Reformatting HD - Run Scandisk first?

[Muse]

I'm going to reformat an 8.4 GB HD. Should I run scandisk on it first or will a Format from a Windows 95 boot floppy effectively catch any bad sectors and mark them? Thanks for any info.

 

[owensdj]

Muse, I'd run the HD manufacturer's diagnostic utility on that drive before you reformat it.

 

[LANMAN]

Windows will run scandisk before it installed the OS anyway. Its up to you to let it run or abort it. Otherwise you could follow the advise of owensdj which sounds to me like the better choice.

--LANMAN

 

[Muse]

Originally posted by: owensdj
Muse, I'd run the HD manufacturer's diagnostic utility on that drive before you reformat it.

I did a Google search (on IBM Deskstar 8.4 diagnostic utility) and came up with a utility that tests IBM drives:

Drive Fitness Test (version 1.53) - 1848 KB
The Drive Fitness Test (DFT) provides a quick and reliable method to test IBM SCSI and IDE hard disk drives. The Drive Fitness Test only performs read tests and does not overwrite customer data.
Currently, the Drive Fitness Test does not support:

IBM Microdrives
Travelstar E drives
IBM drives built before November 1995

The filename is dft32-v153.exe but it's not directly from IBM. The site URL is http://www.braintrust.gr/products/IBMstorage/support/welcome.htm accessible here
I'm downloading it (it's a very slow download even on my DSL system, at least right now, and I suppose I'll run it from the Windows 95 that's on the drive right now. It's a different machine from the one I'm using and I'm going to sneaker-net the file over with a zipdisk.

 

[owensdj]

Muse, if it's an IBM drive, all you have to do is go to IBM's site and get the latest Drive Fitness Test software. When you get Drive Fitness Test, it'll make a diagnostic boot floppy for you that you can use to test that drive.

 

[HermitGuy]

It's probably never a bad idea to run scan disk first or as owensdj says, run the manufacturer's diagnostic utility. Although the reformat might catch any bad sectors, caution with computer hardware is not a bad thing.

 

[Muse]

Originally posted by: HermitGuy
It's probably never a bad idea to run scan disk first or as owensdj says, run the manufacturer's diagnostic utility. Although the reformat might catch any bad sectors, caution with computer hardware is not a bad thing.

I found a newer version of the Drive Fitness Test for IBM drives at the IBM website: dft32-v301.exe. The support document is a 32 page PDF! Going to have some fun...