Bad clusters

Any time i start my system, the system alway require a disk check. A warning
that sound like your disk have some sector and needs to be check always
appear.
--
Windows makin life easy

It is advisable to take very seriously any indication that the hard drive is
ailing or may die. This is your warning to replace the hard drive and save
your data before it's too late.

If the computer is a laptop it would be best to get your computer to a
person competent to effect a repair.

If the computer is a desk top or tower-
Disconnect the hard disk
Install a new hard disk
Install Windows
Install threat prevention software
Install modem
Update Windows
Update threat prevention software
Scan for threats (you are vulnerable to threats whilst updating Window and
threat prevention software)
Connect original hard disk
Scan original hard disk for threats
Install, update and configure other software
Transfer user files from the old hard disk to the new hard disk

The old hard disk may remain installed and connected as a backup resource.
If it does finally die (and affect the running of the computer) just
disconnect it.

Regards.

Bill Ridgeway
Computer Solutions

"lele" <lele@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:4D22D08D-AB82-4536-9DD5-F470F3A64C8A@microsoft.com...
> Any time i start my system, the system alway require a disk check. A
> warning
> that sound like your disk have some sector and needs to be check always
> appear.
> --
> Windows makin life easy

Simply boot to xp cd,recovery,press 1 For C: drive,press enter key for
password,
type:CHKDSK C: /R This lets xp repair bad clusters if they exist,& chks
the file
system for errors & fixes them.Type:EXIT When thru.Also,the hd mfg has
a MS-DOS hd utility that chks the hd,download to a MS-DOS formatted floppy,
boot to floppy,run the test(s).

"lele" wrote:

> Any time i start my system, the system alway require a disk check. A warning
> that sound like your disk have some sector and needs to be check always
> appear.
> --
> Windows makin life easy

Andrew E. wrote:

> Simply boot to xp cd,recovery,press 1 For C: drive,press enter key for
> password,
> type:CHKDSK C: /R This lets xp repair bad clusters if they exist,


More nonsense form our resident troll, Andrew E. Chkdsk can repair logical
inconsistencies in the drive, but can do nothing to fix bad clusters. Bad
clusters are a hardware problem. If the clusters are bad, they stay bad, and
can't be fixed.


> &
> chks the file
> system for errors & fixes them.Type:EXIT When thru.Also,the hd mfg
> has
> a MS-DOS hd utility that chks the hd,download to a MS-DOS formatted
> floppy, boot to floppy,run the test(s).


Although *some* manufacturers may provide such a utility, unless the drive
is FAT32, it can't be run from an MS-DOS formatted floppy. Since most
Windows XP users have NTFS drives, this is useless.

--
Ken Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User
Please reply to the newsgroup

lele <lele@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:

>Any time i start my system, the system alway require a disk check. A warning
>that sound like your disk have some sector and needs to be check always
>appear.

Very likely a sign that your hard drive is about to fail completely.

Go to the hard drive manufacturer's website and download their free
diagnostic utility. Run that to check the drive for possible hardware
defects.

If that utility reports a problem with the drive (and from what you
have said it most likely will) then you need to run, not walk, to the
closest computer supply store and purchase a new hard drive.

Good luck

Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP (1997 - 2006)
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca
Syberfix Remote Computer Repair

"Anyone who thinks that they are too small to make a difference
has never been in bed with a mosquito."

A sector is a pie section shape of the platter(s).
A cluster is the minimum size of partition space that can be occupied to
save a file. A cluster may crossover to another sector.

Its possible to map out bad areas of hard drive, and will still be good if
its just a few cluster problems. Use the hard drive manufacturers software
for this. It will update the hard drive firmware not to use this portion of
hard drive. A bad sector, replace it as soon as possible.

--
Noncompliant

For corporate legal advice regarding the EULA for XP, check with a lawyer
qualified in corporate law.

"lele" <lele@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:4D22D08D-AB82-4536-9DD5-F470F3A64C8A@microsoft.com...
> Any time i start my system, the system alway require a disk check. A
> warning
> that sound like your disk have some sector and needs to be check always
> appear.
> --
> Windows makin life easy

"Noncompliant" <spamyourself@blackworm.net> wrote:

>A sector is a pie section shape of the platter(s).
>A cluster is the minimum size of partition space that can be occupied to
>save a file. A cluster may crossover to another sector.
>
That is a bit unclear. A sector is 512 bytes in size. A cluster is a
group of adjacent sectors (1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, or 128) that is
treated as a single unit when disk space is allocated to files.



>Its possible to map out bad areas of hard drive, and will still be good if
>its just a few cluster problems. Use the hard drive manufacturers software
>for this. It will update the hard drive firmware not to use this portion of
>hard drive. A bad sector, replace it as soon as possible.

With modern drives, any indications of bad areas on the drive are most
likely a indicator of the probable imminent failure of the entire
drive.

Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP (1997 - 2006)
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca
Syberfix Remote Computer Repair

"Anyone who thinks that they are too small to make a difference
has never been in bed with a mosquito."

On Thu, 22 Feb 2007 10:01:10 -0800, Ron Martell
<ron.martell@gmail.com> wrote:
>>Its possible to map out bad areas of hard drive, and will still be good if
>>its just a few cluster problems. Use the hard drive manufacturers software

Or use Spinrite http://www.grc.com/intro.htm

Noncompliant wrote:

> A sector is a pie section shape of the platter(s).


No, actually it's not. A sector is a portion of a single track on the
platter, not a portion of the entire platter. Although other
computers/operating systems may use different size sectors, for our purposes
here, in Windows, a sector is always 512 bytes.


> A cluster is the minimum size of partition space that can be occupied
> to save a file. A cluster may crossover to another sector.


More than "may cross over," for modern versions of Windows and drives that
aren't tiny. The size of a cluster depends on the file system and, for some
file systems, the size of the partition. Clusters (or allocation units, as
they are sometimes called) are always whole numbers of sectors. For NTFS,
clusters are 4Kbytes, or exactly eight sectors.


> Its possible to map out bad areas of hard drive, and will still be
> good if its just a few cluster problems.


Hard drive problems are always with sectors, not with clusters. The sectors
are marked on the drive and the division into sectors is almost like a
hardware function. Clusters, on the other hand, are identified only to the
software.


> Use the hard drive
> manufacturers software for this. It will update the hard drive
> firmware not to use this portion of hard drive. A bad sector,
> replace it as soon as possible.


No, that's backwards. You are again treating a "sector" as if it's a "pie
section shape of the platter," something larger than a cluster. It's the
other way around. Sectors are 512 bytes, and clusters are (almost always)
larger than sectors.

The issue with failing drives isn't so much how many sectors are bad, but
whether the number remains constant. A few sectors that can be mapped out
are fine. But if the number keeps increasing, watch out!

Lele's symptoms sound to me like his drive may be failing. But before I'm
willing to say that, I'd like him to tell us what he does when he's told to
runa disk check. Lele, do you do the disk check? What are the results?

--
Ken Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User
Please reply to the newsgroup



> "lele" <lele@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:4D22D08D-AB82-4536-9DD5-F470F3A64C8A@microsoft.com...
>> Any time i start my system, the system alway require a disk check. A
>> warning
>> that sound like your disk have some sector and needs to be check
>> always appear.
>> --
>> Windows makin life easy

Just because a very small area of a platter may show signs of magnetic loss,
doesn't mean the hard drive is failing itself. Except for SMART capability,
cache size, and rotational speed, firmware intervention, there's nothing
different about today's hard drive physically.

It is prudent to have a backup clone available at all times, Leastwise, an
image backup on another physical hard drive. Whether the current used hard
drive for XP is showing signs of failure is immaterial. And, may be too
late for full use when used as source for a clone or image at that point.

--
Noncompliant

For corporate legal advice regarding the EULA for XP, check with a lawyer
qualified in corporate law.

"Ron Martell" <ron.martell@gmail.com> wrote in message
news8mrt25aikvna4hc3cj81f668sakpl47gf@4ax.com...
> "Noncompliant" <spamyourself@blackworm.net> wrote:
>
>>A sector is a pie section shape of the platter(s).
>>A cluster is the minimum size of partition space that can be occupied to
>>save a file. A cluster may crossover to another sector.
>>
> That is a bit unclear. A sector is 512 bytes in size. A cluster is a
> group of adjacent sectors (1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, or 128) that is
> treated as a single unit when disk space is allocated to files.
>
>
>
>>Its possible to map out bad areas of hard drive, and will still be good if
>>its just a few cluster problems. Use the hard drive manufacturers
>>software
>>for this. It will update the hard drive firmware not to use this portion
>>of
>>hard drive. A bad sector, replace it as soon as possible.
>
> With modern drives, any indications of bad areas on the drive are most
> likely a indicator of the probable imminent failure of the entire
> drive.
>
> Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
> --
> Microsoft MVP (1997 - 2006)
> On-Line Help Computer Service
> http://onlinehelp.bc.ca
> Syberfix Remote Computer Repair
>
> "Anyone who thinks that they are too small to make a difference
> has never been in bed with a mosquito."