How to check for bad sector in WinXP???

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garu

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Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general (More info?)

Hi,

How can I find out in WinXP if my harddrive developed bad sectors. In DOS,
surface scan shows 'B' mark as bad sector, how can I do that in XP? Thanks
in advance.

-garu
 
Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general (More info?)

Garu wrote:

> Hi,
>
> How can I find out in WinXP if my harddrive developed bad sectors. In
> DOS,
> surface scan shows 'B' mark as bad sector, how can I do that in XP?
> Thanks in advance.
>
> -garu

You can use Chkdsk, but I think the best way to test your hard drive is
with a diagnostic utility from the drive mftr.'s website. Download the
file and make a bootable cd or floppy. Boot with the utility and do a
thorough test of the drive. If the drive has physical errors, replace
it.

http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-us/chkdsk.mspx

Malke
--
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic!"
MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User
 
Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general (More info?)

Malke wrote:

> Garu wrote:
>
>
>>Hi,
>>
>>How can I find out in WinXP if my harddrive developed bad sectors. In
>>DOS,
>>surface scan shows 'B' mark as bad sector, how can I do that in XP?
>>Thanks in advance.
>>
>>-garu
>
>
> You can use Chkdsk, but I think the best way to test your hard drive is
> with a diagnostic utility from the drive mftr.'s website. Download the
> file and make a bootable cd or floppy. Boot with the utility and do a
> thorough test of the drive. If the drive has physical errors, replace
> it.
>
> http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-us/chkdsk.mspx
>
> Malke

I disagree on one point Malke, some drive maker's diags will indeed find
and mark bad sectors but make no attempt to recover data that may be
located there to another sector. At least CHKDSK /R will try to do that,
often with success. For this reason I suggest doing CHKDSK /R first,
then use the manufacturers utility.

Steve
 
Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general (More info?)

Steve N. wrote:

> Malke wrote:
>
>> Garu wrote:
>>
>>
>>>Hi,
>>>
>>>How can I find out in WinXP if my harddrive developed bad sectors.
>>>In DOS,
>>>surface scan shows 'B' mark as bad sector, how can I do that in XP?
>>>Thanks in advance.
>>>
>>>-garu
>>
>>
>> You can use Chkdsk, but I think the best way to test your hard drive
>> is with a diagnostic utility from the drive mftr.'s website. Download
>> the file and make a bootable cd or floppy. Boot with the utility and
>> do a thorough test of the drive. If the drive has physical errors,
>> replace it.
>>
>>
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-us/chkdsk.mspx
>>
>> Malke
>
> I disagree on one point Malke, some drive maker's diags will indeed
> find and mark bad sectors but make no attempt to recover data that may
> be located there to another sector. At least CHKDSK /R will try to do
> that, often with success. For this reason I suggest doing CHKDSK /R
> first, then use the manufacturers utility.
>
> Steve

That's a good point Steve. My hesitation about using Chkdsk first is
that sometimes it hoses the system. The drive diagnostic won't write to
the drive at all, so if there are physical errors you know right away
and don't have to bother with further diagnostics. SeaTools for
instance will tell you if there is a file system problem (Chkdsk then)
or hard errors.

Malke
--
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic!"
MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User
 
Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general (More info?)

Malke wrote:

> Steve N. wrote:
>
>
>>Malke wrote:
>>
>>
>>>Garu wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>>Hi,
>>>>
>>>>How can I find out in WinXP if my harddrive developed bad sectors.
>>>>In DOS,
>>>>surface scan shows 'B' mark as bad sector, how can I do that in XP?
>>>>Thanks in advance.
>>>>
>>>>-garu
>>>
>>>
>>>You can use Chkdsk, but I think the best way to test your hard drive
>>>is with a diagnostic utility from the drive mftr.'s website. Download
>>>the file and make a bootable cd or floppy. Boot with the utility and
>>>do a thorough test of the drive. If the drive has physical errors,
>>>replace it.
>>>
>>>
>
> http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-us/chkdsk.mspx
>
>>>Malke
>>
>>I disagree on one point Malke, some drive maker's diags will indeed
>>find and mark bad sectors but make no attempt to recover data that may
>>be located there to another sector. At least CHKDSK /R will try to do
>>that, often with success. For this reason I suggest doing CHKDSK /R
>>first, then use the manufacturers utility.
>>
>>Steve
>
>
> That's a good point Steve. My hesitation about using Chkdsk first is
> that sometimes it hoses the system.

True.

> The drive diagnostic won't write to
> the drive at all, so if there are physical errors you know right away
> and don't have to bother with further diagnostics. SeaTools for
> instance will tell you if there is a file system problem (Chkdsk then)
> or hard errors.
>
> Malke

I don't recall which one I used that did this but one doesn't check for
defects by default and when you tell it to then it doesn't really give
you much choice about how they are dealt with, it finds them, marks them
bad then tells you what file (if any) resided on that sector and is now
hosed.

Steve
 
Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general (More info?)

Steve N. wrote:

>>>I disagree on one point Malke, some drive maker's diags will indeed
>>>find and mark bad sectors but make no attempt to recover data that
>>>may be located there to another sector. At least CHKDSK /R will try
>>>to do that, often with success. For this reason I suggest doing
>>>CHKDSK /R first, then use the manufacturers utility.
>>>
>>>Steve
>>
>>
>> That's a good point Steve. My hesitation about using Chkdsk first is
>> that sometimes it hoses the system.
>
> True.
>
>> The drive diagnostic won't write to
>> the drive at all, so if there are physical errors you know right away
>> and don't have to bother with further diagnostics. SeaTools for
>> instance will tell you if there is a file system problem (Chkdsk
>> then) or hard errors.
>>
>> Malke
>
> I don't recall which one I used that did this but one doesn't check
> for defects by default and when you tell it to then it doesn't really
> give you much choice about how they are dealt with, it finds them,
> marks them bad then tells you what file (if any) resided on that
> sector and is now hosed.

Interesting. I haven't seen that behavior in the ones I use which are
usually SeaTools (it doesn't only work on Seagate's drives), the Maxtor
one, and the one for Western Digital. All of their thorough scans won't
write to the drive, which is what we want. Maybe you had a different
utility and/or it was older. If the drive isn't one of those "big
three", I use the latest SeaTools.

Cheers,

Malke
--
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic!"
MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User
 
Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general (More info?)

On Fri, 19 Aug 2005 14:40:42 -0700, "Steve N." <Steve_N@nunya.biz.nes>
wrote:

> Malke wrote:
>
> > Steve N. wrote:
> >
> >
> >>Malke wrote:
> >>
> >>
> >>>Garu wrote:
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>>Hi,
> >>>>
> >>>>How can I find out in WinXP if my harddrive developed bad sectors.
> >>>>In DOS,
> >>>>surface scan shows 'B' mark as bad sector, how can I do that in XP?
> >>>>Thanks in advance.
> >>>>
> >>>>-garu
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>You can use Chkdsk, but I think the best way to test your hard drive
> >>>is with a diagnostic utility from the drive mftr.'s website. Download
> >>>the file and make a bootable cd or floppy. Boot with the utility and
> >>>do a thorough test of the drive. If the drive has physical errors,
> >>>replace it.
> >>>
> >>>
> >
> > http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-us/chkdsk.mspx
> >
> >>>Malke
> >>
> >>I disagree on one point Malke, some drive maker's diags will indeed
> >>find and mark bad sectors but make no attempt to recover data that may
> >>be located there to another sector. At least CHKDSK /R will try to do
> >>that, often with success. For this reason I suggest doing CHKDSK /R
> >>first, then use the manufacturers utility.
> >>
> >>Steve
> >
> >
> > That's a good point Steve. My hesitation about using Chkdsk first is
> > that sometimes it hoses the system.
>
> True.
>
> > The drive diagnostic won't write to
> > the drive at all, so if there are physical errors you know right away
> > and don't have to bother with further diagnostics. SeaTools for
> > instance will tell you if there is a file system problem (Chkdsk then)
> > or hard errors.
> >
> > Malke
>
> I don't recall which one I used that did this but one doesn't check for
> defects by default and when you tell it to then it doesn't really give
> you much choice about how they are dealt with, it finds them, marks them
> bad then tells you what file (if any) resided on that sector and is now
> hosed.
>
> Steve

I would use "chkdsk /f". This will fix any errors (if possible).
Also, you must set chkdsk to do a hardware scan in addition to a
filesystem scan.

Donald L McDaniel
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