errors on chkdsk : impossible to fix. What do ?

[MoiMeme]

Hi,

XP SP2 fully updated except SP3

Trying O1O Defrag pro
Says on chkdsk that "errors occur" and interrupts process.

Have done 3-4 times chkdsk ( in nomrla mode and reboot, and 2 in safe mode)

No change : O&O defrag state on errors, so does partition magic

How shoudl I proceed to correct these errors ?

Other related question:

- if I do a format and restore an image of that partition ( Acronis
TrueImage), will that restore the errors at the same time ?
- if so how can I do without having to reinstall XP and progs ?

Drive itself is OK ( from SMART data, nothing stating failure(s) )

TIA for help !!

 

[philo]

Hi,

XP SP2 fully updated except SP3

Trying O1O Defrag pro
Says on chkdsk that "errors occur" and interrupts process.

Have done 3-4 times chkdsk ( in nomrla mode and reboot, and 2 in safe mode)

No change : O&O defrag state on errors, so does partition magic

How shoudl I proceed to correct these errors ?

Other related question:

- if I do a format and restore an image of that partition ( Acronis
TrueImage), will that restore the errors at the same time ?
- if so how can I do without having to reinstall XP and progs ?

Drive itself is OK ( from SMART data, nothing stating failure(s) )

TIA for help !!

No...

SMART is not the whole story.

Go to the site of your HD's mfg and get their diagnostic...
then run it.

If the drive tests bad...do a full backup at once,
then replace the drive!

 

[R. McCarty]

There are two distinct types of drive problems. A logical error which
means data on the drive and physical where it's a actual data error on
the sectors of the drive. The first type can be resolved by Chkdsk the
other cannot.

If 3rd party applications indicate errors then it may be issues with the
partition table. Partition Magic ( last version ) may not be the best type
of disk management tool to use. Instead I'd use Acronis Disk Mgmt.

How was the partitions originally created on the computer ?

 

[Bob Harris]

It is possible for one or more files to "go bad" without the underlying hard
drive being bad. Usually CHKDSK can fix such things, but not always. The
most thorough form of CHKDSK is with the /R option, such as CHKDSK C: /R.

When interpretting the results of CHKDSK look at what it says about bad
blocks. If greater than zero, be worried a little, but only a little. If
the number of bad blocks is increasing with time, replace the disk. If the
error is somehting like unallocated space appears as allocated, that is a
relatively safe error. If unfixable, do not worry about this sort of error.

The image file contains the pattern of ones and zeros representing the
files. It also contains a copy of the master boot record, if it is a whole
disk image, not just a partition image. If a file was "bad" at the time the
image was bad, it will be bad within the image.

Suggestions:

(1) Run CHKDSK with /R and reboot. Note what it fixes, and whether it says
anything about failing to fix something. This may take an hour or so.
(2) Upon rebooting into windows run CHKDSK without /F or /R, just to see
whether it thinks everything is OK, or what it thinks is wrong.
(3) If still having trouble, try (a) formatting the disk (long format) from
the XP recovery console or similar, then (b) restoring the image. The long
format should, in theory, lock-out bad blocks, if it finds any. The restore
will write files back to the disk only on good blocks.
(4) If the system works normally, I would then leave well enough alone. If
not, you could try to repair Windows by (a) system file checker (SFC), (b) a
repair installation of XP (if you have a retail XP CD), (c) restore system
to day you bought it using the manufacturer procedure for restoration (if XP
came pre-installed).