Faulty Sectors on HDD

CJLopez · 11-26-2008, 10:43 PM

I have a samsubg 80gb hdd, a SAMSUNG SP0842N, and recently it started giving me a hell of a lot of problems

It all started whenever I tried to merge rar files, sometimes it would threw an "reading cicling" error on some files, and wouldn't let me even copy em to another hdd or network, either burn files. So in the end, i had to format the hdd and reinstall everything (its my master hdd). I tried a full format using the Windows XP installer, but it would get stuck at 10% every time, not going after it, so i had to do a fast format.

Now, i was trying to restore my lost files on the format using File Scavenger 3.2, but it reported a hell of a lot unreadable sectors. Is there any software which can help me to restore or fix this unreadable sectors or should I just bury my HDD and get a new one. I already tried Windows Scandisk and on fase 3 it showed an error that it wasn't able to continue and when tried tuneup utilities 2007, when reading available space got stuck at 5%.

I'm thinking on trying to use Partition Magic to recreate my partition, but first i'd like to know your opinion

**belfasteddie** · 11-27-2008, 12:52 AM

If Windows balks at any time during installation then it points to the media ( platter surface) being flaky. A way around this is to create two partitions. The 1st is created slightly less than the point at which the installation stopped.
In your case the 1st partition would/coud be 7.9 gb. and the remainder the 2nd partition.
N.B 7.9 gb for a Windows Os partition would be considered too small in some circles!
If you can afford to buy a new drive I would suggest that would be the best option. Use the old drive as a slave.

Tumbleweed36 · 11-27-2008, 04:45 AM

Download and try to run the manufacturer's diagnostic against this drive. That is your best shot at fixing bad sectors:

Hard Drive Utilities

CJLopez · 11-27-2008, 09:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tumbleweed36

Download and try to run the manufacturer's diagnostic against this drive. That is your best shot at fixing bad sectors:

Hard Drive Utilities

Now, this is another issue i'm having. Disk Manager need to be placed on a floppy disk. I dont have one. I hadn't had used one in a couple of years. Do you think i can use instead of the floppy a usb flash? My mobo supports flash boot

Tumbleweed36 · 11-27-2008, 02:23 PM

You can either do that (if you place it in the boot order) or you can download it to a CD. Might be worth a try.

11-26-2008, 10:43 PM	#1 (permalink)
CJLopez Registered User Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 15 OS: XP SP2	Faulty Sectors on HDD I have a samsubg 80gb hdd, a SAMSUNG SP0842N, and recently it started giving me a hell of a lot of problems It all started whenever I tried to merge rar files, sometimes it would threw an "reading cicling" error on some files, and wouldn't let me even copy em to another hdd or network, either burn files. So in the end, i had to format the hdd and reinstall everything (its my master hdd). I tried a full format using the Windows XP installer, but it would get stuck at 10% every time, not going after it, so i had to do a fast format. Now, i was trying to restore my lost files on the format using File Scavenger 3.2, but it reported a hell of a lot unreadable sectors. Is there any software which can help me to restore or fix this unreadable sectors or should I just bury my HDD and get a new one. I already tried Windows Scandisk and on fase 3 it showed an error that it wasn't able to continue and when tried tuneup utilities 2007, when reading available space got stuck at 5%. I'm thinking on trying to use Partition Magic to recreate my partition, but first i'd like to know your opinion

11-27-2008, 12:52 AM	#2 (permalink)
belfasteddie Enthusiast Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Belfast N.I. Posts: 1,551 OS: Puppy Linux 4.12	Re: Faulty Sectors on HDD If Windows balks at any time during installation then it points to the media ( platter surface) being flaky. A way around this is to create two partitions. The 1st is created slightly less than the point at which the installation stopped. In your case the 1st partition would/coud be 7.9 gb. and the remainder the 2nd partition. N.B 7.9 gb for a Windows Os partition would be considered too small in some circles! If you can afford to buy a new drive I would suggest that would be the best option. Use the old drive as a slave.

11-27-2008, 04:45 AM	#3 (permalink)
Tumbleweed36 Asst Manager Hardware Join Date: May 2005 Location: USA Posts: 19,701 OS: XP Professional	Re: Faulty Sectors on HDD Download and try to run the manufacturer's diagnostic against this drive. That is your best shot at fixing bad sectors: Hard Drive Utilities __________________ ---------- 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.

11-27-2008, 02:23 PM	#5 (permalink)
Tumbleweed36 Asst Manager Hardware Join Date: May 2005 Location: USA Posts: 19,701 OS: XP Professional	Re: Faulty Sectors on HDD You can either do that (if you place it in the boot order) or you can download it to a CD. Might be worth a try. __________________ ---------- 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.