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From: Bert Hyman on 4 Jun 2010 10:59
The external (USB connected) hard drive I use for backups apparently has
developed some bad spots. Formatting the drive starts producing System
Event Log entries at about 12% into the format, with the decription being
"The driver detected a controller error on \Device\Harddisk3\D."

If I allow the format to continue, will it eventually plow its way through
the bad area and mark those sectors as bad, or is this whole exercise a
waste of time?

--
Bert Hyman St. Paul, MN bert(a)iphouse.com
From: Chuck on 4 Jun 2010 13:25
Waste of time would by my feeling!
When a "modern" drive has enough errors, it runs out of reserved (by the
drive controller) spare storage, and starts showing errors to external
software and so forth.
I'd strongly suggest that you copy any important data, etc to another drive
as soon as possible. The errors usually spread, and make the drive
unreliable.

When the copying has been acomplished, see if you can obtain the mfrs
utilities for the drive. They may help you to make the salvage or replace
decision.
Given the current low cost of drives, I'd likely just replace it.

Since the drive is a USB drive, this is both a blessing and a curse.
Easier to replace, perhaps harder to dignose, due to the USB interface.

Today's price for a 1.5Tb drive are far less that the price I paid for my
first 40Meg drive.

"Bert Hyman" <bert(a)iphouse.com> wrote in message
news:Xns9D8D65A2F82E8VeebleFetzer(a)207.46.248.16...
> The external (USB connected) hard drive I use for backups apparently has
> developed some bad spots. Formatting the drive starts producing System
> Event Log entries at about 12% into the format, with the decription being
> "The driver detected a controller error on \Device\Harddisk3\D."
>
> If I allow the format to continue, will it eventually plow its way through
> the bad area and mark those sectors as bad, or is this whole exercise a
> waste of time?
>
> --
> Bert Hyman St. Paul, MN bert(a)iphouse.com


From: Bert Hyman on 4 Jun 2010 13:41
In news:exxg4rABLHA.3608(a)TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl "Chuck" <cdkuder(a)msn.com>
wrote:

> Given the current low cost of drives, I'd likely just replace it.

That's the conclusion I reached too; the new one's already on order from
NewEgg.

I have a spare drive that's just big enough to hold one full backup and
a few days of incremental backups that should hold me 'til the new one
arrives.

--
Bert Hyman St. Paul, MN bert(a)iphouse.com
From: Alias on 4 Jun 2010 13:51
Bert Hyman wrote:
> The external (USB connected) hard drive I use for backups apparently has
> developed some bad spots. Formatting the drive starts producing System
> Event Log entries at about 12% into the format, with the decription being
> "The driver detected a controller error on \Device\Harddisk3\D."
>
> If I allow the format to continue, will it eventually plow its way through
> the bad area and mark those sectors as bad, or is this whole exercise a
> waste of time?
>

If you download the tools from the hard drive manufacturer's web site
and do a long format, it may very well clear up the bad sectors and may
not. If you decide to do that, be prepared for it to take HOURS.

--
Alias
From: none on 4 Jun 2010 14:00
"Chuck" <cdkuder(a)msn.com> wrote in message
news:exxg4rABLHA.3608(a)TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
> Today's price for a 1.5Tb drive are far less that the price I paid for my
> first 40Meg drive.

Had to chuckle when I first read this. It's SOOO true! I remember in the
early 90's when SCSI became 'somewhat' affordable, buying a Micropolis 2217
1.7GB HDD for around $700 (yes, SEVEN HUNDRED dollars). It's still here,
being used as a bookend on shelves in the den !!! (LOL)


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