disk repair w/ XP?

[John]

I recently noticed that there does not seem to be any sort of disk repair
utility w/ XP.

I have a HP desktop PC w/ W98 that will not boot up. It goes straight into a
DOS version of ScanDisk, and when it identifies errors in the boot sector
and asks me whether I want to skip, fix, or whatever, it doesn't respond to
the keyboard. I was able to take the HD out, put it into a USB external
case, plug it into my laptop (which has XP Pro) and I can read files from
it. I noticed that there is no ScanDisk w/ XP. I ran Disk Defrag and there
did not seem to be any options for fixing errors during defrag like there
were w/ W98.

My question in a nutshell is: Is there a way for me to repair the errors in
the boot sector on this HD w/ it plugged in as an external drive to my XP
laptop (something like scandisk for XP) and then put it back into the other
computer and have it boot up normally?

Otherwise I assume the only option is to reformat the drive w/ the laptop,
in which case I would imagine that the bad sectors would be marked bad and
would not be re-used. In the meantime I would just have to rescue whatever
data I could using the external case and the laptop.

Then the other question is that the laptop uses NTFS. Can I install W98 on a
NTFS drive or would I need to have the option to format it FAT32 (and does
XP offer that option)? I have a legal copy of W98 for the desktop machine
and that would be the way to keep everything legal. I have a system restore
disk that will install W98 and all the stuff that the computer came with on
bootup (supposedly). I don't mind using W98 on that machine. The only real
reason I want to resurrect it is to run a copy of PhotoShop 7.0 with
ImageReady because it is a better program for web design than PhotoShop CS3,
which I have on the other machine.

Thanks

 

[Guest]

98 can only read FAT32 file systems,NTFS works on xp not 98.XP has disk
repair utilities,R.click C: drive in my computer,properties,tools.One
can/should
boot to xp cd,recovery,type:CHKDSK D: /R D: being 98 This attempts to
repair bad sectors

 

[DL]

Determin the make of your HD, visit that manufacturers web site, download /
create the bootable floppy / cd and test the HD
If it reports unrepairable err's replace it.

Since the files are visible when connected via usb, backup data now

 

[philo]

Otherwise I assume the only option is to reformat the drive w/ the laptop,
in which case I would imagine that the bad sectors would be marked bad and
would not be re-used. In the meantime I would just have to rescue whatever
data I could using the external case and the laptop.

Then the other question is that the laptop uses NTFS. Can I install W98 on a
NTFS drive or would I need to have the option to format it FAT32 (and does
XP offer that option)? I have a legal copy of W98 for the desktop machine
and that would be the way to keep everything legal. I have a system restore
disk that will install W98 and all the stuff that the computer came with on
bootup (supposedly). I don't mind using W98 on that machine. The only real
reason I want to resurrect it is to run a copy of PhotoShop 7.0 with
ImageReady because it is a better program for web design than PhotoShop CS3,
which I have on the other machine.

You can slave your win98 drive to the XP machine
and run chkdsk /f on it.
As suggested, you should run the mfg's diagnostic on it and if the drive is
bad...
replace it.
You can easily retrieve your data from the XP machine...copy all you need to
a folder.

Now, if you want to reformat the drive from your XP machine...
as long as your partition is under 32gigs you can format it as Fat32.
Win98 cannot use an NTFS partition

 

[John]

Thanks Everyone,

Right now I am going w/ the rt-click > Properties > Tools > Error Checking
method. I have it set to automatically fix errors and try to rescue data
from bad sectors.

Would I have to rum chddsk from Start >Run or from a DOS prompt (or is
either one fine)? What's the difference between the /F and /R switches?
Should I use both of them?

BTW I did try to back up all relevant data right away. Every once in a while
there is still something I need from the other drive though because back
then I wasn't smart enough to keep all data from all applications under one
folder (w/ subfolders) so that it could be backed up or copied easily.

I would like to save this drive's contents if possible but if I have to
reformat it and reinstall W98 that's fine. It is a Maxtor 94098U8 (or BUB?).
I'll see if there is a way to d/l utils for it.

John

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

I recently noticed that there does not seem to be any sort of disk repair
utility w/ XP.

I have a HP desktop PC w/ W98 that will not boot up. It goes straight into a
DOS version of ScanDisk, and when it identifies errors in the boot sector
and asks me whether I want to skip, fix, or whatever, it doesn't respond to
the keyboard. I was able to take the HD out, put it into a USB external
case, plug it into my laptop (which has XP Pro) and I can read files from
it. I noticed that there is no ScanDisk w/ XP.

Yes there is, but the name is different. The XP equivalent is called
"chkdsk"

I ran Disk Defrag and there
did not seem to be any options for fixing errors during defrag like there
were w/ W98.

My question in a nutshell is: Is there a way for me to repair the errors in
the boot sector on this HD w/ it plugged in as an external drive to my XP
laptop (something like scandisk for XP) and then put it back into the other
computer and have it boot up normally?

No guarantees that it will fix the errors, or if it does whether it
will be bootable, but you can try chkdsk.

Otherwise I assume the only option is to reformat the drive w/ the laptop,

Why? Why not just format the drive on the desktop. Boot from a
diskette and format it from there.

in which case I would imagine that the bad sectors would be marked bad and
would not be re-used.

It depends entirely on what errors there are and how bad they are. Do
not assume that using scandisk, chkdsk, or reformatting will always
turn a problem drive into a usable one. Sometimes drive failures are
permanent ones.

In the meantime I would just have to rescue whatever
data I could using the external case and the laptop.

Then the other question is that the laptop uses NTFS.

No. The hard drive on the laptop uses NTFS. I don't mean to nitpick,
but it's important that you understand that XP can use any and all
combinations of NTFS, FAT32, FAT16, and FAT12, on different drives, or
even on different partitions on the same physical drive.

Can I install W98 on a
NTFS drive

No. Windows 98 will not even see an NTFS drive.

or would I need to have the option to format it FAT32 (and does
XP offer that option)?

Yes and yes, as long as you don't try to create a partition larger
than 32GB. XP will accept a FAT32 partition larger than 32GB if
created externally, but you can't create one within it.

 

[John]

I noticed that there is no ScanDisk w/ XP.

Yes there is, but the name is different. The XP equivalent is called
"chkdsk"

I remember chkdsk from the old DOS days. Seems like everyone I knew at the
time abondoned it in favor of scandisk.

Why not just format the drive on the desktop. Boot from a
diskette and format it from there.

Good idea. I'll have to see if I can make a bootable floppy somehow or if I
have one on the shelf somewhere.

Interesting note about XP only being able to create a FAT32 partition up ro
32MB. That is not a lot these days. It's a 40GB drive.

I will try the various methods of fixing the errors on this drive and if it
ends up still being not bootable I'll reformat it. I may also be able to fix
or reformat it by booting onto the system recovery CD that came w/ the
machine (HP9680C).

Thanks,
John

 

[Jim]

I recently noticed that there does not seem to be any sort of disk repair
utility w/ XP.

Yes, there is. It is now called chkdsk.

I have a HP desktop PC w/ W98 that will not boot up. It goes straight into
a DOS version of ScanDisk, and when it identifies errors in the boot
sector and asks me whether I want to skip, fix, or whatever, it doesn't
respond to the keyboard. I was able to take the HD out, put it into a USB
external case, plug it into my laptop (which has XP Pro) and I can read
files from it. I noticed that there is no ScanDisk w/ XP. I ran Disk
Defrag and there did not seem to be any options for fixing errors during
defrag like there were w/ W98.

My question in a nutshell is: Is there a way for me to repair the errors
in the boot sector on this HD w/ it plugged in as an external drive to my
XP laptop (something like scandisk for XP) and then put it back into the
other computer and have it boot up normally?

It is unlikely that any kind of software will fix bad sectors.
And, bad sectors have already been marked by the drive electronics.

All drives have quite a few spare sectors to be used by the drive
electronics for replacement and remapping. Thus, the drive has already used
all that it can for replacement.

Hence, the drive is headed for death.

I should note that the drive electronics marks a sector as bad when the
signal is merely below tolerance (i. e. weak not absolutely unreadable or
unwriteable). Sometimes it is possible to recover the data by using much
more expensive equipment. Most customers will find that replacement is more
cost effective.

Jim

 

[Shenan Stanley]

I remember chkdsk from the old DOS days. Seems like everyone I knew
at the time abondoned it in favor of scandisk.

No - not abandoned - it just did not exist in the consumer OSes that
followed.

Good idea. I'll have to see if I can make a bootable floppy somehow
or if I have one on the shelf somewhere.

Interesting note about XP only being able to create a FAT32
partition up ro 32MB. That is not a lot these days. It's a 40GB
drive.

Natively - nothing says you cannot use a 3rd party tool to format your 320GB
hard disk drive FAT32 - but with the limitations and such - the only reason
to do it would be cross-compatibility or easier recovery if the OS dies.

I will try the various methods of fixing the errors on this drive
and if it ends up still being not bootable I'll reformat it. I may
also be able to fix or reformat it by booting onto the system
recovery CD that came w/ the machine (HP9680C).

Try the manufacturer diagnostic utilities and if you have to format - I
suggest using the utilities to do a full test and a full zero-write on it to
'reset' it beofre using it again.

 

[John]

Try the manufacturer diagnostic utilities and if you have to format - I

suggest using the utilities to do a full test and a full zero-write on it
to 'reset' it beofre using it again.

I found 5 floppy disks that say they have some version of DOS on them and
one that says it's a Windows 95 startup disk. I also found a floppy w/
Seagate HD Utils on it. All of this is from previous machines though.

I also found Seagate's SeaTools for Windows & for DOS that supposedly fixes
Seagate & Maxtor drives (apparently Seagate bought Maxtor).

Could I also do a FDISK / MBR to recover just the master boot record?
Everything else on the drive seems to be intact.

 

[John]

Hey, it's fixed. Doing the rt-click from My Computer and then selecting
Tools > Error Check fixed the drive. The other machine boots up fine now.

Thanks everybody!

 

[Shenan Stanley]

I found 5 floppy disks that say they have some version of DOS on
them and one that says it's a Windows 95 startup disk. I also found
a floppy w/ Seagate HD Utils on it. All of this is from previous
machines though.
I also found Seagate's SeaTools for Windows & for DOS that
supposedly fixes Seagate & Maxtor drives (apparently Seagate bought
Maxtor).
Could I also do a FDISK / MBR to recover just the master boot
record? Everything else on the drive seems to be intact.

You could try the FDISK/MBR - it certainly would not hurt. As you have
already said you have the capability (and may have already) to read the
drive and pull files off - hopefully you have pulled thew important files
off.

You could get a bootable Windows 98 boot diskette from here:
http://www.bootdisk.com/
(along with many others.)

Seagate did purchase Maxtor (I suppose you mention that because it is a
maxtor drive?) and SeaTools can be used to check the disk for actual
physical errors.

 

[John]

Thanks for the help Shenan. The machine is actually running again.I was able
to fix the HD w/ XP via laptop and then put it back into the original
machine. I am running the W98 version of ScanDisk on it now for good
measure.

I will definitely make a boot diskette for W98 right away. My laptop doesn't
have a floppy drive, so making one from it could get dicey. I will also make
a SeaTools floppy as well as a SeaTools CD.