Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!cmcl2!rutgers!bellcore!wind!tr
From: tr@wind.bellcore.com (tom reingold)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: bad sector maintenance
Message-ID: <4172@bellcore.bellcore.com>
Date: 10 Dec 87 14:47:04 GMT
References: <316@uhmanoa.UUCP>
Sender: news@bellcore.bellcore.com
Reply-To: tr@wind.UUCP (tom reingold)
Distribution: na
Organization: Bellcore, Morristown, Noo Joizy
Lines: 38

In article <316@uhmanoa.UUCP> sandy@uhmanoa.UUCP (Sandy Phipps) writes:
$ I would like to get information about programs that allow you to
$ verify hard disks (RLL type - as this is what I have), and when
$ the program encounters a bad sector, it should be able to mark the
$ sector as bad.
$ 
$ I was recently doing a "Fastback" backup and encounted a
$ 
$ General Failure on Disk Drive C:
$ Ignore, Retry, Abort?
$ 
$ I located the sectors, but can't mark them bad.  Was able to over-
$ come the problem temporarily by making a new copy of the file that
$ was on the sectors and DOS put it somewhere else.
$ 
$ Any help would be appreciated.
$ 
$ -- Sandy Phipps -- Info & Comp Science Dept --  Uni Of Hawaii @ Manoa
$ [rest of signature]

A combination of DOS's RECOVER and Norton's DT (disk test) program
fits the bill here.  If a file is sitting on the bad sectors, type
"recover " and you will get a truncated copy of the file and
the sectors will be marked.  If the bad sectors are not in a file, use
DT to test the _disk_, not _files_.  It will prompt you if it's ok to
mark the bad sectors.  Say yes.

If you are not sure, or if some bad sectors are in files and some are
not, use DT first to tell you where they are.  Then use recover
afterwards.  Recover, though, should be thought of as a last resort
since it truncates the file.  Sometimes, with a lot of retries, you
can copy the file somewhere else before you destroy it.  You have
noticed this already.

Tom Reingold                    INTERNET:       tr@bellcore.bellcore.com
Bell Communications Research    UUCP:           rutgers!bellcore!tr
435 South St room 2L350         SOUNDNET:       (201) 829-4622 [work]
Morristown, NJ 07960                            (201) 287-2345 [home]