chkdsk /r

[Chris A.]

I recently installed two new SATA 500GB drives. One is used exclusively for
backups (using Acronis True Image). Almost (but not quite) from the outset,
Acronis was giving me "Failed to read data from disk" errors when trying to
backup Drive C:\ to Drive 2 and given numerical references. I used Recovery
Console to run chkdsk /r and this has raised three questions:

First, chkdsk /r progressed fairly quickly to about 50% "completed" then
slowed significantly. It did, however, make gradual progress but when it
reached 75% "completed" it reverted to 50%. Eventually, it did complete,
reporting that it had found and repaired some bad sectors. Is it normal, for
chkdsk to "revert" (possibly more than once - I did not watch it all the
time)?

Second, I notice that it also reported that I had 512 bytes in each
allocation whereas my other drive has 4096. Is this a problem and, if so, how
do I fix it? (This may be due to the fact that drive C:\ was cloned from an
older drive).

Third, despite finding and repairing some bad sectors, the next time Acronis
ran, it ran into trouble reading drive C:\ at exactly the same bad sectors as
before. I am not sure what this means. Any ideas?

I am running XP Home SP2 with all updates. I run AVG anti-virus and Zone
Alarm firewall.

 

[Jim]

I recently installed two new SATA 500GB drives. One is used exclusively for
backups (using Acronis True Image). Almost (but not quite) from the
outset,
Acronis was giving me "Failed to read data from disk" errors when trying
to
backup Drive C:\ to Drive 2 and given numerical references. I used
Recovery
Console to run chkdsk /r and this has raised three questions:

First, chkdsk /r progressed fairly quickly to about 50% "completed" then
slowed significantly. It did, however, make gradual progress but when it
reached 75% "completed" it reverted to 50%. Eventually, it did complete,
reporting that it had found and repaired some bad sectors. Is it normal,
for
chkdsk to "revert" (possibly more than once - I did not watch it all the
time)?

Second, I notice that it also reported that I had 512 bytes in each
allocation whereas my other drive has 4096. Is this a problem and, if so,
how
do I fix it? (This may be due to the fact that drive C:\ was cloned from
an
older drive).

Third, despite finding and repairing some bad sectors, the next time
Acronis
ran, it ran into trouble reading drive C:\ at exactly the same bad sectors
as
before. I am not sure what this means. Any ideas?

I am running XP Home SP2 with all updates. I run AVG anti-virus and Zone
Alarm firewall.

Evidently your new drive has bad blocks. I would try checking it with the
manufacturer's diagsnostic.
Not only that, the new disk should have been formatted with 4096 byte
blocks, but the smaller blocks should
still work with only a performance degradation.

I might just regard that particular disk as DOA.

Jim

 

[Andrew E.]

Why not toss the 3rd party junk & stick with windows software.Youre recovery
console report isnt possible with 2 hds running on same pc,a CHKDSK /r would
get you zero if in fact 2 hds are formatted & running.Try CHKDSK C: /p
then:CHKDSK D: /p or CHKDSK C: /R typeiskPart to access diskmgmt,you
could at that time,delete the partition on storage hd,create one,press ESC
key,
type:FORMAT D: /FS:NTFS let windows format the hd.Also,in /R the utility
goes to 74% starts again to 74% & again to 74%,the last taking 20-25
minutes.

 

[Chris A.]

Thanks to Jim and Andrew E for these replies.

Since posting, my PC started falling over (blue screen) every time certain
software was running. The hdd manufacturer's own utility confirmed bad
sectors on one disk and recommended a full erase. I did this and, so far, no
more problems . . . . but I am watching closely.