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From: cmcmanis%pepper@Sun.COM (Chuck McManis)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: Hard sector errors
Message-ID: <23639@sun.uucp>
Date: Thu, 16-Jul-87 13:18:53 EDT
Article-I.D.: sun.23639
Posted: Thu Jul 16 13:18:53 1987
Date-Received: Sat, 18-Jul-87 08:07:41 EDT
References: <3249@cit-vax.Caltech.Edu>
Sender: news@sun.uucp
Reply-To: cmcmanis@sun.UUCP (Chuck McManis)
Organization: Sun Microsystems, Mountain View
Lines: 21

In article <3249@cit-vax.Caltech.Edu> (Glenn M. Lewis) writes:
>    How can I fix this disk so that I can re-use it?  Should I find a strong
>magnetic field to scramble it, or something?
>						-- Glenn Lewis

First, make sure you aren't using Single Sided disks, every now and then there
will be a physical defect in the media on the 'bottom' and that can cause hard
failures, as can flaking if the oxide. If they are regular DS/DD disks then 
the easiest way to 'scramble' them is with a bulk eraser. You can get them
at Radio Shack but professional recording supplies dealers have better ones. 
Put your disk(s) under the bulk eraser, switch it on, and _slowly_ pull it
away from the disk(s) while moving in larger and larger circles. Now do it
again to be sure. Voila completely unformatted disks. Be vary careful not to
do this near any other magnetic media. (I go out into the garage). You can
also degauss TV's this way too. 



--Chuck McManis
uucp: {anywhere}!sun!cmcmanis   BIX: cmcmanis  ARPAnet: cmcmanis@sun.com
These opinions are my own and no one elses, but you knew that didn't you.