how do i patch my hard disk's bad sectors...any tips or suggestions???

Question

Last time i formatted my drive isaid it has 900MB bad sectors...whereas is had nothing before that.... what do i do??/ pz help...any way to recover those bad sectors???

Answer 1

Hi, for this you have to go through a special process called "DEBUG" formatting Check more details here.. http://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/dsn/en/document?journalid=B3D215FC415F11DB805F659E60A6C7F5&docid=07302457082C47EDA1A8F9619885F51F

The following debug script removes DOS and non-DOS partitions on the hard drive. This debug script allows you to convert a drive from an incompatible partition structure to one that will work with FDISK.EXE such as converting Linux partitions to MS-DOS partitions.


Insert the boot disk that contains the Debug command into the floppy disk drive.

Restart the computer.
A black screen with the Microsoft Windows® 95 Startup Menu appears.

Press the <5> key, and then press the key.
The boot process concludes with an A:\> prompt followed by a blinking cursor (underline).

From the A:\> prompt, type the following commands, and then press the key after each command:
NOTE: Type the bolded text only (the debug prompt is a dash). You may receive an error if you type anything other than the bold text. The non-bolded text represents the system response that will appear after typing each command and pressing the key.
debug
-F 200 L1000 0
-A CS:100
xxxx:0100 MOV AX,301
xxxx:0103 MOV BX,200
xxxx:0106 MOV CX,1
xxxx:0109 MOV DX,80

NOTE: Type 80 for the primary hard drive - HD 0, or type 81 for the secondary hard drive - HD 1.
In most cases, the primary hard drive is required 80.

xxxx:010C INT 13
xxxx:010E INT 20
xxxx:0110 (Leave this line blank. Press the key to continue.)

-G

The message Program terminated normally appears.


Press the power button to turn off your computer.

On the ensuing startup, the hard drive must be partitioned and formatted. Refer to the Additional Information section for further instructions.

Answer 2

If ur are using windows please follow this step
1. Double-click on My Computer to open the My Computer window.

2. Select the disk that you want to diagnose and repair.

3. Choose Properties from the File menu. You should see the Properties window for the drive that you selected.

4. Choose the Tools tab.

5. Click the Check Now button under Error Checking Status.

6. Depending on your version of Windows, choose either "Thorough" or "Scan for and Attempt Recovery of Bad Sectors."

7. Click on Start


****If ur using Mac os please do this in steps

1. If you're running Mac OS 9.2 or an earlier version, search your hard drive for a file called Disk First Aid. You can use this Apple-supplied utility to verify and repair disk errors.

2. If Disk First Aid says it can verify but not repair your disk because it's the startup disk, you should restart your Mac from the System CD-ROM disc that came with your computer. Hold down the C key during startup to force the Mac to start from the CD-ROM. Older Macs, pre-G3, need to press the Command- Opt-Shift-Delete combination.

3. If Disk First Aid fails to fix all the problems it detected the first time you run it, try running it a few more times

4. If you're running Mac OS X, you'll find that Disk First Aid has been made part of the Disk Utility program, which you'll find in the Utilities folder in the Applications folder. Click on the First Aid tab after launching Disk Utility.

If it does not solve ur problem try disk utiility software download at
"http://www.sofotex.com/download/PC_Utilities/Disk_Tools/more2.html"

Answer 3

Hi DesertEagle

you will have to format again :-( but this time doing a lowlevel format do a search for powermax for floppies or if you had a maxtor drive befor you may have powermax on one of there cd's create a bootable floppy with powermax and do lowlevel format that can normally bring back alot of bad sectors and has saved many hard drives

you can find the newest version of powermax here and it is free
http://www.maxtor.com/en/support/downloads/powermax.htm

hoped this helped
Victor C.

Answer 4

If you have windows, it will clear up the bad sector automatically, it will catch the bad sector..