I tried downloading to my usb stick just and I still have the same problem. Could it be a problem with my wifi card or firewall?

That's a good result because it eliminates your hard disk. Now I suggest you turn off your firewall (and anti-virus and any other security software you may have) and download a file again, then turn your firewall, anti-virus (and other security) back on. If that download works then it's a problem with one of your security products.

Don't change anything else yet, let's deal with one thing at a time.

 

[ELL4EVER]

Just tried the download with the firewall turned off and without any security but it still froze and corrupted.

 

[paul1224]

Hi, not sure what OS you are using but if it is Windows can you check your Windows Updates for KB2670838 update?

If you have that update I would suggest you create a system restore point then uninstall that update.

Once uninstalled reboot and try a download and see if it resolves the problem, there have been instances of the above update causing these issues so maybe worth a try but the update is a few years old so might not be your issue.

EDIT: other than the above my only other thought would be how you connect to the internet? If via wireless have you tried Ethernet connection instead and vice versa?

Could be that your wireless card needs driver updates or possibly a firmware update for your router even.

 

[ELL4EVER]

Hi Paul, I'm using windows 8.1 and I normally download everything over WiFi. I'll check to see if I can update my wireless card though the update may be corrupted :/

 

[paul1224]

Hi Paul, I'm using windows 8.1 and I normally download everything over WiFi. I'll check to see if I can update my wireless card though the update may be corrupted :/

Could you use Ethernet connection to test the downloads?

If not yeah maybe try to see if there is a driver download for your wireless card and barring that I would contact your ISP provider and see if there is anything they can do.

Obvious question but I assume that you have turned off your router, unplugged it, waited a few seconds, then plugged it back in and rebooted it? I know its obvious but that could help any new firmware be loaded just in case the router is the culprit.

 

[ELL4EVER]

I've tried the router but that doesn't appear to be the problem either. I'll try and use an ethernet connection when I get back from work later as I've tried downloading the update for my wireless card but the update won't finish. Thanks for your help.

 

[paul1224]

Sorry it didn't work, I think my main thought to try to focus on where the problem is would be the Ethernet connection because if that works it should be the wireless card causing the issues so you could download the updated drivers for that via Ethernet and then go wireless and see if it resolves the problem.

If it won't download via Ethernet then a bit more troubleshooting likely needed but contacting your ISP provider may help although they may just try to say it is a computer issue not a service issue from them.

Let us know how it goes and hopefully other more informed members can give you further tips too.

EDIT: another option to consider would be checking on your computer for any windows updates that haven't been downloaded because they are not marked as 'important'.........if you find any OS updates specifically for W8.1 it may be worth listing them here or googling them to see what they were due to fix as you may find one of these may help.

 

[ubuysa]

Just tried the download with the firewall turned off and without any security but it still froze and corrupted.

Ok, so it's not your firewall either.

Are you positive your anti-virus was turned off? It's not impossible that your anti-virus could be the problem so be sure the real-time engine is off.

Updating the wireless card driver is a sensible idea but I'd expect more general errors if that were the culprit. Try downloading the driver on another computer.

The next thing to try is to ensure that no other network drivers or software is getting in the way, so open the Network and Sharing Center and click on Change Adapter Settings. Right-click on the icon for your WiFi adapter and select Properties, in the window that opens there will be a list of the items that adapter uses. Make a careful note of which items are checked (you'll need that to restore things after the test) and then uncheck all items except the following:

Client for Microsoft Networks
File and Printer Sharing fro Microsoft Networks
QoS Packet Scheduler
Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4)

If those were the only items checked initially then you don't need to do this tests (obviously!). The point of this test is to disable any network drivers that were installed by third party products and which might be causing this issue.

Now try downloading again.

After the test restore the check boxes back to the way they were before.

BTW. Which firewall and anti-virus do you use? If it's not the Windows firewall and Windows Defender then please ensure both these are turned off. Having two real-time anti-virus engines running will cause problems and having two firewalls running also causes spurious network problems, so do check these.

 

[ELL4EVER]

Hey guys, just to keep you updated I'll be trying out your suggestions tomorrow morning. Been busy at work but I'm eager to try and get this fixed

 

[ELL4EVER]

Just a quick update, I tried the download again this time making sure both the firewall and my Avast antivirus were turned off but it didn't work. I then tried changing the properties off the wifi adapter but that also didn't work. I'll be trying to download by Ethernet in a bit and also downloading my wifi driver update so I'll post an update when I finish.

 

[ELL4EVER]

I used an ethernet cable to download my wifi driver updates earlier, the download actually finished this time and I was able to install and restart my laptop. However just before restarting my laptop the progress of the driver download changed from "restarting system" to "failed". After the system restarted I went back onto the intel driver download utility and retried the install. This time it said it was repairing the the wifi driver system but it still ended up failing. While I had the Ethernet cable plugged in I decided to try and download the new graphics drivers for my 980m which actually worked and installed successfully. Seeing as the drivers downloaded and installed without issue I decided to this time try the Star Citizen download only to receive the same issue as I had before. Windows tells me that Windows Smart Screen has protected my pc from a potential issue so I run the Star Citizen download anyway only to be told that the file may be damaged.

 

[ubuysa]

I used an ethernet cable to download my wifi driver updates earlier, the download actually finished this time and I was able to install and restart my laptop. However just before restarting my laptop the progress of the driver download changed from "restarting system" to "failed". After the system restarted I went back onto the intel driver download utility and retried the install. This time it said it was repairing the the wifi driver system but it still ended up failing. While I had the Ethernet cable plugged in I decided to try and download the new graphics drivers for my 980m which actually worked and installed successfully. Seeing as the drivers downloaded and installed without issue I decided to this time try the Star Citizen download only to receive the same issue as I had before. Windows tells me that Windows Smart Screen has protected my pc from a potential issue so I run the Star Citizen download anyway only to be told that the file may be damaged.

So basically there is still a problem when you connect via a cable, so I doubt the root of the problem is your wireless card. From what you describe here I'm beginning to think that there may be a problem with your Windows installation or with a third-party application you have that is corrupting the downloads. If it were mine I'd back up all of your user data (or better still take a disk image) and do a clean reinstall of Windows and the original PCS-supplied drivers. Once Windows and the drivers are installed I'd try downloading at that point to see how it goes. If it fails then you're probably looking at a hardware issue and you'll need to contact PCS. If downlods work ok at that point then you should run Windows update repeatedly until there are no more updates, then check that downloads still work ok. Assuming they do then you'll need to reinstall each of your third party applications one at a time, checking that downloads work ok after every one. You'll probably find that everything works just fine but you should proceed in a step-by-step manner just in case this is an application problem.

I hope that helps?

 

[ELL4EVER]

I'll give it a try, thanks for your help