PowerMax tool : Repairing errors.

[John]

Recently had a 80Gb Maxtor D740X start producing "bad block" error in
Windows XP event log.

Ran the PowerMax tool on it and it resulted in an error code. It
offered to repair it so I let it and now I'm no longer getting bad
blocks.

Question is should this drive be trusted any more?

As I understand it most errors are corrected/sectors replaced with
spares etc all in the background by the drive itself and the OS should
never actually "see" any errors. Any that "get through" and are
detected by the OS are usually serious or indicate the drive has run out
of spares (a sign itself of excesive number of sector failures).

Should I start looking for a replacement?

 

[Folkert Rienstra]

Recently had a 80Gb Maxtor D740X start producing "bad block" error
in Windows XP event log.

Ran the PowerMax tool on it and it resulted in an error code. It offer-
ed to repair it so I let it and now I'm no longer getting bad blocks.

Question is should this drive be trusted any more?

As I understand it

most errors
Right.

are corrected/sectors replaced with spares etc all in the background
by the drive itself

If that is what happens.
Sectors that aren't accessed aren't processed.

and the OS should never actually "see" any errors.

Obviously not with the exceptions to "most".

Any that "get through" and are detected by the OS are usually serious

Could be.
Or were never read until now and didn't get the chance to be replaced on
a read when it still might have been able to do so with retries previously.

or indicate the drive has run out of spares

Possible, but not necessarily.

(a sign itself of excesive number of sector failures).

Should I start looking for a replacement?

After you checked everything else is within parameters and not contri-
buting to the error.