How can I check Sector 0 errors

Graeme Day · 11-04-2008, 04:25 PM

I have a 120GB Seagate Barracuda hard drive which I suspect has a sector 0 fault. I have ran Seatools (DOS versions) over it a couple of times in both short and long tests and it fails to find an error.
I've repartitioned it and formatted it several times and repaired the MBR each time and it loads XP, Windows 2003 Server, Redhat Linux without error but will not boot any of these operating systems. With Microsoft products I get "Failed to load Operating System" errors and with Linux I get just "Li" and hangs, which is part of the "Lilo" boot message.
I have ran memory checks on my system without error and I can load XP on my old damaged (bad sectors near the end) 80GB drive and boot to it without a problem.
So I need a tool that can either repair (check and update the bad sector table on my drive) or confirm that I do have a bad sector. Which means I can end my frustration and get another drive to use this drive as a data store only.

Tumbleweed36 · 11-04-2008, 05:29 PM

I suspect that you are not getting everything off that drive. If this were mine (and it takes some time), I would use something like Dban to wipe that baby clean, because formatting does not entirely clean the drive. If interested in info:

Dban Complete Disk Eraser

Please note: Be sure you have all disks unhooked that you do not want formatted and cleaned, because this program while great has the capability to erase multiple disks at one time if hooked to the computer. When you have finished, then give it a try with the install and see if all the "bad" boggies are gone.

Graeme Day · 11-05-2008, 03:43 PM

Thanks Tunbleweed36,

Dban worked well, you were right about the problem, it's a problem we had often about 15 years ago, but I couldn't find any tools to deal with it. No XP based tools I found would actually let me have direct access to Sector 0 or the MBR.

Dban basically hashed the hard drive completely, not just sector 0. Then I loaded Redhat, which recognised the now corrupted boot record and initialized the hard drive. The only issue was in using Dban for this purpose, where it is more suited to destroying data on an entire drive is that it took about 4 hours to achieve what we used to do to that problem in 15 minutes.

We used to hash sector 0 with Norton Diskedit, by writing 1's to the entire sector and it often showed up an error when these 1's didn't stick, then we knew we were dealing with a bad sector. If the writing was successfull, then we would run Norton Disk Doctor which would immediately come up and say that the MBR is corrupted and initialized the hard drive.

My copy of DiskEdit and Norton DiskDoctor all stopped working once hard drives rose above 2GB and would crash if I tried to use it to read larger drives.
Dban is great, but I'm looking for similar low level editing tools for use on some similar problems, as I have had similar issues a couple of mate's drives and I don't want to spend 4+ hours at their place. Unless they want to keep supplying the beer.

Thanks again m8!

Tumbleweed36 · 11-05-2008, 04:06 PM

In some situations Active Kill Disk will do the same job and is quicker as a rule. However, it is still not as thorough as Dban. Anyway, glad I could help. Have a great rest of the week.

11-04-2008, 04:25 PM	#1 (permalink)
Graeme Day Registered User Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Mooroopna, Victoria, Australia Posts: 2 OS: XP Professional SP2	How can I check Sector 0 errors I have a 120GB Seagate Barracuda hard drive which I suspect has a sector 0 fault. I have ran Seatools (DOS versions) over it a couple of times in both short and long tests and it fails to find an error. I've repartitioned it and formatted it several times and repaired the MBR each time and it loads XP, Windows 2003 Server, Redhat Linux without error but will not boot any of these operating systems. With Microsoft products I get "Failed to load Operating System" errors and with Linux I get just "Li" and hangs, which is part of the "Lilo" boot message. I have ran memory checks on my system without error and I can load XP on my old damaged (bad sectors near the end) 80GB drive and boot to it without a problem. So I need a tool that can either repair (check and update the bad sector table on my drive) or confirm that I do have a bad sector. Which means I can end my frustration and get another drive to use this drive as a data store only. Last edited by Graeme Day; 11-04-2008 at 04:41 PM.

11-04-2008, 05:29 PM	#2 (permalink)
Tumbleweed36 Asst Manager Hardware Join Date: May 2005 Location: USA Posts: 19,650 OS: XP Professional	Re: How can I check Sector 0 errors I suspect that you are not getting everything off that drive. If this were mine (and it takes some time), I would use something like Dban to wipe that baby clean, because formatting does not entirely clean the drive. If interested in info: Dban Complete Disk Eraser Please note: Be sure you have all disks unhooked that you do not want formatted and cleaned, because this program while great has the capability to erase multiple disks at one time if hooked to the computer. When you have finished, then give it a try with the install and see if all the "bad" boggies are gone. __________________ ---------- I don't receive email notifications of replies to subscribed threads. (Internet provider policy) Therefore, if I don't respond to your post within 24 hours, please send me a reminder PM and include the link to your thread. Last edited by Tumbleweed36; 11-04-2008 at 05:33 PM.

11-05-2008, 03:43 PM	#3 (permalink)
Graeme Day Registered User Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Mooroopna, Victoria, Australia Posts: 2 OS: XP Professional SP2	Re: How can I check Sector 0 errors Thanks Tunbleweed36, Dban worked well, you were right about the problem, it's a problem we had often about 15 years ago, but I couldn't find any tools to deal with it. No XP based tools I found would actually let me have direct access to Sector 0 or the MBR. Dban basically hashed the hard drive completely, not just sector 0. Then I loaded Redhat, which recognised the now corrupted boot record and initialized the hard drive. The only issue was in using Dban for this purpose, where it is more suited to destroying data on an entire drive is that it took about 4 hours to achieve what we used to do to that problem in 15 minutes. We used to hash sector 0 with Norton Diskedit, by writing 1's to the entire sector and it often showed up an error when these 1's didn't stick, then we knew we were dealing with a bad sector. If the writing was successfull, then we would run Norton Disk Doctor which would immediately come up and say that the MBR is corrupted and initialized the hard drive. My copy of DiskEdit and Norton DiskDoctor all stopped working once hard drives rose above 2GB and would crash if I tried to use it to read larger drives. Dban is great, but I'm looking for similar low level editing tools for use on some similar problems, as I have had similar issues a couple of mate's drives and I don't want to spend 4+ hours at their place. Unless they want to keep supplying the beer. Thanks again m8! Last edited by Graeme Day; 11-05-2008 at 04:01 PM.

11-05-2008, 04:06 PM	#4 (permalink)
Tumbleweed36 Asst Manager Hardware Join Date: May 2005 Location: USA Posts: 19,650 OS: XP Professional	Re: How can I check Sector 0 errors In some situations Active Kill Disk will do the same job and is quicker as a rule. However, it is still not as thorough as Dban. Anyway, glad I could help. Have a great rest of the week. __________________ ---------- I don't receive email notifications of replies to subscribed threads. (Internet provider policy) Therefore, if I don't respond to your post within 24 hours, please send me a reminder PM and include the link to your thread.