Forum Home
Press F1
 
Thread ID: 33436 2003-05-16 03:00:00 Acer laptop low-level format software chapteryx (3804) Press F1
Post ID Timestamp Content User
144678 2003-05-16 03:00:00 Hi folks,

I have an ACER laptop, model 503T, with a hard disk problem.
Using Recovery disks and CDs doesn't solve the problem, and I have been advised to reformat the hard drive.
But ACER support say that they 'don't support low level formatting' (huh ? seems very strange) and
don't seem to know what kind of disk ( manufacturer, etc ) is inside the thing.
They suggest mailing the thing back to Europe (um - cheaper to buy a new PC ) so that's not going to happen.

If anyone can help or suggest a software to reformat the beast, much appreciated.

Thanks,

Mark
chapteryx (3804)
144679 2003-05-16 03:07:00 What happens when you use the Recovery disks?

what OS are you running?


i would use Boot disk to format hard drive then install OS with Recovery disks.
BootyLicious (526)
144680 2003-05-16 03:11:00 does it make it through scan disk without errors? Ron Bakker (356)
144681 2003-05-16 03:31:00 formating a disk and low level formating are 2 different things.

what sort of hard disk problem is it?

povided the hardware is ok i would remove any partitions, and remove the MBR (fdisk won't do it, you will need a prog like killdisk, wipe.exe or do it manually) then partitoin and format/reinstall as per normall.
tweak'e (174)
144682 2003-05-16 03:32:00 There is a difference between "formatting" and "low level formatting"

The latter can map bad sectors out of the useable drive space, but its not something thats usually done by the user, its a specialised operation performed at manufacturing time. It can sometimes be done by service agents as well

If the HDD has a lot of bad sectors or other problems that cannot be recitfied by a conventional format then realistically a replacement HDD would be the way to go.
godfather (25)
144683 2003-05-16 08:14:00 Hi folks - thanks for responding.
I know low level formatting and disk formatting are different, which is why I've come asking.
It was running WIN95, and recovery CDs startrd up their process and then froze during processing.
Same with diskettes.
So tried format, and that froze.
So tried fdisk, and that froze.
It really looks like bad blocks, and it probably needs a replacement HDD, but I'm crossing fingers
that I might find something useful by asking around.
Any more ideas are certainly welcome :-)
Cheers,
M
chapteryx (3804)
144684 2003-05-16 09:04:00 normally fdisk/formt dosn't freeze due to bad sectors. i wonder if you have either hardrive controller problem (could be the drives own), ram or mayby cpu problem. tweak'e (174)
1