Surface scan in Windows 98 warning of bad cluster

This morning when I started my Windows 98 Dell Dimension, it began something I hadn't seen before, a surface scan, a very slow process that took 30 to 40 minutes, then it told me it had found one bad cluster (out of the many thousands of clusters on the C drive) that was bad, and so it was moving the data on the cluster to another spot, and isolating the cluster.

Then the process continued. At the end it said:

----------------

At least one area of Drive C has sustained physical damage. Although such damage might be caused by an isolated incident such as a power faiure, it is often a sign of impending hardware failure.

Back up your files as soon as posible.

You should run scan disk daily for a while. If more physical errors occur, have this drive checked by a computer hardware technician.

------------------

On one hand it's talking about impending death of the hard drive, then it says, well, if there are more problems, have it checked out. Which makes it sound not imminently dangerous.

How likely is an imminent death of the hard drive? Is this a sign that I must get a new computer immediate? Or could I just get a new hard drive?

A question on backups. I have my own files and various other things backed on zip disk. But my OE 6 e-mail is way too large to back up, it's about 750 MB. And my installation files in Program Files (all the files downloaded from Web with which I have installed programs) is 172 MB. Short of getting a new computer, what kind of medium is the way to back it up?

Thanks for any assistance.

Larry

Go to the hard disk manufacturer's web site and download their diagnostic software
respective to your hard disk. After the test, you will know if the hard disk is bad or
not..

Quantum/Maxtor - PowerMax
http://www.maxtor.com/en/support/downloads/powermax.htm

Western Digital - Data LifeGuard Tools (DLGDiag)
http://support.wdc.com/download/

Hitachi/IBM - Drive Fitness Test (DFT)
http://www.hgst.com/hdd/support/download.htm

Seagate - SeaTools
http://www.seagate.com/support/seatools/

Fujitsu - Diagnostic Tool
http://www.fcpa.com/download/hard-drives/

Samsung - Disk manager
http://www.samsung.com/Products/Hard...ies/shdiag.htm



--
Dave







"Larry" wrote in message ...


This morning when I started my Windows 98 Dell Dimension, it began something I hadn't seen
before, a surface scan, a very slow process that took 30 to 40 minutes, then it told me it
had found one bad cluster (out of the many thousands of clusters on the C drive) that was
bad, and so it was moving the data on the cluster to another spot, and isolating the
cluster.

Then the process continued. At the end it said:

----------------

At least one area of Drive C has sustained physical damage. Although such damage might be
caused by an isolated incident such as a power faiure, it is often a sign of impending
hardware failure.

Back up your files as soon as posible.

You should run scan disk daily for a while. If more physical errors occur, have this drive
checked by a computer hardware technician.

------------------

On one hand it's talking about impending death of the hard drive, then it says, well, if
there are more problems, have it checked out. Which makes it sound not imminently
dangerous.

How likely is an imminent death of the hard drive? Is this a sign that I must get a new
computer immediate? Or could I just get a new hard drive?

A question on backups. I have my own files and various other things backed on zip disk.
But my OE 6 e-mail is way too large to back up, it's about 750 MB. And my installation
files in Program Files (all the files downloaded from Web with which I have installed
programs) is 172 MB. Short of getting a new computer, what kind of medium is the way to
back it up?

Thanks for any assistance.

Larry

How do I determine who is the manufacturer of the hard disk?

The current hard disk was replaced by Dell a few years ago for free when
the original drive was giving problems. I have no idea who the
manufacturer is.

Thanks.

Larry




"David H. Lipman" wrote in message
...
Go to the hard disk manufacturer's web site and download their
diagnostic software
respective to your hard disk. After the test, you will know if the
hard disk is bad or
not..

Quantum/Maxtor - PowerMax
http://www.maxtor.com/en/support/downloads/powermax.htm

Western Digital - Data LifeGuard Tools (DLGDiag)
http://support.wdc.com/download/

Hitachi/IBM - Drive Fitness Test (DFT)
http://www.hgst.com/hdd/support/download.htm

Seagate - SeaTools
http://www.seagate.com/support/seatools/

Fujitsu - Diagnostic Tool
http://www.fcpa.com/download/hard-drives/

Samsung - Disk manager
http://www.samsung.com/Products/Hard...ies/shdiag.htm



--
Dave







"Larry" wrote in message
...


This morning when I started my Windows 98 Dell Dimension, it began
something I hadn't seen
before, a surface scan, a very slow process that took 30 to 40
minutes, then it told me it
had found one bad cluster (out of the many thousands of clusters on
the C drive) that was
bad, and so it was moving the data on the cluster to another spot, and
isolating the
cluster.

Then the process continued. At the end it said:

----------------

At least one area of Drive C has sustained physical damage. Although
such damage might be
caused by an isolated incident such as a power faiure, it is often a
sign of impending
hardware failure.

Back up your files as soon as posible.

You should run scan disk daily for a while. If more physical errors
occur, have this drive
checked by a computer hardware technician.

------------------

On one hand it's talking about impending death of the hard drive, then
it says, well, if
there are more problems, have it checked out. Which makes it sound
not imminently
dangerous.

How likely is an imminent death of the hard drive? Is this a sign
that I must get a new
computer immediate? Or could I just get a new hard drive?

A question on backups. I have my own files and various other things
backed on zip disk.
But my OE 6 e-mail is way too large to back up, it's about 750 MB.
And my installation
files in Program Files (all the files downloaded from Web with which I
have installed
programs) is 172 MB. Short of getting a new computer, what kind of
medium is the way to
back it up?

Thanks for any assistance.

Larry

"Larry" wrote in message
...


This morning when I started my Windows 98 Dell Dimension, it began something
I hadn't seen before, a surface scan, a very slow process that took 30 to 40
minutes, then it told me it had found one bad cluster (out of the many
thousands of clusters on the C drive) that was bad, and so it was moving the
data on the cluster to another spot, and isolating the cluster.

Then the process continued. At the end it said:

----------------

At least one area of Drive C has sustained physical damage. Although such
damage might be caused by an isolated incident such as a power faiure, it is
often a sign of impending hardware failure.

Back up your files as soon as posible.

You should run scan disk daily for a while. If more physical errors occur,
have this drive checked by a computer hardware technician.

------------------

On one hand it's talking about impending death of the hard drive, then it
says, well, if there are more problems, have it checked out. Which makes it
sound not imminently dangerous.

How likely is an imminent death of the hard drive? Is this a sign that I
must get a new computer immediate? Or could I just get a new hard drive?

A question on backups. I have my own files and various other things backed
on zip disk. But my OE 6 e-mail is way too large to back up, it's about 750
MB. And my installation files in Program Files (all the files downloaded
from Web with which I have installed programs) is 172 MB. Short of getting
a new computer, what kind of medium is the way to back it up?

Thanks for any assistance.

Larry

=====================================

The heads barely skim the surface of a hard drive.
Hitting something the size of a human hair
would be akin to you driving into a redwood tree
at a very high rate of speed.

Any bump or power loss can kill a hard drive instantly.
I have lost hard drives simply because of a power failure.

A hard drive WILL die eventually, usually with NO warning.
You are one of the lucky ones. You have been warned.

WHEN your hard drive goes kaput, what do you intend to do
with all of the information on those zip disks?

The answer is, nothing, until you go buy a replacement hard drive.
So, go do it today, NOW, before you lose everything.
That will solve the issue of what to do about your emails.

Just use the software that comes with the new hard drive
to create a mirror image of your current drive,
partitions and all, on the new drive.

"Larry" wrote in message
...
How do I determine who is the manufacturer of the hard disk?

Remove the case and look at the label.

Good advice. Thanks.

So, even after hard drives die, people don't necessary get new
computers, right? They can just get the drive replaced.

Larry


=====================================
"Hugh Candlin" wrote in message
...


The heads barely skim the surface of a hard drive.
Hitting something the size of a human hair
would be akin to you driving into a redwood tree
at a very high rate of speed.

Any bump or power loss can kill a hard drive instantly.
I have lost hard drives simply because of a power failure.

A hard drive WILL die eventually, usually with NO warning.
You are one of the lucky ones. You have been warned.

WHEN your hard drive goes kaput, what do you intend to do
with all of the information on those zip disks?

The answer is, nothing, until you go buy a replacement hard drive.
So, go do it today, NOW, before you lose everything.
That will solve the issue of what to do about your emails.

Just use the software that comes with the new hard drive
to create a mirror image of your current drive,
partitions and all, on the new drive.



"Larry" wrote in message
...


This morning when I started my Windows 98 Dell Dimension, it began
something
I hadn't seen before, a surface scan, a very slow process that took 30
to 40
minutes, then it told me it had found one bad cluster (out of the many
thousands of clusters on the C drive) that was bad, and so it was
moving the
data on the cluster to another spot, and isolating the cluster.

Then the process continued. At the end it said:

----------------

At least one area of Drive C has sustained physical damage. Although
such
damage might be caused by an isolated incident such as a power faiure,
it is
often a sign of impending hardware failure.

Back up your files as soon as posible.

You should run scan disk daily for a while. If more physical errors
occur,
have this drive checked by a computer hardware technician.

------------------

On one hand it's talking about impending death of the hard drive, then
it
says, well, if there are more problems, have it checked out. Which
makes it
sound not imminently dangerous.

How likely is an imminent death of the hard drive? Is this a sign
that I
must get a new computer immediate? Or could I just get a new hard
drive?

A question on backups. I have my own files and various other things
backed
on zip disk. But my OE 6 e-mail is way too large to back up, it's
about 750
MB. And my installation files in Program Files (all the files
downloaded
from Web with which I have installed programs) is 172 MB. Short of
getting
a new computer, what kind of medium is the way to back it up?

Thanks for any assistance.

Larry

Open the chassis.

Look in the BIOS.

Both will either directly tell you or give you a clue.

--
Dave




"Larry" wrote in message ...
| How do I determine who is the manufacturer of the hard disk?
|
| The current hard disk was replaced by Dell a few years ago for free when
| the original drive was giving problems. I have no idea who the
| manufacturer is.
|
| Thanks.
|
| Larry
|
|
|
|
| "David H. Lipman" wrote in message
| ...
| Go to the hard disk manufacturer's web site and download their
| diagnostic software
| respective to your hard disk. After the test, you will know if the
| hard disk is bad or
| not..
|
| Quantum/Maxtor - PowerMax
| http://www.maxtor.com/en/support/downloads/powermax.htm
|
| Western Digital - Data LifeGuard Tools (DLGDiag)
| http://support.wdc.com/download/
|
| Hitachi/IBM - Drive Fitness Test (DFT)
| http://www.hgst.com/hdd/support/download.htm
|
| Seagate - SeaTools
| http://www.seagate.com/support/seatools/
|
| Fujitsu - Diagnostic Tool
| http://www.fcpa.com/download/hard-drives/
|
| Samsung - Disk manager
| http://www.samsung.com/Products/Hard...ies/shdiag.htm
|
|
|
| --
| Dave
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| "Larry" wrote in message
| ...
|
|
| This morning when I started my Windows 98 Dell Dimension, it began
| something I hadn't seen
| before, a surface scan, a very slow process that took 30 to 40
| minutes, then it told me it
| had found one bad cluster (out of the many thousands of clusters on
| the C drive) that was
| bad, and so it was moving the data on the cluster to another spot, and
| isolating the
| cluster.
|
| Then the process continued. At the end it said:
|
| ----------------
|
| At least one area of Drive C has sustained physical damage. Although
| such damage might be
| caused by an isolated incident such as a power faiure, it is often a
| sign of impending
| hardware failure.
|
| Back up your files as soon as posible.
|
| You should run scan disk daily for a while. If more physical errors
| occur, have this drive
| checked by a computer hardware technician.
|
| ------------------
|
| On one hand it's talking about impending death of the hard drive, then
| it says, well, if
| there are more problems, have it checked out. Which makes it sound
| not imminently
| dangerous.
|
| How likely is an imminent death of the hard drive? Is this a sign
| that I must get a new
| computer immediate? Or could I just get a new hard drive?
|
| A question on backups. I have my own files and various other things
| backed on zip disk.
| But my OE 6 e-mail is way too large to back up, it's about 750 MB.
| And my installation
| files in Program Files (all the files downloaded from Web with which I
| have installed
| programs) is 172 MB. Short of getting a new computer, what kind of
| medium is the way to
| back it up?
|
| Thanks for any assistance.
|
| Larry
|
|
|
|
|

Yes.

--
Dave




"Larry" wrote in message ...
|
|
| Good advice. Thanks.
|
| So, even after hard drives die, people don't necessary get new
| computers, right? They can just get the drive replaced.
|
| Larry

I think the reason I assumed that the end of a hard drive was the end of
a computer is that people buy new computers so often, sometimes when
they don't even seem to need them.


"Larry" wrote in message
...


Good advice. Thanks.

So, even after hard drives die, people don't necessary get new
computers, right? They can just get the drive replaced.

Larry


=====================================
"Hugh Candlin" wrote in message
...


The heads barely skim the surface of a hard drive.
Hitting something the size of a human hair
would be akin to you driving into a redwood tree
at a very high rate of speed.

Any bump or power loss can kill a hard drive instantly.
I have lost hard drives simply because of a power failure.

A hard drive WILL die eventually, usually with NO warning.
You are one of the lucky ones. You have been warned.

WHEN your hard drive goes kaput, what do you intend to do
with all of the information on those zip disks?

The answer is, nothing, until you go buy a replacement hard drive.
So, go do it today, NOW, before you lose everything.
That will solve the issue of what to do about your emails.

Just use the software that comes with the new hard drive
to create a mirror image of your current drive,
partitions and all, on the new drive.



"Larry" wrote in message
...


This morning when I started my Windows 98 Dell Dimension, it began
something
I hadn't seen before, a surface scan, a very slow process that took
30
to 40
minutes, then it told me it had found one bad cluster (out of the
many
thousands of clusters on the C drive) that was bad, and so it was
moving the
data on the cluster to another spot, and isolating the cluster.

Then the process continued. At the end it said:

----------------

At least one area of Drive C has sustained physical damage.
Although
such
damage might be caused by an isolated incident such as a power
faiure,
it is
often a sign of impending hardware failure.

Back up your files as soon as posible.

You should run scan disk daily for a while. If more physical errors
occur,
have this drive checked by a computer hardware technician.

------------------

On one hand it's talking about impending death of the hard drive,
then
it
says, well, if there are more problems, have it checked out. Which
makes it
sound not imminently dangerous.

How likely is an imminent death of the hard drive? Is this a sign
that I
must get a new computer immediate? Or could I just get a new hard
drive?

A question on backups. I have my own files and various other things
backed
on zip disk. But my OE 6 e-mail is way too large to back up, it's
about 750
MB. And my installation files in Program Files (all the files
downloaded
from Web with which I have installed programs) is 172 MB. Short of
getting
a new computer, what kind of medium is the way to back it up?

Thanks for any assistance.

Larry

"Larry" wrote in message
...


Good advice. Thanks.

So, even after hard drives die, people don't necessary get new
computers, right?

I have never considered the loss of a hard drive
to be a valid reason to buy a new computer.

They can just get the drive replaced.

That is one way, or they can do it themselves.

The retail box versions usually come with a pictorial
foldout with step by step instructions
on what-to-do and how-to-do-it.