How To Perform Scan for Disc Error in External HDD?

[QuietStorm]

There seems to be a sound coming from my old external 3.5inch HDD but I do not know if that is just the sound of the built-in fan. Just wanted to make sure everything's good. How do I go about checking the health of my external HDD? Please suggest the easiest method! :p A step-by-step guide will be most helpful. Advance thanks! :D

[currymee]

I was about to say - SOLVE IT the "Tom and Jerry" style - take a HAMMER to hit !!! :p :p :D

Before you do anything - BACK UP the HDD !!!!! - the usual lifespan for a HDD is about 8 years ....

[birdy]

Here you go ......

•Step 1
Open "My Computer" in Windows XP.

•Step 2
Find the icon for the hard drive you want to run ScanDisk on. You can run ScanDisk on the system's primary hard drive and also on any secondary hard drives or external hard drives. Right-click on the icon for the hard drive and select "Properties."

•Step 3
Choose the "Tools" tab from the hard drive properties window. The ScanDisk utility can be activated from the Error-checking box at the top of the Tools tab. To begin, click the "Check Now" button.

•Step 4
Note the two check boxes displayed. You will want to choose the "Automatically Fix File System Errors" box. This will perform a basic fast scan of the drive, which will take only a few minutes.

•Step 5
Put a check in the "Scan for and Attempt Recovery of Bad Sectors" box for a more thorough scan. With this checked, Windows XP will take 10 hours or longer to run ScanDisk depending on the size of your hard drive. Run this if you have noticed a problem with the hard drive's performance. For regular checks, run the basic check most of the time and the longer check only occasionally.

•Step 6
Hit the "Start" button to start ScanDisk.

•Step 7
Wait for Windows XP to finish running ScanDisk and view the report. ScanDisk will tell you what errors it found and fixed. Click the "Close" button when are finished viewing the report.

[currymee]

While I agree with Birdy to do a ScanDIsk and attemp Recovery, my last experience is to back-up first before you try esp with the repair mode ... my HDD ended up rojak after that, thank God, I back up prior to that ....

[mlkok]

Windows has a habit of glossing over bad sectors because they use and algorithm which is supposed to move data to another part of the hard drive is the sector the data is to be write to is bad.

This doesn't always happen and it's a real pain when system files are written into the bad sector.

I have tried using Crystal Disk Info from Crystal Mark. It's much more accurate in showing the health of the hard drive. Here's the link: http://crystalmark.info/?lang=en

Hope this helps.

[QuietStorm]

Birdy, if your method doesn't work, I'll go with Currymee's suggestion. Use hammer !! :p :p.

Thanks everyone for your suggestions. Actually I already have backed up all important documents and pictures much earlier. Never store all your important data in one HDD, that much I know. :D

Birdy, my pc runs on Vista. Same procedures apply?

Work, later. :D

[birdy]

Birdy, if your method doesn't work, I'll go with Currymee's suggestion. Use hammer !! :p :p.
Go ahead and make my day :D


Birdy, my pc runs on Vista. Same procedures apply?
I think should be the same....