What is a Bad Sector?

[crantang]

I've been reading some posts about hard drives and people mention a lot about "bad sectors." What is a bad sector, what does it mean, and how do I determine if my hard drive has one? Also, if you have a bad sector, is it reversible?

I have an IBM 40gig Deskstar. It takes quite a while for my computer to load up. It sits at the Windows98 startup screen for at least 2-3 minutes. What does this mean? Is it because my HD is large? Thanks for your time!

Crantang

 

[socketman]

Not sure if your question is covered in the FAQ. But i would try there too.

First off, go to this site and look in the section for hard drives.
It explains very well what hard drives are all about. Sectors are a little hard to explain without pictures. Also, I do believe information from a bad sector can be re-written to a good sector. Then the computer makes sure the bad sector is never written on again

 

[crantang]

Thanks Socketman for the info. This site is awesome. There's information on anything you'd need to know; thanks again!