Topic: 98se question.

[Javora]

Quote:

It says to reboot, I do, and I get a bad sector error.  Can someone explain what a bad sector is?

A bad sector is usually a bad section (sector) on a hard drive.  Try doing a disk scan, for that matter try defragging the hard drive.  But do the (through) disk scan first.  It's starting to sound like your system has more than one issue here.
 

[Sirgod]

Quote:

Quote:

It says to reboot, I do, and I get a bad sector error.  Can someone explain what a bad sector is?

A bad sector is usually a bad section (sector) on a hard drive.  Try doing a disk scan, for that matter try defragging the hard drive.  But do the (through) disk scan first.  It's starting to sound like your system has more than one issue here.
   

I agree with javora here Iceman, It's pretty simple to do, Just boot into safe mode first, just to be on the safe side.

Stephen

[Sethan]

Quote:
So I update.  It says to reboot, I do, and I get a bad sector error.  Can someone explain what a bad sector is?  

Javora is correct - the hard drive is split up into sectors, and the computer has determined that one of those sectors is bad.

There is good news and bad news regarding this.  First the good news:

- There is a utility built into Win98 which can identify the bad sectors on the drive, mark them as bad so they are not used again, and move whatever data can be recovered to sections of the drive which are not bad.  This utility is called SCANDISK.  It can be started in several ways, either from the GUI or from a command prompt.  I find the DOS version from the command prompt to be more reliable.  Restart the machine in DOS mode, and type

SCANDISK C:

at a command prompt.  This will start scandisk.  When it asks if you want it to do a surface scan, tell it Yes.  It will mark any bad sectors on the drive with a 'B'.

Now for the bad news.  Bad sectors on a drive can be caused by several different things - and most of them are degenerative.  What that means is that the bad sectors will tend to spread, ruining more of your data (or making the OS not start), or even making the drive inaccessible.

If a scandisk shows bad sectors on the drive, it is time to back up your data and replace the hard drive.

 

[Maxillius]

Be careful when booting in DOS mode.  I've only done this once because the time I did it the thing wouldn't start Windows ever again, so I had to reinstall anyway.  

[Iceman]

I did what you said, Sethan. Restarted in DOS mode, ran scandisk C and when it finished its thing (didn't get to the surface scan part) it said the free space is being reported incorrectly, fix, don't fix.  I chose fix and then this message popped up.  

Not enough free conventional memory to perform surface scan.

You may need to remark (REM) some device drivers from your CONFIG.SYS fle.  Or, in your CONFIG.SYS you may need to load EMM386.EXE drive to load your other device drivers into upper Memory Blocks using DEVICEHIGH= statements.

This is kind of outta my league here, but it sounds almost like a bad ram problem.

[Malystryx_XC]

Hi Iceman, don't be scared... that's actually normal because you are booting to DOS without the proper device lines being loaded to setup HMS and XMS memory (ie. Himem.sys and EMM386.exe).

With Windows 98 you can still effectively do a scandisk from within the operating system.  Just boot back to windows and click "Start>Run" and type "scandisk" at the prompt and press <ENTER>.  It will bring up the graphical Scandisk utility and you can choose to check your drive from here.  Just make sure (as was noted above) that you are choosing the "thorough" method so that it does a bad sector scan on your hard drive.  It will alert you of any problems and give you the opportunity to fix them.

As was also previously mentioned, back up any important data first... just in case!  

[Iceman]

Already did that, though I have a few e-mails I should print first, just in case.

[Towelie]

Quote:
Be careful when booting in DOS mode.  I've only done this once because the time I did it the thing wouldn't start Windows ever again, so I had to reinstall anyway.    

  LOL, had that happen before under 95, there is a way to restore it without a re-install. After all, Windows was still running under DOS in those days

  I would recommend start shopping for a replacement disk drive and plan on re-installing Windoze. Once it goes beyond a certain point, it's like some sort of cascade failure takes place and everything slowly gets screwed up (IMHO the registry gets corrupted beyond repair). A clean install on a new disk drive would be most reliable.

  Of course you could always keep patching it together for a while. MAke sure there is actual bad sectors on the disk drive. There is one other fix for bad sectors if it's not physical.  I think it is called a low level format (not the kind of format that DOS or Windows can do), the kind of formatting normally only done at the factory. But it sometimes can restore bad sectors, however it is a little risky. It has to be done properly with the exact software for it or else it will make your drive unusable until a correct format is done.

  If it's just an old drive, chances are it's time to replace or do a low level format. I've restored a couple of old drives that way. I used to have to extend the life of them for cheaps wads. I extended an old Western Digital 80 megabyte drive (megabytes, not gigabytes) for them before that way. I kept that drive going until the bearings on it FINALLY wore out!

  End of rant, have fun. We'll be here.

[Javora]

Quote:

I would recommend start shopping for a replacement disk drive and plan on re-installing Windoze. Once it goes beyond a certain point, it's like some sort of cascade failure takes place and everything slowly gets screwed up (IMHO the registry gets corrupted beyond repair). A clean install on a new disk drive would be most reliable.

I agree, looking for a replacement hard drive would be the best option.  I've seen a 160GB hard drive go for $110 USD at Sams.  You can get smaller hard drives at other places even cheaper.
 

[Iceman]

See, I just bought this WD 120GB drive from Circuit City not 6 months ago.  How would I go about transferring critical data to my secondary HD? (20GB).  Is it possible to transfer the entire system? (OS?)

[Sirgod]

Quote:
See, I just bought this WD 120GB drive from Circuit City not 6 months ago.  How would I go about transferring critical data to my secondary HD? (20GB).  Is it possible to transfer the entire system? (OS?)  

that's a Sethan Or ToastyO question.

Oh hey Smart guys...

Stephen

[Javora]

Quote:
See, I just bought this WD 120GB drive from Circuit City not 6 months ago.  How would I go about transferring critical data to my secondary HD? (20GB).  Is it possible to transfer the entire system? (OS?)  

I suggest connecting the old hard drive and the new hard drive on to the same system.  Then you can access the files you like.  How ever I do not suggest transferring the operating system that way.  I don't even think it can be safely done.  I suggest you reformat your new hard drive and partition it the way you want it.  Load the operating system.  Then connect your old hard drive to the system and move the files over.  After you are done I suggest taking a sludge hammer to the old hard drive so no one can access your data.  Since your old hard drive has mechanical problems anyway it won't be any loss.

BTW Sirgod, how do you like my new avatar?    Not too, ummm... big I hope.  
 

[Sirgod]

Quote:

Quote:
See, I just bought this WD 120GB drive from Circuit City not 6 months ago.  How would I go about transferring critical data to my secondary HD? (20GB).  Is it possible to transfer the entire system? (OS?)  

I suggest connecting the old hard drive and the new hard drive on to the same system.  Then you can access the files you like.  How ever I do not suggest transferring the operating system that way.  I don't even think it can be safely done.  I suggest you reformat your new hard drive and partition it the way you want it.  Load the operating system.  Then connect your old hard drive to the system and move the files over.  After you are done I suggest taking a sludge hammer to the old hard drive so no one can access your data.  Since your old hard drive has mechanical problems anyway it won't be any loss.

BTW Sirgod, how do you like my new avatar?    Not too, ummm... big I hope.  
   

Well, How do I out this... Although the Car looks like something out of Speed Racer, It just doesn't seem to have the same bounce that other animations do.  

Stephen

[Sethan]

Quote:
See, I just bought this WD 120GB drive from Circuit City not 6 months ago.  How would I go about transferring critical data to my secondary HD? (20GB).  Is it possible to transfer the entire system? (OS?)  

It can be done via programs like Drive Image or Ghost - but honestly, you are better off reloading the OS from scratch on the new drive, and then copying the data files over from the old one.

[Towelie]

Quote:

Quote:
See, I just bought this WD 120GB drive from Circuit City not 6 months ago.  How would I go about transferring critical data to my secondary HD? (20GB).  Is it possible to transfer the entire system? (OS?)  

It can be done via programs like Drive Image or Ghost - but honestly, you are better off reloading the OS from scratch on the new drive, and then copying the data files over from the old one.  

  Agreed, simpler, cleaner, and get rid of that unwanted crap you never got around to uninstalling. I've done the backup and transfer methods. I prefer the clean slate approach. I learned what to backup and where (like internet favorites). After re-installing (and the endless driver updates), I just re-install as needed and restore the backup files associated (saved files, projects, games, ect.) to prevent clutter. I still have things backed up that I never restored because I haven't used it in a while. But all my work is still there.  

[Javora]

Quote:

Well, How do I out this... Although the Car looks like something out of Speed Racer, It just doesn't seem to have the same bounce that other animations do.  

Stephen  

       

Quote:

It can be done via programs like Drive Image or Ghost - but honestly, you are better off reloading the OS from scratch on the new drive, and then copying the data files over from the old one.

Yep, I agree that is the way to do it.  I would connect the old hard drive up only after the OS and all the drivers are installed and running ok.  Hope this helps.
 

[Malystryx_XC]

Quote:
See, I just bought this WD 120GB drive from Circuit City not 6 months ago.  How would I go about transferring critical data to my secondary HD? (20GB).  Is it possible to transfer the entire system? (OS?)  

Hey Iceman, yes it is definately possible to transfer the data (including the operating system) over to your second hard drive.  You can do it one of two ways.  The first is to boot the system to windows and pull up a DOS prompt from "Start>Programs>MS DOS Prompt".  Next type "cd\".  Make sure your secondary hard drive is empty and type "xcopy /H /I /C /K /E /Y *.* d:\" where "d" is the letter of your secondary hard drive.  This famous "hickey" command is an old trick Microsoft included in Win95/98 to transfer all data including the Operating System between hard drives and can only be run from within Windows.  This command will not work under true DOS mode.  Once the copy is done, shut off the system and make your secondary hard drive the master drive in the system.  Power the machine on and it should start booting from the new hard drive.

The second method to do the transfer is to go to Western Digital's website at:  Western Digital and download the DataLifeguard Tools.  When you download it, you can open the zip file and run the setup which will create a diskette image of the program.  You can then boot from these diskettes and in the WD Lifeguard menu, you will find a tool to create an image of one drive on to another.  It's a cool little program that Western Digital offers that allows you to move your Operating System between drives.  As above, once the copy is completed, shut your system down and make the secondary drive the master.  Then power on and the system should boot from the new hard drive.

Understand tho that with the problems you have been having you really are better off reinstalling windows from scratch to keep things clean.  But if you really must copy your OS over, the above information should help you.

BTW... if the Western Digital is starting to fail, DON'T throw it away.  It would still be covered under manufacturers warranty and they can replace it for you.  Western Digital is a great brand and they are very good about taking care of customer warranty claims.  You can find their warranty information at:  WD Warranty    

[Javora]

Malystryx makes some real good points and that point about xcopy is sheer genius.  If the drive is still under warranty definitely send it back.  That will give you an extra hard drive.  I did the same thing about two months before I dumped my old Dell for my new system.  That drive went bad just at the right time.  Now I use that drive solely for backups.  However if that drive is not under warranty then I still recommend destroying that hard drive to prevent anyone accessing any of your data.
 

[Sethan]

Quote:
Malystryx makes some real good points and that point about xcopy is sheer genius.    

Almost.  The new drive needs to be FDISKed and FORMATted first, and the primary partition set active, but other than that it might work.

[Iceman]

Well I did the scandisk surface scan through the GUI style, and it did find some bad sectors.  However, me being the idiot that I am never told my mother she couldn't actually do ANYTHING until it finished, and so I had to restart.  The second time it found no bad sectors.  So we'll see.  I've already backed up vital data to a memory stick and/or my second hard drive, so I should be good.  But I AM going to buy a new hard drive, probably a smaller one round 80GB and swap out the older 20GB.  If this continues it IS going back to WD though!  (It's still warrantied).  Thank you all so much for your wonderful help!  This is why I'm proud to be a Taldrenite.