I alwyas use the tools for the vendor of the disk beause it always give you an error code that they require for an online RMA replacement. On Feb 28, 2011 7:26 AM, "Ben Scott" <mailvor...@gmail.com> wrote: > On Mon, Feb 28, 2011 at 5:38 AM, Andrew S. Baker <asbz...@gmail.com> wrote: >> These days, all I use is CHKDSK. Lots of parameters to work with. > > Isn't CHKDSK still basically just a read verification, even with /R? > That is, all it does is try to read from every block on the disk? > That counts for something, for sure, but it's limited. > > Not strictly addressing the OP's request, I've used badblocks and > smartctl under Linux to glean insight into disk behaviors. Booted > from CD, they work on a Windows-formatted disk. > > smartctl is an interface to the SMART stuff. The statistics > reporting is interesting, especially if you do a before-and-after > comparison with badblocks. You can also trigger one of several > different SMART self-tests (which appears to be all some > manufacturer-specific tools do). > > "badblocks -w" is a destructive write test. It writes a succession > of patterns (0xFF, 0xAA, 0x55, 0x00) in passes, filling the disk with > one pattern and reading it back before doing the next. This has > uncovered bad disks for me. It's also cleared bad blocks on a disk, > by allowing a relocation. "badblocks -n" is a non-destructive write > test. For each block, it reads the contents, writes and compares > patterns, then re-writes the original contents. Useful for proving a > disk already in use. Add "-v -s" to any badblocks test to get verbose > status info, i.e., progress indication. > > Whether any of this is worth it (disks are cheap) is left as an > exercise for the reader. > > I agree with the idea that it's prolly not the disks that are bad in > the OP's situation. > > -- Ben > > ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ > ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ > > --- > To manage subscriptions click here: http://lyris.sunbelt-software.com/read/my_forums/ > or send an email to listmana...@lyris.sunbeltsoftware.com > with the body: unsubscribe ntsysadmin >
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