Harddisk Format

[C++ programmer]

Hi. Today I bought a used Hard disk. Now I want to format it completely and check for any bad sectors which HDD may have. How can i do this? Tell me the best way to do it.

I am Windows user. Hard disk is IDE (not SATA)..

[caperjack]

Hi. Today I bought a used Hard disk. Now I want to format it completely and check for any bad sectors which HDD may have. How can i do this? Tell me the best way to do it.

I am Windows user. Hard disk is IDE (not SATA)..

hi, it depends on what you have for a computer ,if you have a tower ,install the drive as a slave and ,check in mycomputer to make sure it sees the drive .close mycomputer ,go to start right click on mycomputer go manage ,then disk management and in there you can format it , then i would use a utility from the hard drive manufacturer site to check it for errors.
or you could install it in a usb external case and do the same

how to's by my friend google.com
http://www.google.ca/search?q=slave+a+ide+drive+&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

[C++ programmer]

if i format it using windows XP format utility and then check it for any bad sectors and error using error checking utility of XP. Will it provide me authentic results that whether the HDD has any problems or not. Any other ideas would be appreciated!

[caperjack]

yeah ,using chkdsk /f should fix any error and tell if its ok

[rubberman]

1. Purchase a USB docking station or enclosure for the drive.
2. Plug it into the system.
3. Go to the (assume you use Windows) disk manager tool and remove any old partitions.
4. Add a new NTFS partition.
5. Format the partition, selecting the "full" vs. "quick" option (or similar).
6. Scan the new file system for bad blocks - the tool will instruct you to reboot to do this since it is done before the system restarts and mounts the new file system.

[rubberman]

BTW, I hope this device was free (or close to), since IDE drives are REALLY old tech these days, and a docking station or enclosure will run you about $50 USD.

[jbennet]

if its windows just format it without clicking "quick format". The quick format doesnt check for bad sectors. The longer one does.

[gurukid22]

running in windows will not show a detailed report so you wont know its condition best way is to:

click START then RUN then TYPE
CHKDSK /f /r
Press Enter

[Marseline]

Scan for bad sectors using chkdsk G:/F G being the place where your drive is and it will be fixed remember scan via cmd mode