Can Parted Magic Help?

Hi Everyone,

I have an HDD which I think is failing. Yesterday I was booting into Windows XP and it started restarting all the time on the XP load up screen. So i created a USB XP repair disk, and ran chkdsk /r and got this error:
"volume appears to contain one or more unrecoverable errors."
I would like to know that can Parted Magic 6.1 help in getting back the drive in working condition? I suspect that my HDD is failing, but that is not what i am looking for now. I just would like to know that if PMagic can help recover this problem? I don't wanna go through another install of XP. To make matters worse, my DVD Drive died 5-6 months ago. So i am seriously handicapped with a pen drive.

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I suspect that my HDD is failing, but that is not what i am looking for now.

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You should.
It is pointless to poke around with a failing disk.
- Create a live CD or bootable usbstick on another computer.
- Try to mount your failing disk. (If still possible)
- Copy over your data to e.g. a USB disk or network share
- replace the disk (and dvd drive)
- Install whatever OS you prefer

Well that is what i suspect. I am not sure of. So i would like to know that Parted Magic help in solving issues when chkdsk /r returns:
"volume appears to contain one or more unrecoverable errors."

No.
chdsk is the native program to understand and repair ntfs.
If it tells you, there are unrecoverable errors, then there is already enough evidence for a broken disk.

Aren't there testing tools in Parted Magic which can tell me if my HDD is failing. Last time i also used Parted Magic to solve chkdsk /r error. But that time i got some other error not this one.

There is smartctl to check the smart status of the disk (if it is enabled).

Also, one *could* use a application called "badblocks"
But I would only do that, if the data on that disk doesnt matter anyway.
So, not in your case, if I understand correctly.
badblocks will go over the disk multiple times, with read and/or write operations (configurable) and by doing so probably rather add defects to an already defective drive.

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Originally Posted by hell_storm2004

Aren't there testing tools in Parted Magic which can tell me if my HDD is failing.

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Hello

If you think your drive is dying due to mechanical failure, I'd recommend running smartctl (can be found on Parted Magic) and running the diagnosis utility provided by your hard disk manufacturer as a secondary confirmation. I'm not aware of any software that can truly fix mechanical failures, though. You might find that your hard disk has some warranty time left on if you check their website.

Either way, that full backup of any important data is a very good idea at this point.

Let us know how it goes.

Put your HDD in the freezer for 1 or 2 hours and try again