Harddrive Problems

[belash]

Ok, my ~5 year old IBM 30 GB 7200 IDE hard drive has become problematic. It began when Win 98 booted and I got a system.ini file not found. I re-installed win 98 after using the win 98 startup disc scandisk function and discovered there were several directory and file problems. After the re-install of win98, it initially loaded, but later froze up repeatedly at the flash screen. I did another scandisk, aditional problems with files and directories, and did a surface scan. The surface scan turned up several damaged clusters and I received a warning that the hardrive had physical damage to it.

My questions are:
1. Any solutions to my problem other than buying a new hardrive and attempting to transfer my important data to the new drive?

2. If you had to buy a new drive, any brand recommendations? I am looking for a drive that provides a good instructiong booklet, phone technical support, and the ability to move my data over from my HD with ease.

 

[dwalls32]

You could dl IBM's utility to write 0's to the whole drive, that may fix corruption problems. If it is hardware youhad better back up your stuff. I have a 75gig IBM drive and a 20gig WD. Both get a lot of use. I have had to send back my IBM drive for a trade once, but the WD is great. I will get another one probably later this year, maybe 120gig.

 

[altonb1]

make sure you backup all of your data and find a utility to low level format the drive. I'm not familiar with IBM's utility, but it sounds like it may be basically the same thing. I had a drive a few years ago that showed quite a few bad sectors, so I low-leveled the drive and tried it again. I ended up using that drive for another year before I replaced it for size reasons only. I probably still have that around here someplace, and I bet it still works, too, but something tells me taking the time to install it would be too much trouble...considering it is a 270MB drive. heh...

Western Digital makes good drives. Seagates are usually good, too. I have a 16GB Seagate and it is very quiet and never gives me any problems.

Then again, I heard very bad things about Quantum Bigfoot hard drives...AFTER I had already purchased mine, of course. I got it from an OnSale auction and after winning, realized I had bought a refurb at that. Almost 3 years later, still running strong, although it is the loudest drive I think i have ever had.

 

[tbalon]

Anothger Ibm HD bites the dust....I remember a little while ago hearing about how many of these Ibm drives were having trouble. Is your drive a "75 GXP" series? Those are the most notorius drives for having problems. They usually start making clicking sounds also. You might try contacting IBM and see if there is anything they might do for you, probably not since it is out of warranty. As far as new drives go, I have had good luck with Maxtor HDs or Quantum which was bought out recently by Maxtor. I would probably get a60 to 80 Gig, they seem to be a pretty good deal for the money. I would also keep an eye on the hot deals forum.... there is always something popping up there to save you some money. Most hard drives come with some type of software that alows you to copy the contents form your old drive to your new one prettyu easily. If you don't want to go with their software, and want to spend allittle money, I would highly recommend buyiing Powerquest's Partition Magic to take care of your hard drives..

 

[exp]

<< The surface scan turned up several damaged clusters >>

That's how it begins. Speaking from experience, attempting to repair bad sectors on your hard drive will only postpone the inevitable. Buy a new hard drive, it's not worth the hassle. Try Seagate or Western Digital. I've also heard Maxtor is also good but have no personal experience with them. Buy a fluid-bearings drive like the Seagate Barracuda IV if you want maximum reliability.