Bad Sector Question

[Guest]

I know this is for HD board, i posted copy there. But if this can cause damage, need to know ASAP..

My IBM HD has 1 Bad sector...I can fix it by doing a low levl format. It's just I want to wait to the weekend to fix it, so I can backup everything then when I am free. Is there anything dangerous about using the HD with its bad sector. Can it spread...should I fix it ASAP...Thank you.

=Quantum
AO Admin
The Dr.Twister Network
http://ao.drtwister.com

 

[Guest]

Hi,

If it's not making strange noises, it should *probably* be ok to use, to grab the data from. Pull important data off of it first thing when you get a chance.

I really wouldn't bother trying to fix the drive, unless you plan to use it for really unimportant data. A drive with a bad sector in my opinion can't be trusted, especially since a new one is so cheap now (relatively)

This is all from personal experience, your mileage may vary (but the probability part should be correct

Hmm, hope this helps you!

 

[stable]

Do a complete surface scandisk. If AT ANY POINT the drive makes noises for more than 5 seconds as if the arms are going from one end of the drive to the other, (a kind of chewing sound or what one tech describes as a searching, but unable to find sound) or if the scandisk fails, then the drive is bad and should be returned for immediate replacement. We've seen this in about 1 out of every 30 or so drives in the 75GXP series. IBM is real good about replacing them though, usually in less than a week. We have not seen this problem in drives that are NOT 'dead on arrival'. In other words, if it isn't bad when you get it, chances are it will run fine with a good mean-time-between-failure (MTBF). If your purchase is within 30-days, you should simply return it to your place of purchase for a free exchange. We recommend performing the initial format in DOS mode and then a full scandisk before loading your Operating System. This will save you some grief if you happen to get a bad drive.

Steve Benoit


Stable Technologies
'The way IT should be!'