How to run SCANDISK Surface Scan in XP

[JJ Jones]

Hello,

Does anybody know how to run a Scandisk surface scan the old-fashioned
(Windows 98) way, where it gives a VISUAL representation of how many
bad sectors you have on a disk?

I've run the new-and-improved "CHKDSK /R /F" but that doesn't give me
the visual information that I'm looking for. Is there any way to boot
an XP machine into DOS and FORCE it to run a Scandisk surface scan
(read only), just so that I can figure out whether or not this disk
drive is worth keeping?

Or, does anybody know of any disk-checking freeware that will give me
some intelligible info on whats happening on the disk?

I'd like to get some actual INFORMATION on the surface scan, rather
than have XP fix stuff, then tell me that everything is fixed when it
is isn't.

 

[JJ Jones]

Additionally, when I try to run Defrag, it gives an error saying "disk
is scheduled to run chkdsk /f". But I HAVE run "chkdsk /f" and it
says "completed successfully". However, I ran a "chkdsk /R /F" last
night, and it ran for 18 hours completed steps 5 of 5, then aborted
when it said there was too much fragmentation in the log file.
Groan.

Supposedly the disk only has a few bad sectors, but I'm continuing to
get problems. Any ideas?

 

[Guest]

The log of CHKDSK is in the event viewer i believe.Also,thier actually is no
cmd CHKDSK /R/F Its either one or the other,even though you got somthing
to run,what was it actually doing for 18 hours.....Also,CHKDSK is a great
tool,it
can also be run in recovery console (MS-DOS),the preffered way for /R Also,
while its a good tool,you really should run the MS-DOS chk drive utility
from the
drives mfg,they all have one.Simply format a MS-DOS floppy,install the
unzipped
file to the floppy,boot the pc to the floppy.They give much more detailed
info

 

[Jim]

Additionally, when I try to run Defrag, it gives an error saying "disk
is scheduled to run chkdsk /f". But I HAVE run "chkdsk /f" and it
says "completed successfully". However, I ran a "chkdsk /R /F" last
night, and it ran for 18 hours completed steps 5 of 5, then aborted
when it said there was too much fragmentation in the log file.
Groan.

Supposedly the disk only has a few bad sectors, but I'm continuing to
get problems. Any ideas?

If you see any bad sectors, you need a new disk. Disks contain a lot of
spare sectors; as sectors go bad, they are replaced silently.
Thus, when the disk reports bad sectors, the drive electronics has already
replaced all it can. It should be noted that many bad sectors
can still be read but the signal is much weaker than normal. The drive
electronics errs on the side of caution in marking sectors as
bad.

Jim

 

[Ayush]

[JJ Jones] wrote-:

Is there any way to boot
an XP machine into DOS and FORCE it to run a Scandisk surface scan
(read only),

Download EBCD -http://ebcd.pcministry.com/ and then run the MS-SCANDISK on the CD



Good Luck, Ayush.

 

[Ayush]

[JJ Jones] wrote-:

Download EBCD -http://ebcd.pcministry.com/
Create a CD and boot it
Run the MS-SCANDISK on the CD



Good Luck, Ayush.

 

[Rock]

Hello,

Does anybody know how to run a Scandisk surface scan the old-fashioned
(Windows 98) way, where it gives a VISUAL representation of how many
bad sectors you have on a disk?

I've run the new-and-improved "CHKDSK /R /F" but that doesn't give me
the visual information that I'm looking for. Is there any way to boot
an XP machine into DOS and FORCE it to run a Scandisk surface scan
(read only), just so that I can figure out whether or not this disk
drive is worth keeping?

Or, does anybody know of any disk-checking freeware that will give me
some intelligible info on whats happening on the disk?

I'd like to get some actual INFORMATION on the surface scan, rather
than have XP fix stuff, then tell me that everything is fixed when it
is isn't.

Download a drive diagnostic utility from the hard drive manufacturer's web
site. This will create a bootable floppy or CD. Boot from that and run the
diagnostics.

If you are seeing bad sectors, replace the drive.

 

[cquirke (MVP Windows shell/user)]

On Wed, 27 Jun 2007 08:43:10 -0700, JJ Jones

Does anybody know how to run a Scandisk surface scan the old-fashioned
(Windows 98) way, where it gives a VISUAL representation of how many
bad sectors you have on a disk?

Yes; use a better tool ;-)

I use HD Tune, free from www.hdtune.com, as it is purely orientated to
HD hardware, ignoring partitions and file systems, and it doesn't try
to "fix" things (tho HD's firmware may kick in there).

Or, if the volume is FATxx and < 137G, I can boot the DOS mode from
Win95SR2 or Win98xx, and use that Scandisk as you describe.

The latter's the best way to deal with file system logic errors, as
(unlike the stone-age ChkDsk, with a UI that predates MS-DOS 6) this
will stop and ASK before "fixing" things, and you can get More Info on
what it will do to "fix". On NTFS, there's no equivalent.

I've run the new-and-improved "CHKDSK /R /F" but that doesn't give me
the visual information that I'm looking for.

Like Scandisk, it also "fixes" file system errors before testing the
physical HD, as appropriate when the intention is to "fix" surface
errors by changing the file system.

Unlike Scandisk, it doesn't give you a chance to veto (or Undo) what
it does. If it thinks the best way to resolve a null character at the
start of a directory entry is to delete all directory entries after
that point - thus discarding the whole of C:\Windows or your MyDocs -
then that is exactly what it will do.

In both cases, I'd rather verify the physical HD *before* fiddling
with (or even reading) the file system, so I prefer to unlink the two
processes - I start with HD Tune (typically run from Bart CDR boot)
and only then do I do a Scandisk (< 137G FATxx) or ChkDsk.

Only if I like what ChkDsk implies will happen, do I then ChkDsk /F,
and I have no use for ChkDsk /R at all.

Is there any way to boot an XP machine into DOS and
FORCE it to run a Scandisk surface scan (read only),
just so that I can figure out whether or not this disk
drive is worth keeping?

Applies only if:
- file systems are not NTFS
- HD < 137G

Then you can do a non-HD boot from a Win9x DOS diskette, say, and run
the real-mode Scandisk.exe from there. Note that Win95SR2 is the
earliest version that will support FAT32, and the pre-Win9x
stand-alone MS-DOS versions should not be used as they botch LFNs.

Or, does anybody know of any disk-checking freeware that will give me
some intelligible info on whats happening on the disk?

HD Tune, as noted. Does SMART detail, temperature, detailed surface
scan, and speed tests. Temperature reading depends on SMART and will
be absent on very old HDs, and SMART requires native IDE or S-ATA
interfacing, and won't pass through RAID, USB, etc.

I'd like to get some actual INFORMATION on the surface scan, rather
than have XP fix stuff, then tell me that everything is fixed when it
is isn't.

Absolutely. Any bad sectors, replace HD.

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Tip Of The Day:
To disable the 'Tip of the Day' feature...

 

[cquirke (MVP Windows shell/user)]

On Wed, 27 Jun 2007 09:01:32 -0700, JJ Jones

Supposedly the disk only has a few bad sectors

Then replace it.

but I'm continuing to get problems.

To be expected. A HD with "only a few" bad sectors is like a body
with "only a few" malignant cancer metastises.

Nature's trying to tell you something - listen! ;-)

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Reality is that which, when you stop believing
in it, does not go away (PKD)