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    marking bad sectors on hard disk

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by Alan-HK, Oct 11, 2007.

  1. Alan-HK

    Alan-HK Notebook Enthusiast

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    The hard disk on my Dell Inspiron 5000 is having trouble reading some sectors, I hear it trying a dozen times for some sectors.

    I ran the Windows (XP SP2) disk check tool that marks bad sectors, but I wonder if there is something more aggressive that can find any sectors that may be going bad and mark them before they fail.

    I know that I'm going to have to replace the disk pretty soon, but I'd prefer it not crash disastrously in the mean time.

    I don't think the drive or laptop support SMART.
     
    Alan-HK, Oct 11, 2007
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  2. John B

    John B Notebook Prophet

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    Ultimate Boot CD includes many tools to diagnose hard disk
     
    John B, Oct 11, 2007
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  3. Jalf

    Jalf Comrade Santa

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    You can't really detect bad sectors before they become bad, no. ;)

    As soon as you detect the first bad sector on a harddrive, it's a very good idea to order the replacement. They don't just come one at a time. When one sector fails, it's often a matter of days before the rest of the disk follows.
     
    Jalf, Oct 11, 2007
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  4. Alan-HK

    Alan-HK Notebook Enthusiast

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    Thanks, very useful.
     
    Alan-HK, Oct 11, 2007
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  5. Alan-HK

    Alan-HK Notebook Enthusiast

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    Well, that's what SMART is supposed to do.

    And I could hear it seeking a dozen times trying to read some files, so I know those sectors are not good, though still readable, for the moment.

    Running the IBM hard disk tool on the Ultimate CD found and "repaired" those dodgy sectors (i.e. moved the data and marked them bad.). Though as you said, it's likely to recur.
     
    Alan-HK, Oct 11, 2007
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