Partitioning a damaged hard drive

  • Thread starter Thread starter Peter Paul Supfil
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Peter Paul Supfil

I have a computer that is no longer used(replaced by a newer model)
that i would like to put back into use as a second computer for
surfing the web and email only. The problem is that the drive has a
damaged sector (evident on defragging) from a storm and power outage.
The computer ran fine for weeks at a time then the damaged sector
would start causing problems and it would need to be "restored". We
finally retired it. I was wondering if partitioning the hard drive
and putting the programs needed for its intended limited use in the
partition without the bad sector would work. It's an older model
running Windows 98. If so, what's the best, most economical way to do
this? Thank you.
 
I have a computer that is no longer used(replaced by a newer model)
that i would like to put back into use as a second computer for surfing
the web and email only. The problem is that the drive has a damaged
sector (evident on defragging) from a storm and power outage.
Click to expand...

Looks unlikely from the next bit.
The computer ran fine for weeks at a time then the damaged sector
would start causing problems and it would need to be "restored".
Click to expand...

That shouldnt have happened if it was just a bad single
bad sector caused by a storm and power outage.

At worst it should have got marked bad at the OS level and ignored.
We finally retired it. I was wondering if partitioning the hard
drive and putting the programs needed for its intended limited
use in the partition without the bad sector would work.
Click to expand...

Probably not given that it doesnt appear to be just a single bad sector.
If it really is just a single bad sector you should be able to format/verify
at the OS level and have it marked as bad and never used.
It's an older model running Windows 98. If so,
what's the best, most economical way to do this?
Click to expand...

Just format c:/v/u and carry on regardless.

It'd be better to run the hard drive manufacturer's diagnostic
on the drive tho because it doesnt appear to be just a single
bad sector due to 'a storm and power outage.

It isnt an IBM 75GXP family drive is it ?
 
Peter said:
I have a computer that is no longer used(replaced by a newer model)
that i would like to put back into use as a second computer for
surfing the web and email only. The problem is that the drive has a
damaged sector (evident on defragging) from a storm and power outage.
The computer ran fine for weeks at a time then the damaged sector
would start causing problems and it would need to be "restored". We
finally retired it. I was wondering if partitioning the hard drive
and putting the programs needed for its intended limited use in the
partition without the bad sector would work. It's an older model
running Windows 98. If so, what's the best, most economical way to do
this? Thank you.
Click to expand...

Give it a try - you have nothing to lose.

I have a 2GB HD, bought new in '96, which developed a bunch of bad
sectors in '98. Since the bad sectors were all on inner cylinders,
a simply ran FDISK to partition the HD into a 1.9GB part, with the
rest unused. Then I reFORMATted and reinstalled WinWhatever. That
HD is still in use today, with no more bad sectors. And, the PC is
in use 24x7, with the HDs never spun down. This is the third (or so)
PC that 1.9GB HD has been in, so it has been handled more than average.

I won't claim that my experience is typical; the appearance of bad
sectors on current-generation HDs is generally a sign of near-death.
 
a) If the bad sector is in a file, delete the file.
proceed with b)
b) if the sector is in free space, copy *any* files into a temporary
directory until free space is exhausted.

The bad sector likely will have been overwritten and either been
replaced or been cured.

Delete the temporary directory.
 
Run scandisk with a full surface check and the bad sector will be locked out.
Give it a try - you have nothing to lose.

I have a 2GB HD, bought new in '96, which developed a bunch of bad
sectors in '98. Since the bad sectors were all on inner cylinders,
a simply ran FDISK to partition the HD into a 1.9GB part, with the
rest unused. Then I reFORMATted and reinstalled WinWhatever. That
HD is still in use today, with no more bad sectors. And, the PC is
in use 24x7, with the HDs never spun down. This is the third (or so)
PC that 1.9GB HD has been in, so it has been handled more than average.

I won't claim that my experience is typical; the appearance of bad
sectors on current-generation HDs is generally a sign of near-death.
Click to expand...

I have a 13 gig drive that worked well until I nearly filled it, whereupon it started
having read and write errors. Scandisk showed that it had random sector errors
in the top 3 gigs. I used defrag to move all files to below the 10 gig point and then
used fips to shrink the partition to 10 gigs while leaving the rest unallocated.
That drive is still in use with no errors.


-Barry
========
Web page: http://members.optusnet.com.au/~barry.og
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