CHKDSK question

[Kevin]

When I ran CHKDSK /r, if I received a message such as "windows replaced bad
clusters in file 9038 of name \windows\system32\dllcache\netshell.dll", what
exactly does this mean? Is this something to worry about? What causes a bad
cluster, and did windows actually fix the file? Thanks, Kevin

 

[R. McCarty]

Clusters are fixed blocks of storage area. A file is stored in cluster(s)
and
the $MFT keeps up with which clusters hold the file. A bad cluster means
the data within that cluster is unreliable ( Checksum error ). All drives
have
Spare Clusters. When a bad cluster is detected the drive automatically
remaps that cluster to a spare and makes appropriate changes to the pointer
for the file. So if the file originally used cluster number 810, the drive
may
actually now use cluster 9,421 and internally remap 810 to 9421. Once
marked as "Bad" a cluster will not be re-used by the system. Bad Clusters
is generally considered a indication of possible failure. Modern drives use
a SMART system for internally logging errors. When counts exceed a
certain number the drive itself will begin to warn the user of the
likelihood
of complete failure and recommend replacement.

 

[Gerry]

Kevin

Try running HD Tune(freeware).

Download and run it and see what it turns up.
http://www.hdtune.com/

Select the Info tabs and place the cursor on the drive under Drive
letter and then double click the two page icon ( copy to Clipboard )
and copy into a further message.

Select the Health tab and then double click the two page icon ( copy
to Clipboard ) and copy into a further message. Also do a full surface
scan with HD Tune.


--



Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[Kevin]

Thanks for the helpful informaton.

The drive I have is a new 80 GByte drive. After formating the hard drive
using NTFS and installing Windows XP, I ran chkdsk /r. Chkdsk reported bad
clusters in 2 files, but didn't report bad sectors. I reran chkdsk /r and it
didn't report any errors.

Should I proceed with installing software on this hard drive, or should I
exchange the hard drive?