RustyWhitney
asked on
How do I repair bad sectors on an XP hard drive?
The "accepted answer" currently posted hasn't been useful. It reads:
----------
Accepted Answer from 3aFaReeT
Date: 12/24/2001 01:38AM PST
Accepted Answer
install notron utilities 2002 on th XP and let it run the surface scan. or u can use the the through scandisk of the WINXP .. i would advise you to do it in the Safe mode
----------
Norton Utilities 2003 "Disk Doctor" invokes XP's CHKDSK /R which does not repair the bad sectors on my drive. My problem may be compounded by the known ability of PowerQuest (now Symantec) disk imaging products to clone bad sectors.
I have reforamtted the disk and restored the contents from a PowerQuest V2i image only to find the bad sectors were there (again).
----------
Accepted Answer from 3aFaReeT
Date: 12/24/2001 01:38AM PST
Accepted Answer
install notron utilities 2002 on th XP and let it run the surface scan. or u can use the the through scandisk of the WINXP .. i would advise you to do it in the Safe mode
----------
Norton Utilities 2003 "Disk Doctor" invokes XP's CHKDSK /R which does not repair the bad sectors on my drive. My problem may be compounded by the known ability of PowerQuest (now Symantec) disk imaging products to clone bad sectors.
I have reforamtted the disk and restored the contents from a PowerQuest V2i image only to find the bad sectors were there (again).
This is true. If the hard disk is truly damaged there is nothing you can do about it.
A CHKDSK /r should mark and attempt to recover data from bad sectors. Here is the complete command line for CHKDSK.
ChkdskCreates and displays a status report for a disk based on the file system. Chkdsk also lists and corrects errors on the disk. Used without parameters, chkdsk displays the status of the disk in the current drive.
Syntax
chkdsk [volume:][[Path] FileName] [/f] [/v] [/r] [/x] [/i] [/c] [/l[:size]]
Parameters
volume:
Specifies the drive letter (followed by a colon), mount point, or volume name.
[Path] FileName
Specifies the location and name of a file or set of files that you want chkdsk to check for fragmentation. You can use wildcard characters (that is, * and ?) to specify multiple files.
/f
Fixes errors on the disk. The disk must be locked. If chkdsk cannot lock the drive, a message appears that asks you if you want to check the drive the next time you restart the computer.
/v
Displays the name of each file in every directory as the disk is checked.
/r
Locates bad sectors and recovers readable information. The disk must be locked.
/x
Use with NTFS only. Forces the volume to dismount first, if necessary. All open handles to the drive are invalidated. /x also includes the functionality of /f.
/i
Use with NTFS only. Performs a less vigorous check of index entries, reducing the amount of time needed to run chkdsk.
/c
Use with NTFS only. Skips the checking of cycles within the folder structure, reducing the amount of time needed to run chkdsk.
/l[:size]
Use with NTFS only. Changes the log file size to the size you type. If you omit the size parameter, /l displays the current size.
/?
Displays help at the command prompt.
Remarks
Running chkdsk
To run chkdsk on a fixed disk, you must be a member of the Administrators group.
Checking a locked drive at restart
If you want chkdsk to correct disk errors, you cannot have open files on the drive. If files are open, the following error message appears:
Chkdsk cannot run because the volume is in use by another process. Would you like to schedule this volume to be checked the next time the system restarts? (Y/N)
If you choose to check the drive the next time you restart the computer, chkdsk checks the drive and corrects errors automatically when you restart the computer. If the drive partition is a boot partition, chkdsk automatically restarts the computer after it checks the drive.
Reporting disk errors
Chkdsk examines disk space and disk use for the file allocation table (FAT) and NTFS file systems. Chkdsk provides information specific to each file system in a status report. The status report shows errors found in the file system. If you run chkdsk without the /f command-line option on an active partition, it might report spurious errors because it cannot lock the drive. You should use chkdsk occasionally on each disk to check for errors.
Fixing disk errors
Chkdsk corrects disk errors only if you specify the /f command-line option. Chkdsk must be able to lock the drive to correct errors. Because repairs usually change a disk's file allocation table and sometimes cause a loss of data, chkdsk sends a confirmation message similar to the following:
10 lost allocation units found in 3 chains.
Convert lost chains to files?
If you press Y, Windows saves each lost chain in the root directory as a file with a name in the format Filennnn.chk. When chkdsk finishes, you can check these files to see if they contain any data you need. If you press N, Windows fixes the disk, but it does not save the contents of the lost allocation units.
If you do not use the /f command-line option, chkdsk sends a message if a file needs to be fixed, but it does not fix any errors.
If you use chkdsk /f on a very large disk (for example, 70 gigabytes) or a disk with a very large number of files (for example, millions of files), chkdsk might take a long time (for example, over several days) to complete. The computer is not available during this time because chkdsk does not relinquish control until it is finished.
Checking a FAT disk
Windows displays chkdsk status reports for a FAT disk in the following format:
Volume Serial Number is B1AF-AFBF
72214528 bytes total disk space
73728 bytes in 3 hidden files
30720 bytes in 12 directories
11493376 bytes in 386 user files
61440 bytes in bad sectors
60555264 bytes available on disk
2048 bytes in each allocation unit
35261 total allocation units on disk
29568 available allocation units on disk
Checking an NTFS disk
Windows displays chkdsk status reports for an NTFS disk in the following format:
The type of the file system is NTFS.
CHKDSK is verifying files...
File verification completed.
CHKDSK is verifying indexes...
Index verification completed.
CHKDSK is verifying security descriptors...
Security descriptor verification completed.
12372 kilobytes total disk space.
3 kilobytes in 1 user files.
2 kilobytes in 1 indexes.
4217 kilobytes in use by the system.
8150 kilobytes available on disk.
512 bytes in each allocation unit.
24745 total allocation units on disk.
16301 allocation units available on disk.
Using chkdsk with open files
If you specify the /f command-line option, chkdsk sends an error message if there are open files on the disk. If you do not specify the /f command-line option and open files exist, chkdsk might report lost allocation units on the disk. This could happen if open files have not yet been recorded in the file allocation table. If chkdsk reports the loss of a large number of allocation units, consider repairing the disk.
Finding physical disk errors
Use the /r command-line option to find physical disk errors in the file system. For information about recovering physically damaged files with recover, see Related Topics.
Reporting bad disk sectors
Bad sectors reported by chkdsk were marked as bad when your disk was first prepared for operation. They pose no danger.
Understanding exit codes
The following table lists the exit codes that chkdsk reports after it has finished.
Exit code Description
0 No errors were found.
1 Errors were found and fixed.
2 Disk cleanup, such as garbage collection, was performed, or cleanup was not performed because /f was not specified.
3 Could not check the disk, errors could not be fixed, or errors were not fixed because /f was not specified.
The chkdsk command, with different parameters, is available from the Recovery Console.
Examples
If you want to check the disk in drive D and have Windows fix errors, type:
chkdsk d: /f
If it encounters errors, chkdsk pauses and displays messages. Chkdsk finishes by displaying a report that lists the status of the disk. You cannot open any files on the specified drive until chkdsk finishes.
To check all of files on a FAT disk in the current directory for noncontiguous blocks, type:
chkdsk *.*
Chkdsk displays a status report, and then lists the files matching the file specification that have noncontiguous blocks.
Formatting legend
Format Meaning
Italic Information that the user must supply
Bold Elements that the user must type exactly as shown
Ellipsis (...) Parameter that can be repeated several times in a command line
Between brackets ([]) Optional items
Between braces ({}); choices separated by pipe (|). Example: {even|odd} Set of choices from which the user must choose only one
Courier font Code or program output
This command should do it for you.
A CHKDSK /r should mark and attempt to recover data from bad sectors. Here is the complete command line for CHKDSK.
ChkdskCreates and displays a status report for a disk based on the file system. Chkdsk also lists and corrects errors on the disk. Used without parameters, chkdsk displays the status of the disk in the current drive.
Syntax
chkdsk [volume:][[Path] FileName] [/f] [/v] [/r] [/x] [/i] [/c] [/l[:size]]
Parameters
volume:
Specifies the drive letter (followed by a colon), mount point, or volume name.
[Path] FileName
Specifies the location and name of a file or set of files that you want chkdsk to check for fragmentation. You can use wildcard characters (that is, * and ?) to specify multiple files.
/f
Fixes errors on the disk. The disk must be locked. If chkdsk cannot lock the drive, a message appears that asks you if you want to check the drive the next time you restart the computer.
/v
Displays the name of each file in every directory as the disk is checked.
/r
Locates bad sectors and recovers readable information. The disk must be locked.
/x
Use with NTFS only. Forces the volume to dismount first, if necessary. All open handles to the drive are invalidated. /x also includes the functionality of /f.
/i
Use with NTFS only. Performs a less vigorous check of index entries, reducing the amount of time needed to run chkdsk.
/c
Use with NTFS only. Skips the checking of cycles within the folder structure, reducing the amount of time needed to run chkdsk.
/l[:size]
Use with NTFS only. Changes the log file size to the size you type. If you omit the size parameter, /l displays the current size.
/?
Displays help at the command prompt.
Remarks
Running chkdsk
To run chkdsk on a fixed disk, you must be a member of the Administrators group.
Checking a locked drive at restart
If you want chkdsk to correct disk errors, you cannot have open files on the drive. If files are open, the following error message appears:
Chkdsk cannot run because the volume is in use by another process. Would you like to schedule this volume to be checked the next time the system restarts? (Y/N)
If you choose to check the drive the next time you restart the computer, chkdsk checks the drive and corrects errors automatically when you restart the computer. If the drive partition is a boot partition, chkdsk automatically restarts the computer after it checks the drive.
Reporting disk errors
Chkdsk examines disk space and disk use for the file allocation table (FAT) and NTFS file systems. Chkdsk provides information specific to each file system in a status report. The status report shows errors found in the file system. If you run chkdsk without the /f command-line option on an active partition, it might report spurious errors because it cannot lock the drive. You should use chkdsk occasionally on each disk to check for errors.
Fixing disk errors
Chkdsk corrects disk errors only if you specify the /f command-line option. Chkdsk must be able to lock the drive to correct errors. Because repairs usually change a disk's file allocation table and sometimes cause a loss of data, chkdsk sends a confirmation message similar to the following:
10 lost allocation units found in 3 chains.
Convert lost chains to files?
If you press Y, Windows saves each lost chain in the root directory as a file with a name in the format Filennnn.chk. When chkdsk finishes, you can check these files to see if they contain any data you need. If you press N, Windows fixes the disk, but it does not save the contents of the lost allocation units.
If you do not use the /f command-line option, chkdsk sends a message if a file needs to be fixed, but it does not fix any errors.
If you use chkdsk /f on a very large disk (for example, 70 gigabytes) or a disk with a very large number of files (for example, millions of files), chkdsk might take a long time (for example, over several days) to complete. The computer is not available during this time because chkdsk does not relinquish control until it is finished.
Checking a FAT disk
Windows displays chkdsk status reports for a FAT disk in the following format:
Volume Serial Number is B1AF-AFBF
72214528 bytes total disk space
73728 bytes in 3 hidden files
30720 bytes in 12 directories
11493376 bytes in 386 user files
61440 bytes in bad sectors
60555264 bytes available on disk
2048 bytes in each allocation unit
35261 total allocation units on disk
29568 available allocation units on disk
Checking an NTFS disk
Windows displays chkdsk status reports for an NTFS disk in the following format:
The type of the file system is NTFS.
CHKDSK is verifying files...
File verification completed.
CHKDSK is verifying indexes...
Index verification completed.
CHKDSK is verifying security descriptors...
Security descriptor verification completed.
12372 kilobytes total disk space.
3 kilobytes in 1 user files.
2 kilobytes in 1 indexes.
4217 kilobytes in use by the system.
8150 kilobytes available on disk.
512 bytes in each allocation unit.
24745 total allocation units on disk.
16301 allocation units available on disk.
Using chkdsk with open files
If you specify the /f command-line option, chkdsk sends an error message if there are open files on the disk. If you do not specify the /f command-line option and open files exist, chkdsk might report lost allocation units on the disk. This could happen if open files have not yet been recorded in the file allocation table. If chkdsk reports the loss of a large number of allocation units, consider repairing the disk.
Finding physical disk errors
Use the /r command-line option to find physical disk errors in the file system. For information about recovering physically damaged files with recover, see Related Topics.
Reporting bad disk sectors
Bad sectors reported by chkdsk were marked as bad when your disk was first prepared for operation. They pose no danger.
Understanding exit codes
The following table lists the exit codes that chkdsk reports after it has finished.
Exit code Description
0 No errors were found.
1 Errors were found and fixed.
2 Disk cleanup, such as garbage collection, was performed, or cleanup was not performed because /f was not specified.
3 Could not check the disk, errors could not be fixed, or errors were not fixed because /f was not specified.
The chkdsk command, with different parameters, is available from the Recovery Console.
Examples
If you want to check the disk in drive D and have Windows fix errors, type:
chkdsk d: /f
If it encounters errors, chkdsk pauses and displays messages. Chkdsk finishes by displaying a report that lists the status of the disk. You cannot open any files on the specified drive until chkdsk finishes.
To check all of files on a FAT disk in the current directory for noncontiguous blocks, type:
chkdsk *.*
Chkdsk displays a status report, and then lists the files matching the file specification that have noncontiguous blocks.
Formatting legend
Format Meaning
Italic Information that the user must supply
Bold Elements that the user must type exactly as shown
Ellipsis (...) Parameter that can be repeated several times in a command line
Between brackets ([]) Optional items
Between braces ({}); choices separated by pipe (|). Example: {even|odd} Set of choices from which the user must choose only one
Courier font Code or program output
This command should do it for you.
The only true way to fix bad sectors is to replace the drive. If it is still under gaurentee, I suggest you do this.
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
membership
This solution is only available to members.
To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.
If your HDD is a Western Digital -download Data-Lifeguard, and if it is quantum/maxtor download Powermax/Maxblast.
Another trick is to pull the drive out and plug it into an up to date win2000pro machine, and run check disk with all the options if it doesn't run it at startup. WinXP has been problematic at times for me and this has fixed it. Failing which replace the HDD as bad sectors can mean the end! How old is this HDD?
Another trick is to pull the drive out and plug it into an up to date win2000pro machine, and run check disk with all the options if it doesn't run it at startup. WinXP has been problematic at times for me and this has fixed it. Failing which replace the HDD as bad sectors can mean the end! How old is this HDD?
i've been ruunning my fujitsu hd with 20% bad sectors for 3 years now. Heres what you do:
make a win 98 bootdisk. include format.com, fdisk.com, as well as scandisk.exe
one you have the disk, delete the NTFS partitions, create a fat32 one.
run "scandisk /surface" on the drive. it will find bad sectors, and mark them as bad for you. this will take a very long time, as you have to press a key to mark each and every bad cluster.
make a win 98 bootdisk. include format.com, fdisk.com, as well as scandisk.exe
one you have the disk, delete the NTFS partitions, create a fat32 one.
run "scandisk /surface" on the drive. it will find bad sectors, and mark them as bad for you. this will take a very long time, as you have to press a key to mark each and every bad cluster.
hy!
i dont know whthr ths work with ur hdd brand but wht i do is, i've got 2 hdd from segate and samsung. i have got cd tht is segate extra vlue cd.just boot with 98 cd.get command prompt and in cd drive's prompt just write dm for segate cd and for any othr brand write dm/x.
more thn 65% chances of removing bad sectors.
depends on ur hdd condition.i'm in gujarat(india).we have ths brand hdd at good affordable price.
try it.
i dont know whthr ths work with ur hdd brand but wht i do is, i've got 2 hdd from segate and samsung. i have got cd tht is segate extra vlue cd.just boot with 98 cd.get command prompt and in cd drive's prompt just write dm for segate cd and for any othr brand write dm/x.
more thn 65% chances of removing bad sectors.
depends on ur hdd condition.i'm in gujarat(india).we have ths brand hdd at good affordable price.
try it.
aftr it u will have ur hdd in list. just go in advance option and do low level format. u can thn make partition in less time.
If it was possibly an IBM Deskstar (aka Deathstar) then your not alone on bad sectors. I had a problem with the IBM drive at one time, then
had to get it replaced. If you just type in Deskstar in google there would be something negative about them somewhere since they did have a bad reputation. I found this out only after getting the drive a few months back. The drive could be damaged as some people have concluded or the need to do a low level format which would eliminate all bad sectors and everything else. A regular format only erases files and folders with some info still left over. Try the disk repair as suggested in other postings, if no help, then low level format it to clean it up. A good utility I use once win98/2k/xp is installed called Diskeeper 7.0/8.0. A good program to keep from getting bad sectors because it can schedule defrag at anytime or during screensaver. They have a free trial version if you want to check it out. Later!
had to get it replaced. If you just type in Deskstar in google there would be something negative about them somewhere since they did have a bad reputation. I found this out only after getting the drive a few months back. The drive could be damaged as some people have concluded or the need to do a low level format which would eliminate all bad sectors and everything else. A regular format only erases files and folders with some info still left over. Try the disk repair as suggested in other postings, if no help, then low level format it to clean it up. A good utility I use once win98/2k/xp is installed called Diskeeper 7.0/8.0. A good program to keep from getting bad sectors because it can schedule defrag at anytime or during screensaver. They have a free trial version if you want to check it out. Later!
>>low level format which would eliminate all bad sectors and everything else.
You can't eliminate bad sectors...all you can do is remap them so they're not available to the operating system anymore. Defrag (with built-in defragmenter or Diskeeper) will not prevent bad sectors. BUt the IBM "Deathstar" drives are a definite problem...there was a class-action lawsuit filed against IBM over them (I think it may have just been settled lately, not sure).
dogztar
You can't eliminate bad sectors...all you can do is remap them so they're not available to the operating system anymore. Defrag (with built-in defragmenter or Diskeeper) will not prevent bad sectors. BUt the IBM "Deathstar" drives are a definite problem...there was a class-action lawsuit filed against IBM over them (I think it may have just been settled lately, not sure).
dogztar
Hai,
You won't be able to do nothing if a physical damage on Harddisk Drive.The Softwares like Norton Ghost or even the Surface Scan of Windows will mark the Bad Sectors so that no data is written on it.If the damage is not physical then the softwares posted by others will come in handy.
Regards
Venish
You won't be able to do nothing if a physical damage on Harddisk Drive.The Softwares like Norton Ghost or even the Surface Scan of Windows will mark the Bad Sectors so that no data is written on it.If the damage is not physical then the softwares posted by others will come in handy.
Regards
Venish
I had kept getting errors that chkdsk could not repair on my WD 80 GB Caviar 7200 RPM hard drive.
They all went away when I installed a cooling fan under the hard drives, it turns out it was just running too hot ....
They all went away when I installed a cooling fan under the hard drives, it turns out it was just running too hot ....
HI,
Its Manish Bakshi from Baroda (Gujarat-India). I will certainly give you a way out of this problem you can permanently remove bad sectors from your harddisk. You need to buy a software which removes bad sector and does the work of data recovery in which 5 different steps are involved so u have to go through 5th step in the that software and you can then start detailed scanning and removal u it takes more than 3 to 4 hours on a harddisk of sized 3 - 4 G.B. and more depends on what amount of Harddisk bad sectors you have so that will recover you out of the problem there are different software available i have already removed many a bad sectors till now and machines are working fine even i had around 6 bad sectors on my hard disk so i removed them too.....
Its Manish Bakshi from Baroda (Gujarat-India). I will certainly give you a way out of this problem you can permanently remove bad sectors from your harddisk. You need to buy a software which removes bad sector and does the work of data recovery in which 5 different steps are involved so u have to go through 5th step in the that software and you can then start detailed scanning and removal u it takes more than 3 to 4 hours on a harddisk of sized 3 - 4 G.B. and more depends on what amount of Harddisk bad sectors you have so that will recover you out of the problem there are different software available i have already removed many a bad sectors till now and machines are working fine even i had around 6 bad sectors on my hard disk so i removed them too.....
~Bad Sector:
A segment of disk storage that cannot be read or written, because of a physical problem in the disk. Bad sectors on hard disks are marked by the operating system and bypassed. If data are recorded in a sector that becomes bad, file recovery software, and sometimes special hardware, must be used to restore it.
A segment of disk storage that cannot be read or written, because of a physical problem in the disk. Bad sectors on hard disks are marked by the operating system and bypassed. If data are recorded in a sector that becomes bad, file recovery software, and sometimes special hardware, must be used to restore it.
babajienterprise:
So what is this miracle software that can remove bad sectors? Its just not possible...Windows XP CHKDSK is pretty much as likely as any to clear this up. I think we've gone over this enough, its just not possible to "fix" bad sectors, you can only try to recover the data out of them and mark them as bad, which is what hte software I linked to does (Western Digital's data lifeguard). No need to buy any tool, the drive vendors offer it for free to help reduce warranty replacement claims.
dogztar
So what is this miracle software that can remove bad sectors? Its just not possible...Windows XP CHKDSK is pretty much as likely as any to clear this up. I think we've gone over this enough, its just not possible to "fix" bad sectors, you can only try to recover the data out of them and mark them as bad, which is what hte software I linked to does (Western Digital's data lifeguard). No need to buy any tool, the drive vendors offer it for free to help reduce warranty replacement claims.
dogztar
one of the software to remove the bad sector is SPINRITE u can buy and try i really removes or does not brings in screen the bad sectors when u run even scandisk henceforth computer will never give u any trouble regarding the disk.
regards
regards
http://grc.com/sroverview.htm visit and know about it
Where does it say there that Spinrite REPAIRS bad sectors? As with every other software of its kind it finds and marks bad sectors but there is no way to repair them.
Yes yes, I know all about spinrite, and as slink9 says, it can't repair bad sectors, unless that idiot Steve Gibson says "It repairs bad sectors" which is false, it does the same job that CHKDSK, Scandisk, Norton Disk Doctor, etc does. And I'd trust the vendor's tool before I'd shell out any money for SpinRite; they know the drive better than anyone.
dogztar
dogztar
There is also a program called HDD Regenerator.
You have been given the answer - YOU CAN'T
Accept the answer and close the question, already.
Accept the answer and close the question, already.
HDD regenerator can recover bad sectors, i have used it, and it seems to work. Anyway, doesnt hard drive's have redundant sectors anyway for such errors?
>>HDD regenerator can recover bad sectors, i have used it, and it seems to work. Anyway, doesnt hard drive's have redundant sectors anyway for such errors?
Yes, there are some "spare" sectors used for bad sector remapping...the point is, there is no software that can "repair" a bad sector if it is physically corrupted/damaged. You can re-map it, move the data it contains and mark it bad, but that's it.
Yes, there are some "spare" sectors used for bad sector remapping...the point is, there is no software that can "repair" a bad sector if it is physically corrupted/damaged. You can re-map it, move the data it contains and mark it bad, but that's it.
bad sectors on hard drives have a habit of returning even if they have been repaired and also the can often spread to other parts of the platters inside the drive so in the long run it would probably be best to buy a new HDD and possibly use the drive with bad sectors on as a slave drive so you dont loose any data
rjturnbull,
Did you know that brand new drives have bad sectors? Did you also know that these bad sectors on new drives are occasionally quite numerous?
There is no such thing as perfection when a 140G drive sells for $100 or less. Besides, who will miss a few megabytes out of 140G?
Did you know that brand new drives have bad sectors? Did you also know that these bad sectors on new drives are occasionally quite numerous?
There is no such thing as perfection when a 140G drive sells for $100 or less. Besides, who will miss a few megabytes out of 140G?
U can do a low level format. This will fix your bad sectors.
But remember to back up all your data. Because low leve format will erase all your data.
Below is the list of links to download software to diagnose, fix and low level format your harddisk.
Please download the software according to your hardisk brand.
IBM(Hitachi)
http://www.hgst.com/hdd/support/download.htm
Seagate
http://www.seagate.com/support/disc/utils.html
Maxtor
http://www.maxtor.com/en/support/downloads/index.htm
Fujitsu
http://www.fel.fujitsu.com/home/drivers.asp?L=en&CID=1
Samsung
http://www.samsung.com/Products/HardDiskDrive/utilities/index.htm
FAQ: Low level format
Western Digital
http://support.wdc.com/download/index.asp
But remember to back up all your data. Because low leve format will erase all your data.
Below is the list of links to download software to diagnose, fix and low level format your harddisk.
Please download the software according to your hardisk brand.
IBM(Hitachi)
http://www.hgst.com/hdd/support/download.htm
Seagate
http://www.seagate.com/support/disc/utils.html
Maxtor
http://www.maxtor.com/en/support/downloads/index.htm
Fujitsu
http://www.fel.fujitsu.com/home/drivers.asp?L=en&CID=1
Samsung
http://www.samsung.com/Products/HardDiskDrive/utilities/index.htm
FAQ: Low level format
Western Digital
http://support.wdc.com/download/index.asp
I think daveson_lee needs to read the rest of this question.
A low level DOES NOT FIX BAD SECTORS. That is evident from the rest of the question and from the experiences of those who have been in the computer biz long enough to remember RLL drives and the bad track tables.
A low level DOES NOT FIX BAD SECTORS. That is evident from the rest of the question and from the experiences of those who have been in the computer biz long enough to remember RLL drives and the bad track tables.
NOTHING on God's green earth fixes bad sectors since the disk is physically damaged. In ALL cases where bad sectors are found, replace the hard drive as soon as possible. I also recommend doing a clean install of the OS and applications vs. a backup/restore since you may be restoring corruption on the drive.
I agree with anyone who states that there is no recovery from a bad sector on hard drive. The drive has become phiscally damaged, and the only way of repair is RMA. The software packages people talk about redirect file data around the actual sector(s) that have become currupt. By doing so you are decreasing the hard drive size and increasing the wear on your read/write heads on the drive. All this wear and tear decreases the hard drives life cycle. I know this is not t he outcome that you would perfer to hear, but after all the experinces I have gone through with hard drives I have learned the truth hurts.
Signed
NJ_Devillz
And remember,
If it aint broken, upgrade!!! but if it is, what are you waiting for? fix it!!!
Signed
NJ_Devillz
And remember,
If it aint broken, upgrade!!! but if it is, what are you waiting for? fix it!!!
Have you tried to low-level format this drive yet?
I use Partition Magic for this purpose. I connected bad sector hardisk with an other system. I make new partitions and leave the 100 Mb space which area is bad. Often I have also done it with system partition method. In this way I made my hard disk useable. I mean I hide the space in this way.
You can also use Seamap Utility for this purpose. When I run seamap at the bad sector hard disk, It market as infected which is also helpful.
Arrggh when will this question end? Bye...
A bad sector is not area that is bad, it is area that is about to fail. When a utility finds out that a sector is reading/writing slower than it should, it assumes that the sector is about to fail, so copies data out of the sector, and marks it as bad.
As you can understand by now, unmarking these areas as bad, defeats the purpose of the utility, of safeguarding your data.
Some utilities can 'recover' bad sectors, but then your data is at risk.
Conclusion: If your HDD has bad sectors, just live with it.
As you can understand by now, unmarking these areas as bad, defeats the purpose of the utility, of safeguarding your data.
Some utilities can 'recover' bad sectors, but then your data is at risk.
Conclusion: If your HDD has bad sectors, just live with it.
what i did is low level format/zero filled my HDD
how do these softwares fix the sectors?? they DONT! u need to get another HD. my dad needs to understand that as well.
You cannot low level a hard disk just using software any more. You can return all the data areas to x'00' or whatever and many people refer to this as low leveling but it is not. as far as bad and flaky sectors are concerned I have user Spinrite (mentioned above) with very good results. If a sector is physically damaged that is the end of it and its data unless you happen to be yhe CIA or etc in which case I guess that you would not be asking this question. If the sector is on its way out i.e. too many retries too much recourse to error correction then Spinrite can move the data and either remap the sector or mark it bad in the OS depending upun the drive.
U can use norton disk doctor under dose to fix all kinds of disk problems u can use a bootable disk and run norton disk doctor from dos .......note : the norton disk doctor is found in the norton utileties as NDD.exe
I have sucessfully booted XP into the recovery console and the version of chkdsk available there does indeed have an option that locates bad sectors and marks them as bad.
chkdsk drive /p /r
The chkdsk command checks the specified drive and repairs or recovers the drive if the drive requires it.The command also marks any bad sectors and it recovers readable information.
You can use the following options:
/p : Does an exhaustive check of the drive and corrects any errors.
/r : Locates bad sectors and recovers readable information.
See http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314058/EN-US/ for more information.
chkdsk drive /p /r
The chkdsk command checks the specified drive and repairs or recovers the drive if the drive requires it.The command also marks any bad sectors and it recovers readable information.
You can use the following options:
/p : Does an exhaustive check of the drive and corrects any errors.
/r : Locates bad sectors and recovers readable information.
See http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314058/EN-US/ for more information.
Write down serial number written on HDD and check if its under warranty on manufacturer's website. If it is, it might be reasonable to backup valuable data and send/bring it for replacement/repair
do you hear any abnormal sounds comming from the hard drive (knocks or pings)??
Get HDD Regenerator to recover bad sectors on your drive. I wouldn't use the drive after that though. It's not reliable anymore. You can find that program on the net as well as the Hiren Bood cd.
bad sector is not remove by using any above mention tool so you use ranish partion manager to hide bad secftor & use remaining harddisk
You can do a zero fill with your hard disk manufacturer application.
Finnaly your harddisk maybe really damaged, and nothin can solve it unless you replace it.