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allocation units recovery

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by topbudgetcomputers 1 view

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I have a 20.4 GB HDD that I got from an auction. I have used fdisk to partition it into 3 partitions. When I try to format it, I get the message 'trying to recover allocation units'. It then goes on forever trying to recover allocation units from 36,508, untill over 600,000. This usually takes about 6-7 hours by which time I get fed up and stop the process. I have tried partitioning different size drives and formatting them. I have also tried to set different drives as active. All to no avail.
Is there a utility or a way that I can overcome this problem? Would a low level format help in any way?
The disk is less than 6 months old, but the manufacturer does not accept responsibility since it was purchased from an auction.

5 replies

by parbo

A low level format seems to be the best solution here. I'm not sure what drive this is but usually the vendors have a utility on their site. My utility of choice is located here ftp://ftp.gateway.com/pub/hardware_support/drivers/win3.x_and_dos/mass_storage/hard_drives/7510009.exe
just run the executable and then run the gwscan util in dos (make sure to reboot in dos). From the menu select write zero's. This will take a while but not 6-7hrs. when done fdisk and format the drive. Good luck

by mm212

Well, you get what you pay for at auctions, but sometimes you don't! Unfortunately, that message tells you that you have physical errors on the hard drive. This means that, at best, not all of your hard drive space will be available to you. At worst(and unfortunately more likely), the hard drive is on its way out and you shouldn't rely on any data integrity since it will most likely totally fail before long. Wish I had better news for you, but that's why I'm willing to pay full price from a reputable dealer rather than try to pinch pennies on the price of parts.

You might try a low-level format as the above message suggests. It just might work, but I wouldn't count on it. (If it does, please give the points to the above poster and not me!)

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