Data Error (downloaded zip files)

[Spyder Arachnid]

Maybe you guys can help me with this. Be prepared, this is going to be long. TLDR at the bottom.

 

So before, I had Windows 10 and had went through and disabled a ton of stuff, uninstalled stuff, and basically cleaned it up to bare bones so I didn't have a bunch of crap running in the background. Was doing great. I could download, browse the web, go through my files, really fast. No issues ever with the way I had it all done. Barely used any memory whatsoever (used around 8% memory total). Was loving it, except for one issue. I couldn't install updates. Every single time I tried to install Windows Updates, they would fail all the time 100%.

 

So! I decided to do a clean install of Windows 10. Didn't go and delete a bunch of stuff, didn't uninstall a bunch of things, just used the settings to disable stuff and left it how it was without "breaking" stuff. Let Windows run how Windows should run. Everything is running decent, still pretty fast going through everything, and updates work as well now. Using up more memory now (up to 14% memory usage all the time now), but that's fine. I got the memory to spare.

 

But now, whenever I download stuff (mainly any type of zip file), I get "Data Error" almost all the time when I try to extract files. Using Firefox, Chrome, even Edge, and any type of zip file I download gives me a Data Error whenever I try to extract it. I have to download the file multiple times (around 5-7 times) before I actually get a working file. Most small files work fine, but the big ones always have this issue. This is more of an issue now that I am trying to get back into Fallout, cause I am downloading so many mods that all come in zip files, that I have to constantly check after every single one to make sure they downloaded usable files. It is become exceeding frustrating to have to download the same file over and over again because of Data Error almost every single time.

 

Before, when I "broke" my Windows 10 and made it bare bones, I never had this issue ever. Everything downloaded perfectly. But now that I reset Windows and am keeping it how it should be, I am constantly having this problem. I've been searching all over online about it, and haven't really found anything to help my situation. At first I figured it's gotta be my anti-virus constantly scanning files while they are being downloaded or something. So I disabled it and tried downloading stuff. Same thing. So it wasn't that. Thought it was Edge, so switched to Firefox. Then switched to Chrome. Didn't matter what browser I used, same problem. Thought it was cause I was downloading multiple files at once, so I downloaded them one by one by one. No difference, still got data errors.

 

So I'm at the end here, trying to relax and deal with this issue but I am at a loss. I'm tired, worn out, and just all around defeated trying to deal with this issue. So hopefully I'm not the only one this is happening to and someone here can help me figure out what could possibly be causing this. Thanks.

 

 

TLDR: Data Error with almost every zip file I download, causing me to redownload it multiple times before I get a working file. Using 7zip and Chrome.

[35000jiha]

grab the latest 7z and or WinRAR and see if that helps, this was happening to me recently with .rar's

[Spyder Arachnid]

Yeah thought that might of been it as well, but have the latest version of 7zip (4/30/18) and still get that error.

[flatliner10]

Have you messed around with your memory timings, or overclocked your system?

Are you using any "Auto-Tune" or "Auto Boost" Features your BIOS/UEFI might have?

Did you try to run prime for a few hours to test for general instabilities?

Hardrive scanned for Errors?

Is the issue occurring on other harddrives/usb-sticks attached to the system? (had some weird things happen with faulty sata-cables/controllers)

Have you tried to pack and unpack something using this specific version of 7zip?

[Spyder Arachnid]

I don't do any of that overclocking or memory stuff, and don't have Prime (don't do overclocking so didn't need it lol). Don't have any boost stuff in bios that I know of. Computer is as is from the day I bought it, haven't needed to tweak any of that stuff. Only have the one hard-drive, don't use usb sticks (only for transferring files from one computer to another), no SD just a regular HD. Doesn't have any errors on it from my knowledge (just reinstalled Windows 10 and formatted my drives, so it better not have any errors lol).

 

Have packed up some files and extracted them again just now, no issues there.

 

 

I'm assuming it's something with my internet connection maybe. It's only a problem with files I download. Noticed recently when I download just one file at a time, they seem to work. But if I download multiple files at a time, that is when I get the Data Error from 7zip, and then I have to redownload all those files again one by one.

 

So going to assume it's a problem with multiple downloads. Which is weird, cause I never had this issue before until I reinstalled Windows 10. Was working just fine before all that, and now that I reinstalled, I'm getting all these problems....

[flatliner10]

13 hours ago, SpyderArachnid said:

don't have Prime

Its also useful if you don't do overclocking for stability test. For example when you suspect an aged Power supply/Mainboard might not provide a smooth voltage anymore.

 

14 hours ago, SpyderArachnid said:

just reinstalled Windows 10 and formatted my drives, so it better not have any errors lol

Did you ever actually checked for errors? (explorer, right-click on drive, properties, tools)

 

14 hours ago, SpyderArachnid said:

It's only a problem with files I download.

Try find an updated Driver for your network Adapter instead of using the default one.

Are you using Wifi?

 

You never mentioned which Antivirus you use specifically. You not using ZoneAlarm are you?

Are you using some random Download-Optimizer Wifi-Booster video-straming-accelerators?

[Spyder Arachnid]

My network adapter has the latest driver (at least, that is what it tells me when I try to update it). My Wifi is via Spectrum, modem and router in one combo. The computer I'm on is one of the wireless connected ones, so might check if my adapter might be just getting old.

 

Anti-Virus wise, I use Windows Defender. It's decent enough for what I do on my computer, and works well. No optimizers or boosters or accelerators. In fact, one of the things I tried was disabling hardware acceleration in Chrome cause was reading it could cause problems like this lol.

 

Did a scan of my drive, no errors found, so good to go there.

[flatliner10]

Windows defender provides decent basic protection, and is not known to cause any weird issues i'm aware of.

 

I'm suspecting some weird wifi issues, maybe paket collisions, or other poorly suppressed devices wrecking havoc on your signal.

Like Cordless-phones close by, microwaves or a really bad electronic device.

Or a Weak signal, unfortunate antenna placement... Or just a shitty wifi-router on its way out.

 

I guess you cant - just for shits an giggles- try to plug your computer directly into your router, using an Ethernet-cable, and disable your computers wifi for testing?

Its weird that you ONLY seem to get issues when you try to go ham on your bandwidth.

[Spyder Arachnid]

Yeah it's a weird issue. Seems I was wrong about single file download, as that is working fine. Download one file, all is well.

 

But if I try to download multiple files at the same time, data error. Really sucks lol.

 

 

Computer is a desktop, and it's upstairs lol. Would have to lug the whole thing downstairs where the router is to try that, but I mean, it's not like I really have any other options. Like I mentioned before, this was never an issue until I reinstalled Windows 10. All my hardware is the same as it was before the reinstall, so it seems odd that it would be a hardware issue when I never had an issue with hardware before I reinstalled Windows 10. Just after that reinstall, my downloads keep breaking when downloading multiple files at the same time.

 

I'm sure it's some dumb setting somewhere that I am completely overlooking, but a hard wire won't hurt to try at least. Thanks for your assistance btw, honestly I really appreciate it.

[flatliner10]

Might be something with the wifi itself, or the way Windows (or it's Wifi-driver) handles it.

 

The last option i can think of right now is grabbing one of those wifi-repeaters with a Ethernet Port,

pair it up with your router, and use its Ethernet to connect to your PC while disabling your PC's wifi.

This should circumvent any software/hardware issues you might have with your wifi on your PC.

 

OR: Turn your phone into a Hotspot, and connect to the internet using your phones connection (would burn trough your plan quickly though)

This would not circumvent your computers software/hardware wifi, but if it works, your router can be identified as being the culprit somehow.

 

[Spyder Arachnid]

So went ahead and closed out a crap ton of background processes and disabled a bunch of services to see if any of that would have an affect on anything. Turns out, it did. Something I turned off or closed out was causing my issue. Worst part? No idea what it was lol.

 

Went ahead and started just downloading a ton of junk after doing all that, multiple files at the same time and stuff, and they all came out fine. Not a single data error.

 

 

 

So all along, it was some random thing running in my background that was causing my problems. I mean, I guess it kind of makes sense. Before I reinstalled Windows 10, I had prevented a lot of stuff from running in the background, uninstalled a bunch of built in apps, and disabled a lot of services and didn't have any issues. But after I reinstalled Windows 10, I didn't do any of that so I had all that stuff in the background, all those built in apps, and all those services running.

 

Seems something that was running in the background was causing issues with my downloads. But since I closed it all out at once, I'm not even sure what fixed the issue lol. But hey! Bright side; it's all fixed at least. ?

 

 

Thanks though for trying to help me figure this out. I was at the end of my rope getting frustrated with this issue. Thanks for sticking in there and having the patience. 

[flatliner10]

No problem, have fun narrowing it down...

This tool might help you:

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/process-explorer

Gives more details as the taskmanager, run as admin.