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From: greg@irl.ise.ufl.edu (Greg O'Rear)
Newsgroups: comp.os.msdos.misc
Subject: Re: IDE's Help Wanted
Message-ID: <1991May20.205159.28936@eng.ufl.edu>
Date: 20 May 91 20:51:59 GMT
References: <1991May20.151843.11705@vaxa.strath.ac.uk>
Sender: news@eng.ufl.edu
Reply-To: greg@irl.ise.ufl.edu (Greg O'Rear)
Organization: Industrial Research Lab - Univ. of Florida
Lines: 24

In article <1991May20.151843.11705@vaxa.strath.ac.uk> cnav11@vaxa.strath.ac.uk writes:
>Recently I bought a 386 25MHz IBM compatible.After a few weeks
>the computer wouldn't start up and kept giving very "strange"
>messages....
>
>Does anyone have any more information on IDE's and was the dealer
>correct in telling me to avoid using utility programs.?

If you low-level format an IDE drive, chances are the drive will be rendered
useless.  One reason is because the low-level format process destroys the
bad block list, in effect.  After you use the disk for a while, you are bound
to run into an unmarked bad block.  I had this problem.  Solution: replace
the disk, or find a low-level format program designed to work with the drive.

As for utility programs, a call to Norton Utilities Tech Support reveals that
programs like Speed Disk work fine with IDE drives.  The drive takes care of
translating the disk locations, not DOS.

This info is admittedly sketchy.  Perhaps someone with more knowledge can
add to/correct the above.
--
Greg O'Rear
Industrial and Systems Engineering Department, University of Florida
Address: O'Rear@ise.ufl.edu