Crashed again

[armandh]

A friend called and since I had put Ubuntu on a few old computers I asked him how they were going.

he said he suspected a bad HDD on one where the vista partition won't boot

hows the Ubuntu partition I ask. Just fine he says.

I tell him It may not be the HDD
it could be, but it could also be the OS

I wonder if he ever put an AV on the bad OS.

[cariboo]

This doesn't really belong in T&E, as it is neither a testimonial or an experience.

[Khakilang]

You can use DOS to do a low level format to pick out any bad sector on the hard disk if you have Window 98 that is. But I am not sure how Linux do it.

Just boot up the CD and go to DOS prompt with CD support. Type fdisk after the C:> prompt appear and do the partition. Than exit to C:> and type format/s. If there is a bad sector it will show out. I only do this when all else fails.

[Paqman]

You can use DOS to do a low level format to pick out any bad sector on the hard disk if you have Window 98 that is. But I am not sure how Linux do it.

Low level formats aren't a good idea on modern drives. Bad sectors should be handled by the drive itself seamlessly. A quick peek at the SMART data will show you how many bad sectors you have. It's normal to have a few.

[armandh]

but with the ubuntu partition working I asked him if he ever put an AV on the vista partition...he couldn't remember if it had one
I could not remember either. I set up the fresh vista and ubuntu
but he had it set aside as a ready spare for some time
I told him he would be lucky if it lasted a week without one
he said it lasted about a week