error checking a new HD

[kenshin-dono]

i bought a new samsung external 1.5tb hd, story station. It was reviewed pretty good so figured id give it a shot.

This is using windows XP (hate vista and havent looked at 7 yet)

Anyway i did a full reformat on it over to NTSF, it was fat 32 for some reason

Afterwards, i figured i better scan the HD to make sure it isn't bad before i start filling it up with anime. I just used the windows error checking utility, the  one under properties>tools>error checking. a couple of questions

1) doesnt a full reformat (right clicking selecting format, not quick format) already do a thorough error checking? or no? I realized that after i clicked it lol, i think i may have wasted my time with the error checking

2) with the error checking i had 'scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors' tab checked because i thought that was the more thorough. But then i got to thinking, does this just auto fix errors? i wanted to know if there were any. If it completed this and just gave the message 'scan complete' does that mean the HD is ok?

3)follow up to the previous question, should i be satisfied with just this, or is there a better utitlity out there to make sure a HD is good?

[Takeshi]

Okay, I don't get much of this post. Was there an actual error? Please be more specific.

1) Yes, a full format should do a error check.

2) All of the settings should give you a report when it finishes whether it found one or not. Although there's one setting that disappears and that is the one you can do when you're restarting; the one you can't run while using your computer.

3) Not that I'm aware of. I've always been satisfied with it. Some people can probably give you a few suggestions.

[Slykester]

1. Yup
2. It only attempts to auto-fix bad/weak sectors not other problems. Yes, using chkdsk with /r does the same thing, /f fixes file-system related problems. Generally yes.
3. Yes, you can be satisfied with this.

[kenshin-dono]

lol yay wasted my time

it gave me no error message, or report that i saw it just said 'scan complete' pretty much, which is why i was a bit concerned, i wanted a report saying if there were any bad sectors

I was concerned it may have just 'fixed' any problems when what i just wanted to know if there were any problems before i started using it. (wanted to send it back and get another now rather than have to actually use the MFG warranty later and lose all my data)

Want some clarification ont his part since its important: so if it just said 'scan complete' i shouldn't worry that it just 'fixed' any problems by covering them up then? I was expecting an error log at the end but didn't get anything. i wanted to make sure i didn't just put a band aid on a bad sector

someone else sugested http://www.hdtune.com/ i may give that a quick run too. I may be being just paranoid but im gonna be fililng this 1.5 tb hd with all anime and really want to make sure its ok before i start piling stuff on

[Takeshi]

Well, I think your problem is Windows XP, I'm using Windows 7 and it gives a report after finishing. XP just says that it's complete.

[kenshin-dono]

ya probably, i just wanted to make sure that if there was an error it would have actually given me a message or something. Is anyone familiar with xp? I want to make sure it didn't just put a band aid on the problem itself without telling me. I would think it would give an error report if it did but i dont know

[ReyBrujo]

I would be satisfied with the full format. I believe you are a bit too paranoic ;-) Band aid on the problem? Which problem? Windows didn't report anything, did it? I bought two 1TB hard drives, formatted and started filling them. At the very worst, I will lose a few chapters, not the whole disk of data (in fact, if I lose the whole disk it would be because of a much more important problem). Just in case, I create DVD backups too, but that is because I am playing safe.

[kostya]

I don't know if it is still the case, but last I checked, when you did a format, it would automatically identify bad sectors and skip them. Yes, you do have bad sectors. Every drive ever made has bad sectors. It is cheaper to increase the capacity of the drive then it is to make sure that every sector is manufactured perfectly. There is no problem if you have bad sectors on a new drive. The problem is if the number of bad sectors increases or the good sectors are giving you data errors.

[Lupin]

1) doesnt a full reformat (right clicking selecting format, not quick format) already do a thorough error checking? or no? I realized that after i clicked it lol, i think i may have wasted my time with the error checking

It doesn't. It simply verifies that the drive is ok. In fact, full formatting erases all records of bad sectors (file system-wise) in the drive.

2) with the error checking i had 'scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors' tab checked because i thought that was the more thorough. But then i got to thinking, does this just auto fix errors? i wanted to know if there were any. If it completed this and just gave the message 'scan complete' does that mean the HD is ok?

Yes, it does. When you click on this option, it scans the entire disk as well automatically fix all sorts of errors. The "scan complete" means just what it said. It doesn't mean that the drive is ok, just the process is complete.

3)follow up to the previous question, should i be satisfied with just this, or is there a better utitlity out there to make sure a HD is good?

IBM/Hitachi has a good utility that thoroughly checks the integrity of a drive. It's free, and works on all kinds of drives. It doesn't fix errors unfortunately.

Contrary to what is posted here, Windows XP creates a log file with the results of the scan. It's hidden from normal view and get deleted automatically by the system.

EDIT: I'm not sure if the IBM/Hitachi tool works with external drives.

[Xiong Chiamiov]

Anyway i did a full reformat on it over to NTSF, it was fat 32 for some reason

FAT is, unfortunately, the only filesystem that can be trusted for use on all the major operating systems.  Most manufacturers deliver drives formatted in FAT so that users of both PCs and Macs can use them with minimal technical knowledge.  Just fyi.