Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!lll-winken!lll-lcc!ames!ucsd!sdcsvax!ucsdhub!hp-sdd!hplabs!hpda!hpcuhb!hpindda!hardin
From: hardin@hpindda.HP.COM (John Hardin)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: HD bad sectors
Message-ID: <4330038@hpindda.HP.COM>
Date: 17 Mar 88 22:01:48 GMT
References: <494@cunixc.columbia.edu>
Organization: HP Information Networks, Cupertino, CA
Lines: 21

>/ nwc@cunixc.columbia.edu (Nick Christopher) /  7:03 am  Mar 15, 1988 /
>
>I need some help with my hard disk, it has one bad sector which at present I
>have a file called BAD.SEC on top of so it is not too big a threat.  However I
>can not optimize (etc.) the disk with the bad sector.   
>
>Now, I know I could back everything up, low level format, fdisk, format and
>restore, but: a) that is VERY time consuming, b) I do not have a low level
>format for the ibm XT (any body got one they could send along?).
>
>Is there any way I can simply mark the sector as bad?  Are there any utilities
>that could help with that?

----------

I use the DT (Disc Test) utility that comes with Norton Utilities 4.0.
You can mark a cluster (4 sectors?) bad.  In your case, you could just
run it asking it to check files and move any data in danger (DT /F/M)
and it would move the cluster in BAD.SEC somewhere else and mark the
cluster as bad.  From then on you could forget about it.

John Hardin   hardin%hpindda@hplabs.hp.com