Life in my HDD after 10% formatting

  • Thread starter Thread starter Deon
  • Start date Start date
D

Deon

Hi there,

my portable Toshiba 11GB Laptop HDD didn't want to read anymore, so I
decided to format it. It only gets to 10% and there it stays, even though
the RED led is on.

Must I throw it away or can I still save it?
 
"=?Utf-8?B?RmxlbW1pbmcgR3VsZGLDpms=?=" <Flemming
Guldbæ[email protected]> wrote in
Have you tried to lowlevel format the disk, that might fix the problem
Click to expand...

No, how do I do that? If it can help, I will surely do it.
I have done a google search and could only find low level software for
every other make except Toshiba.
 
A low level format will wipe out everything on the hard drive. I would look for any diagnostic
utilities that Toshiba might have to use to check the machine out.
 
A low level format will wipe out everything on the hard drive. I
would look for any diagnostic utilities that Toshiba might have to use
to check the machine out.
Click to expand...

It's OK if the format wipes out everything. I have got a very recent backup
of the content on the drive.

All I want to do is to "save" the drive.
 
It's OK if the format wipes out everything. I have got a very recent backup
of the content on the drive.

All I want to do is to "save" the drive.
Click to expand...

A low level format is far more likely to destroy the hard drive than
it is to fix anything. Low-level formatting has basically been
obsolete since the advent of the IDE type hard drive in the late
1980s.

Check with the Toshiba web site for any diagnostic utilities that you
can put onto a 3.5 diskette or burn to a CD and then run on your
laptop.

Another option would be to try Spinrite from Gibson Research
(www.grc.com) and see if it can salvage the drive. However the cost
of the program is probably pretty close to the price of a new hard
drive, even allowing for the higher cost of 2.5 inch laptop drives.

Good luck


Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca

In memory of a dear friend Alex Nichol MVP
http://aumha.org/alex.htm
 
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