HDD tool that quickly marks bad sectors

[Pimpom]

Could anyone please point me to a hard disk utility (preferably
free) that does a surface scan and *not* make a valiant effort to
recover data when it encounters a bad sector? The ideal program
would be one that can be set to mark a bad or borderline sector
as "bad" and move on without spending a lot of time trying to
recover it.

It's not that I'm having a problem with my HDD. I work a lot on
other people's computers that have nothing vital in them and such
a tool will sometimes come in handy. I know of hard disk
manufacturers' tools, but have not had a chance to use them on
drives with bad sectors. A Windows or bootable DOS tool would be
great.

 

[Gorby]

Depending on the manufacturer, the utility may have the ability to
map-out bad sectors and move data as needed

Be warned that bad sectors "creep" (get larger around a certain physical
spot on the HD) on older hard drives.

So if you notice that you are getting more and more bad sectors, then
it's worth your while to get a new HDD, rather than continuously marking
more sectors as bad.

 

[Justin]

Since hard drives are cheap...
when I find one with bad clusters...even if they can easily be
re-mapped...I usually just replace the HD.

Last thing I want is a repair coming back on me.


Since I build a lot of machines from scrap parts
and donate them to folks who are doing non-critical tasks...
I do sometimes re-use one of the questionable drives...

Yikes, IMO that is a bad idea. I wouldn't dream of giving a HD with bad
sectors on a machine currently in service. Hard drives are so cheap and
places like Tiger offload stockpiles of last years drives constantly.