Bad Sectors: Problems with chkdsk/f

[David F]

I have lots of bad sectors and not even able to do a restore to a previous
restore point. I tried chkdsk/f but on restart it doesn't do the chkdsk. I
have a Vista repair disk and I ran the repair but I still have the sector
errors that prevent going to the previous restore point. What should I do?

 

[Mark L. Ferguson]

Buy a new hard drive. If chkdsk can't fix it, it's likely that nothing will.
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Mark L. Ferguson
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[Steve Drake]

I have not had todo this, but you can boot from the install cd and run a
command prompt.

I think its called the Recovery command prompt.

This should allow you to /f you OS disk as it will not have any locks.

see

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tutorials/tutorial147.html

for info on how to boot to this command prompt.

Steve

 

[Adam Albright]

I have lots of bad sectors and not even able to do a restore to a previous
restore point. I tried chkdsk/f but on restart it doesn't do the chkdsk. I
have a Vista repair disk and I ran the repair but I still have the sector
errors that prevent going to the previous restore point. What should I do?

You're talking apples and oranges. Going back to a restore point does
nothing to fix bad sectors.

What might be happening is the bad sectors are on your root (C drive)
and since you try to tell Vista to fix it AFTER you are already
running Windows they never get fixed since Windows is already in use
and the drive is locked.

The only way to fix bad sectors and other file system errors on your
root drive is do so BEFORE the system boots the operating system.

The procedure is:

1. From Windows Explorer locate your C folder, right click, properties
tools, then tools tab.

2. Under error checking click check now, then select automatically
fix file errors.

Since you are already in Windows the request will fail but Vista
should ask if you want to schedule it to run at next boot. Say yes,
then immediately reboot. You should see a pale blue screen that takes
three steps running right after you see your normal boot screens but
before Windows itself loads. This should correct the problem.

If it doesn't repeat steps 1-2 but also check scan for and attempt to
repair bad sectors. This can be a VERY slow process so best to do when
you don't need the PC for hours, like a long lunch or overnight.

If you still don't resolve check on Google for several how-to sites on
how to force more advanced uses of chkdsk from a command prompt using
different switch settings.

The good news is the NTFS is self repairing and can repair all but the
most severe file system problems. It just is getting it to do it
sometimes.

 

[the wharf rat]

The only way to fix bad sectors and other file system errors on your
root drive is do so BEFORE the system boots the operating system.

IMHO the only way to fix bad sectors is a new drive. Large numbers
of bad sectors almost always (well, actually, *always*) indicates a failing
drive.

 

[Adam Albright]

IMHO the only way to fix bad sectors is a new drive. Large numbers
of bad sectors almost always (well, actually, *always*) indicates a failing
drive.

Yes, but try to get what data you can off the thing first. I've had
varying success with SpinRite, haven't used it in years, it use to
address one of the main mechanical reasons why hard drives "fail", the
read/write heads drifting out of alignment. I think they have a NTFS
version out. While somewhat expensive and slow (can takes days) far
cheaper than any of the services that offer to recover lost data. In
fact many of the firms that claim that use SpinRite themselves.

The reason it works is it totally bypasses the OS and reads a hard
driver sector by sector tweaking head positioning to recover what is
possible. Often the only time you can't recover data is if the drive
won't spin up. Such drives are usually not worth messing with.

 

[the wharf rat]

Yes, but try to get what data you can off the thing first. I've had

Nahhh, toss it and restore from backup

the drive won't spin up. Such drives are usually not worth messing with.

Conner drives used to lock up when the spindle bearings froze,
and you could get them moving again by picking them up about shoulder
high and dropping them on the desk.


I once got an IBM disk to spin up by shaking it real hard, inspired
by those old Conners. Did the customer thank me for getting their RS6000
to boot? No, they complained to my boss that after I'd recovered their
filesystems their Oracle database was corrupted.

 

[Adam Albright]

Nahhh, toss it and restore from backup



Conner drives used to lock up when the spindle bearings froze,
and you could get them moving again by picking them up about shoulder
high and dropping them on the desk.


I once got an IBM disk to spin up by shaking it real hard, inspired
by those old Conners. Did the customer thank me for getting their RS6000
to boot? No, they complained to my boss that after I'd recovered their
filesystems their Oracle database was corrupted.

Some people are never satisfied. ;-)

 

[rac8006]

I've had good luck with a program called restorer2000. It has a demo program
that will allow you to recover small files. The full version costs $50.00.
The best way to recover data from the bad disk is to in stall your OS on a
new disk and then mount the bad disk as the second drive and run
restorer2000. when run it gives you a windows expolrer type display of the
disk. then you can click on files and try to copy them. It will tell you if
it can copy the file or that it may have trouble copying the disk, or that it
can't copy the disk.
Good luck