Bad Disk Sectors

Hi,

I have some bad hard disk sectors.
I would like to try and repair them, but I can't access Vista.

Is there a utility that I can run from a flopppy that will repair the HD?

Thanks

Ps I can access via a Linux live pendrive

 

No. Bad sectors would be physical damage.

You can hide them from use, but chances are there will be more in the future. HDDs are inexpensive these days; cut your losses and get a new one.

 

There is only one.

I am monitoring the situation.

So far, they are not increasing.

 

What brand is your hard drive? Most major manufacturers of hard drives offer free tools for their drives. Seagate has Seatools, Western Digital has a suite of tools, and so on . . . and most also offer a bootable ISO image you can use. Often these tools can give you an idea of how bad your drive is becoming.

Check Disk itself should find bad sectors and flag them as such, so no data will be stored on them. There is no way to repair bad sectors that I am aware of, and as Adrynalyne said it's a sign your drive could be on the verge of failure. You said you are keeping track of the issue which is good . . . if no more pop up in a short period of time you may be ok for a while. I'd still consider investing in a new drive to run the OS from, and maybe use the old one for non-critical file storage till it finally fails.

I also suggest you create a back-up image of your drive in the event the drive does suddenly quit.

 

The HD is a Western Digital drive.

Remeber, I can't boot into Vista. I am accessing the Internet through a Linux live pendrive

I suspect the system files, but can't run sfc using the Dell/Vista CD (windows protection problems, yes, I did try the offboot option).

Ps. No, I can't boot into safe mode