On 10/31/07, Vince Teachout <teachv /AT/ taconic .D.OT net> wrote:
> I had some hard drive sectors go bad on me, and (seem to have)
> successfully recovered them with spinrite.
SpinRite rocks.
However, a hard drive has spare sectors built into it, and will
silently catch failing sectors and reallocate them to the spare space
until it runs out of space. You're probably facing a drive likely to
continue to fail, perhaps slowly, perhaps catastrophically.
Your first step should be to get a complete copy of everything
valuable, using a drive image program (I recommend partimage with
Knoppix; using a LiveCD prevents writes to the disk, which could cause
further problems.) (After you've got a copy, you might want to use the
SMART programs also available on the disk to get advanced diagnostic
info on the HDD). Step two, buy a new drive. HDDs are pretty
reasonably priced these days. I've had a number of good experiences
with www.newegg.com, even when I had to RMA parts I'd ordered
incorrectly. Step three, restore to the new disk: Reinstall is a lot
better than bringing a lot of questionable stuff with you, but it is a
pita as well.
As for recovering bad Windows OS files, someone else would have to
guide you on that one.
--
Ted Roche
Ted Roche & Associates, LLC
http://www.tedroche.com
©2007 Ted Roche |
