Hard Drive Failing? Checkdisk errors after format

thephanatik · 02-21-2008, 07:40 PM

I have a 500GB Western Digital Caviar SE which I used to backup everything. I noticed one of the program installers on my external was corrupted, so I ran checkdisk. It found tons of errors in all 3 steps I believe, and many in the MFT. I ran it 30+ times and continued to be riddled with errors.

I finally got fed up and formatted the hard drive via the format tool in windows. I figured this would solve the problem, but after copying some more files over to it, I just discovered the files are corrupted again.

Is this a sign of a failing hard drive? Is there a way to fix this? (Maybe format with Western Digital program that wipes it with all zeros?)

dai · 02-21-2008, 09:38 PM

run their diognostic utility on it first

thephanatik · 02-21-2008, 10:03 PM

Thanks for the reply,
I tried running the diagnostic program, but it gave me an error to check the data cable. I believe that this might be due to the fact that it is in an external enclosure.

I didn't think of it before, but I turned off the external enclosure and turned it back on, and it appears to have had some effect on the corruption (installers no longer reporting CRC errors, etc.)

After turning it off and back on, the diagnostic utility is running. I am thinking I regret formatting the hard drive before realizing I should try turning it off and then back on. (I tried restarting my computer though).

dai · 02-21-2008, 10:19 PM

formatting is usually a last resort unless you have nothing you wish to save

thephanatik · 02-21-2008, 10:37 PM

Yeah, I had exhausted everything I could think of and was getting irritated. I tried several things, but nothing seemed to work, so I wiped it. I definitely had stuff I wish I didn't lose (4GB of photos, etc) but I think I have backups of almost all of it on other computers.

The thing that worried me was even after the format, it still appeared to be having errors, but it looks like turning off the hard drive and turning it back on fixed it. Have you heard of anything like this before?

dai · 02-21-2008, 11:13 PM

i have never used external drives,but i would think it would be the same as when we remove something from the device manager so windows re-detects it and corrects the problem

02-21-2008, 07:40 PM	#1 (permalink)
thephanatik Registered User Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 3 OS: XP SP2	Hard Drive Failing? Checkdisk errors after format I have a 500GB Western Digital Caviar SE which I used to backup everything. I noticed one of the program installers on my external was corrupted, so I ran checkdisk. It found tons of errors in all 3 steps I believe, and many in the MFT. I ran it 30+ times and continued to be riddled with errors. I finally got fed up and formatted the hard drive via the format tool in windows. I figured this would solve the problem, but after copying some more files over to it, I just discovered the files are corrupted again. Is this a sign of a failing hard drive? Is there a way to fix this? (Maybe format with Western Digital program that wipes it with all zeros?)

02-21-2008, 09:38 PM	#2 (permalink)
dai Manager, Hardware Forums Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: west australia Posts: 56,487 OS: win 7 32x 64x rtm	Re: Hard Drive Failing? Checkdisk errors after format run their diognostic utility on it first __________________

02-21-2008, 10:03 PM	#3 (permalink)
thephanatik Registered User Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 3 OS: XP SP2	Re: Hard Drive Failing? Checkdisk errors after format Thanks for the reply, I tried running the diagnostic program, but it gave me an error to check the data cable. I believe that this might be due to the fact that it is in an external enclosure. I didn't think of it before, but I turned off the external enclosure and turned it back on, and it appears to have had some effect on the corruption (installers no longer reporting CRC errors, etc.) After turning it off and back on, the diagnostic utility is running. I am thinking I regret formatting the hard drive before realizing I should try turning it off and then back on. (I tried restarting my computer though). Last edited by thephanatik; 02-21-2008 at 10:04 PM.

02-21-2008, 10:19 PM	#4 (permalink)
dai Manager, Hardware Forums Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: west australia Posts: 56,487 OS: win 7 32x 64x rtm	Re: Hard Drive Failing? Checkdisk errors after format formatting is usually a last resort unless you have nothing you wish to save __________________

02-21-2008, 10:37 PM	#5 (permalink)
thephanatik Registered User Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 3 OS: XP SP2	Re: Hard Drive Failing? Checkdisk errors after format Yeah, I had exhausted everything I could think of and was getting irritated. I tried several things, but nothing seemed to work, so I wiped it. I definitely had stuff I wish I didn't lose (4GB of photos, etc) but I think I have backups of almost all of it on other computers. The thing that worried me was even after the format, it still appeared to be having errors, but it looks like turning off the hard drive and turning it back on fixed it. Have you heard of anything like this before?

02-21-2008, 11:13 PM	#6 (permalink)
dai Manager, Hardware Forums Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: west australia Posts: 56,487 OS: win 7 32x 64x rtm	Re: Hard Drive Failing? Checkdisk errors after format i have never used external drives,but i would think it would be the same as when we remove something from the device manager so windows re-detects it and corrects the problem __________________