Hi I have P3 866Mhz System with a 40 gb Seagate HDD. The HDD has about 1 to 1.5 mb of bad sectors in all the 3 drives. It is causing the system to hang irregularly. This is the 3rd time that HDD has developed bad sectors in this particular system. I have a UPS and I shutdown properly unless it hangs can anybody tell me What is causing bad sectors and how to check it as soon as i buy? Is Win98 Scandisk the only way???? Plzz suggest....

hi, Most harddrive manufacturers have some sort of diagnostic software that can scan their own drive. It might not be the only software around. Check the manufacturer's website. Example, the company seagate which u have: http://www.seagate.com/support/index.html

Might be something with your system and/or congfiguration of your system that is causing it. I find it hard to believe that 3 hard drives can develop bad sectors at almost the same time. Yes as skycompc wrote, you can check the hard drive website and get the programs that will check and do a factory restore (ie remove bad sectors or remap bad sectors) If the hard drives continues to develop new bad sectors you will want to exchange it. If I were you I would back up everything now and if more bad sectors start showing up, buy a new computer.

I assume by 3 drives you mean your 40 gig is partitioned into 3 drives? I've noticed, especially with newer drives, that sometimes spots are marked as bad even though they're not. If the diagnostic software can retest the spots give it a try. It could also be that your drive is going bad. Check seagate's site to see if it's still under warranty.

Do you play loud music near the PC while the hard drive is being used ? I am wondering if the vibrations are causing the 'read head' to tap against the 'platter'. I don't know what you call the inners of a hard drive. I saw damaged sectors on an old hard drive and the damage got worse nearer th edge of the platter (as reported by scandisk)... I assumed the bearings were wearing causing the platter to wobble slightly and the 'read head' to strike the platter.