Reformatting Hard Disk

[c_hernandez32]

I got a 30GB Harddrive from my brother in law. He replaced it because Windows would not boot up so he bought a new one. When I installed it, it appeared as a seperate HD. Then I used Partition Magic to reformat to FAT32 (will have Win98). It said that it had errors and simply restarted. Afterwards it appeared as two seperate partitions. It originally contained a backup partition for restoring. Both seem fine, but Partition magic lists as BAD and as only a disk, no partitions. I need to make sure that it works because I will be reformatting and be moving important files onto it. What programs can help fix the bad sectors or errors?

[thecoalman]

Let me see if I understand correctly.... you have a drive that someone else was having trouble with, your having trouble with it and you want to move important data to it.

How old is the drive? Was it used extensively? 30 gigs would probably put it right in that window to be the age of where you expect to start to see failures. I'd suggest getting a new drive. If you do get it working I cetainly hope it's for backing up data. Good Luck.

[SLK001]

Your important files can't be that important if you want to use someone else's discards to store them. Breakdown and pry open you wallet and get a NEW harddrive. You can get one hell of a drive for less than $100.

[c_hernandez32]

We'll I'm a real penny pincher when it comes to buying things, that and rent is a tad more important. I need it for backup only between reformat and fresh install. I know its stupid to use "junked" equipment, but I thought "hey what the hell." I took it from him because he had some heavy spyware and thought it was that caused problems with Windows. That and the fact that I had to fix it for him, so I told him just to get a new one to save me the trouble.

[thecoalman]

Couldn't you just burn a bunch a DVD's, they are pretty cheap and it would only require a few.

[c_hernandez32]

True. I'll probably go that route, being that its safer than Zips or copying to HD.

[normcar]

Actually, backing up to HD (one in good shape) is probably safer than backing up to any other media. You never know if you will be able to read the media when you need it.

I would recommend you use the HD manufactures tool which will check the HD to see if it is failing.

[pbhalerao]

Backing up on HDD is a better method definitely but this drive is old and may fail. If a backup is done on DVD and it is confirmed that all is OK then you may not have to worry for a long-long time.

[normcar]

That is not necessarily true, all you have is read posts for about 2-3 days until someone asks how to read a disk they created a few months ago, and now cannot read it. And most of the time, they verified it, and checked it at the time.

[pbhalerao]

When I said 'checked', I meant tried at least once for restore. If you just backup and leave it to the belief that all must be well, then you are yielding to a chance. If a restore is carried out and it works the first time, then 99% guaranteed that it will work again. The 1% chance is to other factors such as scratches, bad drive, etc. But that could happen to any component. I have CD's that were burnt five years ago and still read properly.

[VenGeanCe]

well hdd backup is preferable than dvd backups.
well i suggest u use spinrite basically will fix all bad sectors though it is time consuming.

[normcar]

His drive may be ok, but the previous owner had not reloaded the OS for quite some time. Windows usually needs to be reloaded about every 1-2 years, or things start to slow down or stop working. Using the HD utilities to check the drive will quickly answer the question.

[pbhalerao]

If HDD is fine, then there is nothing like it.

[F1118]

I think you should just put that drive on ebay.