Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!garfield!davidh
From: davidh@garfield.cs.mun.ca (David Hansen)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.misc
Subject: Re: Weird disk problem. Help!!!
Message-ID: <1991Feb26.164831.3652@garfield.cs.mun.ca>
Date: 26 Feb 91 16:48:31 GMT
References: <51440007@hpindda.cup.hp.com>
Organization: CS Department, Memorial University of Newfoundland
Lines: 39


 owenc@hpindda.cup.hp.com (Owen Cheung) writes

 Try running SPINRITE, a commercially available do-it-all

 disk doctor which requires no knowledge.  About $100.

>I have been having problem with creating or replace large file on my harddisk.
>I ran Norton Utilities' disk doctor and everything was fine.  I have a 105Meg
>Conner IDE drive with about 43% full, so I have plenty of space.  However,
>when I tried to install new software, I always get a message, "Can't write
>to disk: abort, retry, or ignore" (I don't remember the exact wording, but
>it is the message that one would get when there is a hardware problem with
>the drive).   The disk doctor reported the disk was fine.  Another interesting
>thing is that I can create small files (i.e. saving 2 pages long text file).
>I even tried to replace over an existing file and still failed.  All indications
>seem to imply that it is a hardware problem but my disk utilities doesn't
>confirm that.  Any idea?  

>Could it be a bad block on the disk?  I was amazed that I didn't see any
>bad blocks when I went the disk doctor.  I don't know much about IDE drive,
>but most other harddisk that I know has many bad blocks when the disk is
>that large.

>My system is only about 3 month old, and I have still have warrenty on the
>hardware.  I just hate to bring the system in, and have my dealer tell me
>that the disk is fine when he runs disk doctor on it.

>My setup is the following:

>- ArkPro 33Mhz 64k cache 386
>- 4 Meg ram
>- Genoa 6400 SVGA board
>- Conner IDE 105Meg disk (I don't the brand of the disk controller)
>- MS-DOS 4.01 (w/ 1 105meg partition), Windows 3.0


>Quick reply is greatly appreciated because I am trying to set up my tax
>program to do my tax return.