CHKDSK results

[Guest]

I ran CHKDSK C: /F /R on my computer earlier today. The results are shown
below. My questions follow the results.

- - - - - - - - - -

Checking file system on C:
The type of the file system is NTFS.

A disk check has been scheduled.
Windows will now check the disk.
Cleaning up 28 unused index entries from index $SII of file 0x9.
Cleaning up 28 unused index entries from index $SDH of file 0x9.
Cleaning up 28 unused security descriptors.
CHKDSK is verifying Usn Journal...
Usn Journal verification completed.
CHKDSK is verifying file data (stage 4 of 5)...
File data verification completed.
CHKDSK is verifying free space (stage 5 of 5)...
Free space verification is complete.

78108029 KB total disk space.
19702168 KB in 82377 files.
30968 KB in 4712 indexes.
32 KB in bad sectors.
174741 KB in use by the system.
65536 KB occupied by the log file.
58200120 KB available on disk.

4096 bytes in each allocation unit.
19527007 total allocation units on disk.
14550030 allocation units available on disk.

Internal Info:
90 79 01 00 3d 54 01 00 4a de 01 00 00 00 00 00 .y..=T..J.......
2e 37 00 00 00 00 00 00 3f 03 00 00 00 00 00 00 .7......?.......
04 f5 43 04 00 00 00 00 02 df 2c 56 00 00 00 00 ..C.......,V....
a0 60 7e 08 00 00 00 00 a0 56 1f 14 03 00 00 00 .`~......V......
f8 14 7a f7 03 00 00 00 d8 88 2f 77 07 00 00 00 ..z......./w....
99 9e 36 00 00 00 00 00 00 39 07 00 c9 41 01 00 ..6......9...A..
00 00 00 00 00 60 86 b2 04 00 00 00 68 12 00 00 .....`......h...

Windows has finished checking your disk.
Please wait while your computer restarts.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.

- - - - - - - -

My computer SEEMS to operate okay, but I am concerned about what I am
seeing. Specifically:

1. What's up with CHKDSK "cleaning up 28 unused index entries...."?

2. Even more troubling, although small in size, CHKDSK is reporting 32 KB
in bad sectors. Does this mean my hard drive is beginning to fail and I
should replace it? (Believe it or not, I am one of those neurotic people who
regularly perform weekly backups, even before seeing this CHKDSK result.)

3. Is there any way (i.e., a utility from TUCOWS or somewhere) which I can
run which will identify and allow me to repair those bad sectors? Or, in the
alternative, to isolate them so I don't lose data?

Thanks to all.

Jim

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

See below.

My computer SEEMS to operate okay, but I am concerned about what I am
seeing. Specifically:

1. What's up with CHKDSK "cleaning up 28 unused index entries...."?

Nothing to worry about.

2. Even more troubling, although small in size, CHKDSK is reporting 32 KB
in bad sectors. Does this mean my hard drive is beginning to fail and I
should replace it?

The condition could be stationary or it could fail. The only way to tell
is to run chkdsk /f /r regularly and note the results. I have seen some
disks fail completely within a few weeks under such conditions whereas
others survived for several years.

(Believe it or not, I am one of those neurotic people who
regularly perform weekly backups, even before seeing this CHKDSK result.)

That's not neurotic, that's sound computing, as long as you back up
your files to an independent medium.

3. Is there any way (i.e., a utility from TUCOWS or somewhere) which I can
run which will identify and allow me to repair those bad sectors? Or, in the
alternative, to isolate them so I don't lose data?

Windows has already isolated these sectors. I believe that
Spinrite attempts to repair them but I would advise against
this because I never trust a sector that has failed to perform.

 

[FrankV]

Windows has already isolated these sectors. I believe that

Spinrite attempts to repair them but I would advise against
this because I never trust a sector that has failed to perform.

I've used Spinrite for many years and any sectors it has fixed have never
caused a second problem. I run it on a regular basis so a problem like this
doesn't happen. You can get it at http://grc.com/.

Frank

 

[Kerry Brown]

Hard drives are cheap enough that it doesn't pay to try to repair them. If a
modern drive shows bad sectors it is not to be trusted. Hard drives have
spare sectors which are mapped in as bad sectors are found. If Windows is
seeing bad sectors then the spare sectors for that track have already been
used up. Spinrite as mentioned by someone else is an excellent program but
it's repair functions are not really applicable to modern drives. It will
mask the problem but in the end a new drive is less expensive than spinrite.
How much is your data worth to you?

 

[PopS]

It's time to make a good backup of your data.

Run chkdsk again, and often for a few weeks. See if the bad
sector number is changing. It -should- stay the same.

With today's disk drive constructions, those are "unusual" but
not totally unexpected results. I don't see the "28 unused" as
anything critical at the moment, so for now I'd just make a note
of that and move on to the next para here.

The 32k in bad sectors though, is unusual but, as I said, not
totally surprising. At this point it's nothing but a "note this"
issue.
BUT, it bears keeping track of. A few bad sectors on a drive,
as long as the number remains consistant, is no big deal.
Technically it shouldn't happen on today's better drives. Older
drives used to have thousands, even megs, of bad data. But
things were a lot different then.

BUT if, as time goes along, that number changes and gets
bigger, then it's time to be sure your backups are all in good
shape and saved to external media. The drive is failing and
there will be no way to predict how much longer it'll be able to
remain viable if it hasn't already gone un-reliable.

So, run chkdsk again, and often, say, right now and every morning
for a few weeks to see what the bad sector number is doing. More
often if you have the time, for the first few days.

Worst case: You do nothing and nothing further happens. OR, the
disk dies and you lose all the data.

Best case: You go out and get a new drive, install it, and the
old drive continues to live fine. Great, you have an additional
disk drive now, and all your data is safe. You also institue a
good data backup process, and adhere to it faithfully, to insure
against future loss of data.
You don't have to back up your os or programs; you have all
those on CDs or whatever someplace, and have written down all
their keys and numbers, right? I'm sure you did that ;-}
already, right?

If you can afford it, my advice would be to replace the drive,
especially if it's run 24/7 for the last few years. Depends on
whether or not you want the experience of what the future may
hold.

chkdsk, AFAIK, will mark the bad sectors so they aren't used
again. That 'protects against using them in the future. With
58Gig free, those bad sectors are probably in the empty space or
one of your programs would be having problems, too. A bad sector
can happen anywhere on the disk; not just where data is stored.
So, it's a crapshoot as to when an increasing number of bad
sectors might be a huge problem.

HTH
Pop