Do you always run CHKDSK when you get a new harddrive?

[erwin1978]

So far this year I've had 3 harddisks get bad clusters. From my experience there's no recovering from it. Everytime I run chkdsk /r there's more bad clusters. Is it advisable to run the tool with every new harddrives?

 

[RebateMonger]

I haven't had THAT bad of luck with new drives, but a full surface scan of a new drive (chkdsk /r) is certainly a good idea. If not during the install, then shortly afterwards. Don't accept any bad sectors. Replace the drive if chkdsk finds any.

 

[erwin1978]

I had this Maxtor 60GB 5400 RPM drive for a year and then one day half of it is bad clustered. I lost a lot of files.

 

[Denithor]

...which is why we tell people to keep things backed up properly.

I'm pretty slack about it myself, but still manage to burn my photos & etc onto a DVD every month or so, just in case the worst happens. And that's on my main system with a pretty new WD6400AAKS in there. I'd be much more paranoid if I was running an older drive.

 

[Rabbits]

No not really, in response to topic title.

 

[erwin1978]

I'm looking to buy a new drive at Newegg. I see several OEMs. One particular is a Seagate with a 5 year warranty. I thought OEMs didn't come with warranty? Should I go OEM or Retail when it comes to harddrives? If that 5 year warranty is true then I may go with that even if its OEM.

 

[Zap]

I don't run CHKDSK or full-format a new drive. I just quick format it and off I go. Who has time these days to do that kind of stuff?

Regarding warranties, a few things...

1) Seagate's warranty will be reduced to 3 years starting next month on OEM drives.

2) "Retail" is always retail boxed. "OEM" can be just a bare drive with manufacturer warranty, or a bare drive intended for system builders that do NOT have an end-user manufacturer warranty. Typically an OEM drive from one of the major retailers such as Newegg have the end-user warranty. I would be a bit hesitant on an OEM drive from places that are known to sell overstocks, system pulls and grey market goods. The reason is that they may purchase excess HDDs from a big system builder who has too many. For instance, XYZ Computers orders 1k drives from manufacturer. To get better pricing, they request no end-user warranty. Typically the drives are still under warranty, but warranty is a reduced period (usually 1 year) and only XYZ Computers can return it for warranty service. The warranty period is tied to the serial number of the drive. So, XYZ Computer doesn't sell as many systems as projected and dumps the excess drives onto the grey/spot market.

 

[taltamir]

just do a FULL format instead of a QUICK format.

besides, a drive can have corrupt files due to os bugs, viruses, faulty ram, faulty cpu, faulty PSU, etc...

So just because you find those on a drive doesn't mean that the drive is bad. Do a full format, and then put your own data on it, and leave it spinning for a few days, then read the data to test it.