Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general,microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware (
More info?)
Peter Rossiter wrote:
> "Donald McDaniel" <orthocrossNOSPAM@ATiinetDOT.com> wrote:
>
>>>>> In the properties for a partition there is a tool tab with
>>>>> a feature for "error checking".
>>>>>
>>>>> One check box says "Scan for and attempt recovery of bad
>>>>> sectors".
>>>>>
>>>>> If this box is checked then does that perform a check of
>>>>> the partition sectors which is similar to the check
>>>>> performed by a full format?
>>>>>
>>>>> If that is so then is the above checkbox on the "error
>>>>> checking" option doing the same thing as "CHKDSK /R" ?
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> "Yves Leclerc" <yleclercNOSPAM@maysys.com> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> NO! Format erases the files and tests the sectors. Chkdsk
>>>> justs checks the sectors and tries to "save" file info if
>>>> the sectors fails the tests.
>>>
>>>
>>> I am not really bothered about the different functions of
>>> FORMAT and CHKDSK because I wil be starting with a new
>>> partition.
>>>
>>> I want to check the new partition. If i don't select a full
>>> format then can I later use CHKDSK to do what the full format
>>> would have done?
>>
>> chkdsk does NOT format partitions!!! Can't you understand
>> this?
>
> Of course CHKDSK does not format partitions. It checks a disk.
> And a full format seems to check a disk more than a quick format.
>
> So I am asking if the checks are similar. (See my posting for what
> parts of the checks I am asking about.)
>
>> chkdsk (if it's set to check for surface errors) moves
>> data it finds in bad sectors to other parts of the HD and
>> marks the bad sectors as "bad and unusable"
>> chkdsk also corrects any file-system errors it finds (if the
>> "/f" switch is used).
>> But, chkdsk DOES NOT FORMAT PARTITIONS!
Format only checks for bad sectors as an afterthought. If it finds them, it
adds their addresses to its table of bad sectors and formats around them.
Format does not correct bad sectors.
As far as I know, the difference between a full format and a quick format is
not in the method of checking the physical media, but in how the MFT is
written. I'm pretty sure a quick format only recreates the MFT, while a
full format recreates the MFT and creates sector boundaries on the HD. It
also might write zeroes in the sectors. I'm not sure. If it finds bad
sectors during this process of writing sector boundaries, format adds the
suspect sectors to the MFT's table of bad sectors and makes a notation in
the MFT that those particular sectors are unwriteable.
A full format is always to be desired over a quick format, since it does do
a (cursory) check of the physical media, while a quick format makes no check
of the physical media at all.
If I've made a fool of myself, perhaps someone more knowledgable than I can
correct me.
--
Donald L McDaniel
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