bad sectors

[transcendental]

Hello, everyone,

The computer I am using right now is Windows ME. Lately, when I ran scandisk, it said that my hard drive has about thirty billion bytes of bad sectors. I think that the bad sectors might be caused by the eraser program I have been using.(so I uninstalled the program). I used software such as Seatools and salvation HDD to repair the bad sectors. However, the scans must have missed the bad sectors completely because no bad sectors was found in the scans.(???!!!!)
Ever since I used the eraser software, the PC has been acting up. It is starting to get annoying.

If anyone knows software that can actually repair bad sectors, let me know.
I have been looking for quite a while and any help would be greatly appreciated.

[classicsoftware]

The only thing that fixes bad sectors is a new hard drive.

Get one now. Backup up your data or kiss it goodby.

The clock is running....... tick tock............

[Sylvander]

If its the "Eraser" program you're running, I've never had any trouble with it; think it's SUPERB.

[mondsi]

try to reformat your HDD

[PrntRhd]

Bad sectors means bad HDD. Replacement before failure is always a great option.

[agentLX]

as i knew (....somebody correct me if im wrong) windows scandisk bad sectors hdd reports in either or both causes:

1. hardware factor - i.e. consistent power failure, --- in this case, you dont have any choice but to buy a new drive

2. software factor - i.e. bad programs ------- in this case, you can just use low-level or manufacturer's drive utilities to format the drive, and can still be useable.

To make sure on things try...

1. running scandisk, on dos mode c:\windows\command\scandisk c: /autofix /surface
this might give you faster and more (accurate... SCMIW) scandisk.

but when i like it smooth and clear check on bad sector i ....
1. back up my files to another drive
2. format the problematic drive
3. and run scandisk, on dos mode c:\windows\command\scandisk c: /autofix /surface

[Sylvander]

EBCD = http://ebcd.pcministry.com/ [free]

I usually run the copy of Scandisk included on this free bootable "Emergency Boot CD".
That means the program is loaded from a source other than the [doubtful?] drive being scanned/checked.
It works particularly nicely. Scans each partition/drive one after the other.
Just hit enter at each to give the go-ahead.

[classicsoftware]

Zero-Filling or formatting a drive with bad sectors is delaying the inevitable. It means the drive is failing. Since you can pick up an 80 GB HDD for $60.00 it's a complete waste of time.......

[transcendental]

Zero-Filling or formatting a drive with bad sectors is delaying the inevitable. It means the drive is failing.

Well, that does not sound good. :(
Just wondering, how long does it take for the hard drive to fail?


(Are you absolutely SURE that there isn't a way to repair the bad sectors?)

[jlreich]

How long? Could be tomorrow, or it could be months from now. There is no way to tell, but the drive is failing.

No you can not fix bad sectors. It is a physical defect on the disk and not a software problem. There is no program that can fix a physical defect on the disk. Most programs claim to fix it, but are only moving data to another sector and marks that one as bad so it does not get used again.

File system errors can be fixed by scandisk and other such utilities because they are a software problem. Only thing though, what caused the file system errors? Is it just a software problem, or is it because of a bad sector on the disk that corrupted the data and caused the error? ;)

Bottom line.... back up your data and get a new drive to replace that one.

[classicsoftware]

You have to think of yourself as the criminal facing Clint Eastwood and ask yourself:

Do you feel lucky?

Backup up your data and replace the drive ASAP.

One more thing, the drive may be under warranty, so run the diagnostics from the HDD manufacturers web site and see what it reports then call tech support just to make sure.

[PrntRhd]

One more thing, the drive may be under warranty,
You can run the model/serial of the HDD on the manufacturer's website to see if it under warranty. If it is, you can start the RMA process at that time online.