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| Thread ID: 30664 | 2003-02-27 05:10:00 | HDD Bad Cluster part2 | Julius Caesar (3079) | Press F1 |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 124293 | 2003-02-27 05:10:00 | Hiya there! Well, I have a somewhat similar story, to another previous post, but with no happy ending. You see, the problem is, that my little cousin, continuously "switched" the computer off completely, without peforming the proper proceedure when shutting down the PC. Only, until, I saw of this occuring frequently, I anticipated in demonstrating the correct proceedure.... so far so good..... Then what happened, unexpectantly, Windows 95 wouldn't load. So I performed a surface scan on the hard drive, but lo and behold, evrything froze. At this point, I was going to give up, because each time I did a scan disk, either surface or not, it would stop to a halt and thats it! Until finally, I decided to wait an hour before I had the options to fix the "bad" cluster and mark it "BAD". .........so far so good..........(Is it?) Now I can perform a Surface Scan 'no sweat' now as it will just go past the cluster marked "bad" without any problems or anything else showing wrong. Now, Im in a difficult position, wanting to do a clean install of Windows 95 using Format. Now, I only can get so far as to 12% and then a message indicates, that it has "failed". This 12% would be where the "Bad" sector is... The Hard drive as only ONE bad cluster and everything is fine...! Overall, does this mean, that this HDD is completely "DEAD" and I have to buy another one? Or is there a work around for this problem? Any Ideas would help? Specs: 486 Windows 95 16MB Ram HDD 120mb (Life Span......10years or more old) Cheers....... (Sorry bout the writing) :-) |
Julius Caesar (3079) | ||
| 124294 | 2003-02-27 05:53:00 | Hi Julius Ceaser Hmmmmm I was lucky as the drive was still under warranty I'm not sure what you can do but as i see it once they have bad clusters you might as well try and get a replacement for it as it won't go for much longer . Best of liuck on fixing your problem |
Warren (875) | ||
| 124295 | 2003-02-27 06:56:00 | Hi Are you scanning from windows or DOS? If windows try shutting down all running apps except systray & explorer using ctr + alt + del or run in safe mode. HTH Murray P PS. If you have disc surface damage, as Warren says, might be time to upgrade. |
Murray P (44) | ||
| 124296 | 2003-02-27 07:01:00 | Was just thinking and had a brain fart got a maxtor 345 meg drive sitting here if you want it Haven't got a use for it as i pulled it out of an old 486 Was going ok when i pulled it out |
Warren (875) | ||
| 124297 | 2003-02-27 07:03:00 | Bios should have a tool to format and mark bad sectors. Try a back up to removable media and push Delete (if that dosn't work it should display a button saying "push [button] to setup"). Another option is trying a third party scanner. I think symantec have one, it may cost you though. |
Dylan (800) | ||
| 124298 | 2003-02-27 07:03:00 | Hi Guys, Yes, I am only in Dos at the moment. So I can't use Windows 95. If, by all means that there is no other option, then let it be that mabye it is time to chuck this PC out. Meanwhile, I'm still considering any possible resolutions out there.! (if any) Thanks for your help |
Julius Caesar (3079) | ||
| 124299 | 2003-02-27 07:17:00 | Hi, Ah... yes I've tried that also. I've got Norton Utilities 2000 and 2002. I then copied the rescue directory and used the NDD (Norton Disk Doctor) to help resolve my situation. Am still baffled at the fact I can't wipe cleanly my Hard Disk Drive. Do you also have an explanation for this? Or any one? Thanks |
Julius Caesar (3079) | ||
| 124300 | 2003-02-27 07:19:00 | This doesn't make sense to me. Scandisk should mark bad sectors so that the computer cannot use them, but after that the rest of the disk is OK. It is not unusual for new disks to have bad clusters but they are marked before you get it and you never know. Can you get to safe mode? If not, boot to DOS and try running scandisk from there, I think W95 has a DOS scandisk facility built in as it is only one step removed from WFWG 3.11. Cheers Billy 8-{) |
Billy T (70) | ||
| 124301 | 2003-02-27 08:26:00 | Hi Billy, Yes thats whats confusing me, when scandisk marks the bad sector, you should be able to reuse the disk again and format without any problems. (If I need to be corrected here!!) As already noted, this computer has a hard drive that has a life span of 10 years or more; least to say, its not new. Prior, to the incident (with my little cousin), I haven't encountered any problems since. To answer your question in either Safe mode etc.. Indeed, this is where I am at. I don't have a Windows 95 boot disk, so am using a Windows 98 boot disk instead. And using Scandisk from the Dos Prompt. |
Julius Caesar (3079) | ||
| 124302 | 2003-02-27 21:45:00 | Bugger! Might be time for a new HDD then Cheers Billy :( |
Billy T (70) | ||
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