bad sectors

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sithlink
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bad sectors

Post by sithlink »

i ran scan disk on one of my computers the other day and it reported that i had 12,288 bytes in bad sectors. was wondering whats up with that...
is my hard drive going bad?
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FlyingPenguin
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Post by FlyingPenguin »

Could be a one-off fluke, but modern drives generally don't get bad sectors unless they've suffered a disk crash or have an interface problem.

Check your ribbon cable - intermittent cables can cause false bad sectors to be detected. It's a good idea to regularly pull your ribbons and then reconnect them - it cleans the contacts.

Most hard drive manufacturers have a utility you can download from their site that tests the drive and can tell you if it's about to fail - it can also repair some problems.

Keep an eye on the drive - if you get more bad sectors or if it starts making clicking noises, it's likely getting ready to pack up on you.

Most manufacturers will do an RMA cross-shipment: they'll send you a replacement drive with a credit card number to guarantee it, then you send back the bad drive when the new one comes in.

How this helps...
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NascarFool
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Post by NascarFool »

Also, some software will do that. I had a run in with "Reader Rabbit" stuff. (not for me :D ) On my comp, I got bad sector errors after the install. After uninstalling the RR stuff, the bad sector error went away. Naturally, the manufacturer said it was not their software causing it. If all else fails, format or low level format should clear it up.
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