program to mount a HD with broken index (?)? - comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage

Message from discussion program to mount a HD with broken index (?)?

Arno Wagner

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More options May 18, 11:04 am

Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage

From: Arno Wagner <m...@privacy.net>

Date: 18 May 2008 15:04:03 GMT

Local: Sun, May 18 2008 11:04 am

Subject: Re: program to mount a HD with broken index (?)?

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Previously cpliu <spamfree...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> On May 15, 7:47 pm, Arno Wagner <m...@privacy.net> wrote:
>> Previously cpliu <spamfree...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>> > So this is a hardware problem and not a system problem? I can retreive
>> > the files but it takes a long time to compare. It would be nicer if I
>> > can mount it to desktop and compare folder sizes to decide which files
>> > I may not have backup copies.

>> I think this is a hardware problem, yes.

>> > This is a replacement drive. Gee they give you a refurbished drive
>> > that does not last even more than 3 months. What a crap. I will not
>> > buy any Seagate drive again. None of them survive more than 2 years.

>> They used to be good, just like IBM. However theri new "made in
>> china" drives are really bad, and that they let them get to
>> market is a strong reason not to buy Seagate again until their
>> is good reason to believe they got their act together again.

> This one is the 500GB Seagate (ST350064) made in Singapore. I decided
> to experiment to see what I can get from this drive. I formatted it
> with Vista and it took 7 hours. It probably found many bad sectors but
> it still showed 465GB of space. Does windows formatting tool screen
> out the bad sectors so data won't be written on the bad sectors?

I think it does on a long (slow) format. The problem is that
a large number of defects in a modern HDD is very likely not due
to surface defects, but some other problem, i.e. the defects are
not done with when they are mapped out, but new ones will
appear.

> It's
> probably not a safe HD to use anyway. What program can I find the
> condition of the HD so I can request for a warranty replacement? Under
> what condition will they allow replacement?

The easiest solution is to get an RMA number from the website. If the
procedure there requires a failed SMART status or other failed status,
sometimes it helps to claim the disk is not detected anymore (they
usually do not check the disk, just send you a replacement).

If you really have to kill the drive, any tool that writes data to it
in a loop should to, though some amount of random access helps. I did
this once by decompressing Linux kernel sources to a drive and then
deleting them again. Loop until drive fails. A disk wiper set to
maximum number of overwrites may also do the trick. This approach is
best done with a test system or left running when at
work/shool/whatever. Took 3 days to kill the drive permanently in my
case (old maxtor 200GB drive).

Arno

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