MFT (master file table) error after 15 months

[Student]

I had this new clone shop assembled computer for 15 months.

My C partition has windows 7 32 bit home premiums for just under one year.

I make frequent true image backups and do "experiment" with windows 7
and at times after mucking up my system I will restore the most recent image.

(I make a daily backup of my Thuderbird folder to a separate partition with
a batch file). The backups and images are on a second hard disk.

A few days ago when I tried to restore a one week old image I got a MFT error.

In the end I did succeed after formatting the partition.

DOES THIS MEAN MY HARD DISK IS BECOMING FLAKY?

If it is the case I would replace with another 320 gig western digital blue as
the cost is reasonable and I do not want waste more time with a flaky disk.

I am a health professional who enjoys tinkering with windows and helping family and
friends with the knowledge thus acquired.

 

[Ed Cryer]

I had this new clone shop assembled computer for 15 months.

My C partition has windows 7 32 bit home premiums for just under one year.

I make frequent true image backups and do "experiment" with windows 7
and at times after mucking up my system I will restore the most recent image.

(I make a daily backup of my Thuderbird folder to a separate partition with
a batch file). The backups and images are on a second hard disk.

A few days ago when I tried to restore a one week old image I got a MFT error.

In the end I did succeed after formatting the partition.

DOES THIS MEAN MY HARD DISK IS BECOMING FLAKY?

If it is the case I would replace with another 320 gig western digital blue as
the cost is reasonable and I do not want waste more time with a flaky disk.

I am a health professional who enjoys tinkering with windows and helping family and
friends with the knowledge thus acquired.

I should think a good end-to-end check with the disk-checker should give
you some indication. Tick all options, especially "attempt recovery of
bad sectors"; which will scan every single sector on the thing.

It's the system disk so Win7 will insist on having exclusive access to
it, after a reboot.

The report it produces will be your guide for any further action. Let us
know. I'd be glad to advise.

Ed

 

[Paul]

I had this new clone shop assembled computer for 15 months.

My C partition has windows 7 32 bit home premiums for just under one year.

I make frequent true image backups and do "experiment" with windows 7
and at times after mucking up my system I will restore the most recent image.

(I make a daily backup of my Thuderbird folder to a separate partition with
a batch file). The backups and images are on a second hard disk.

A few days ago when I tried to restore a one week old image I got a MFT error.

In the end I did succeed after formatting the partition.

DOES THIS MEAN MY HARD DISK IS BECOMING FLAKY?

If it is the case I would replace with another 320 gig western digital blue as
the cost is reasonable and I do not want waste more time with a flaky disk.

I am a health professional who enjoys tinkering with windows and helping family and
friends with the knowledge thus acquired.

A copy of HDTune, can display the SMART statistics. SMART can give you some
warning, that the disk isn't healthy.

http://www.hdtune.com/files/hdtune_255.exe

If the Pending Sector count is significant, it could mean the
drive has physical problems.

The disk manufacturers, also offer downloadable tools, which include disk
diagnostics. Those tools can be used to decide whether the drive should
be returned under warranty, or replaced before something bad happens.

One disk manufacturer, offers virtually no tools for download. And
that company, makes it easy to decide what brand of disks to buy.

Paul

 

[Student]

Paul

Hi Paul

I used HDtune and a detailed scan with no errors.

At this stage I am presuming that it was fluke!

Farouk

 

[Paul]

Hi Paul

I used HDtune and a detailed scan with no errors.

At this stage I am presuming that it was fluke!

Farouk

What do the SMART statistics show ?

Paul

 

[croy]

I had this new clone shop assembled computer for 15 months.

My C partition has windows 7 32 bit home premiums for just under one year.

I make frequent true image backups and do "experiment" with windows 7
and at times after mucking up my system I will restore the most recent image.

(I make a daily backup of my Thuderbird folder to a separate partition with
a batch file). The backups and images are on a second hard disk.

A few days ago when I tried to restore a one week old image I got a MFT error.

In the end I did succeed after formatting the partition.

DOES THIS MEAN MY HARD DISK IS BECOMING FLAKY?

If it is the case I would replace with another 320 gig western digital blue as
the cost is reasonable and I do not want waste more time with a flaky disk.

I am a health professional who enjoys tinkering with windows and helping family and
friends with the knowledge thus acquired.

Given that you like to tinker with Windows, and that you are
questioning the health of your hard drive, then the answer
is "SpinRite"! It's not free, but it's *very* good at
assessing the health of a questionable hard drive. And the
license doesn't expire, and allows the registered owner to
use it on *any* computer.

Look it up here: www.grc.com

 

[philo]

Hi Paul

I used HDtune and a detailed scan with no errors.

At this stage I am presuming that it was fluke!

Farouk

I'd also run a ram test

 

[Lewis]

If it is the case I would replace with another 320 gig western digital blue as
the cost is reasonable and I do not want waste more time with a flaky disk.

1) where are you going to find a hard drive that small?

2) Why would you bother to buy and install a hard drive that small?

 

[Char Jackson]

1) where are you going to find a hard drive that small?

Everywhere that sells drives. Newegg, for example, has a dozen and a
half to choose from. Amazon is about the same. B&M stores have less
selection overall, but the size class is well represented on store
shelves.

2) Why would you bother to buy and install a hard drive that small?

I can't answer for the OP, but I would think it's for lower purchase
cost. Personally, my last 16 drives have been 2TB models, but not
everyone wants that much storage.

 

[Ken Blake]

Everywhere that sells drives. Newegg, for example, has a dozen and a
half to choose from. Amazon is about the same. B&M stores have less
selection overall, but the size class is well represented on store
shelves.


I can't answer for the OP, but I would think it's for lower purchase
cost. Personally, my last 16 drives have been 2TB models, but not
everyone wants that much storage.

I just checked on Amazon.com. I didn't look at all the choices, but
the first 320GB drive was $45 and the first 1TB one was $49.

Saving $4 to get only 1/3 the size makes no sense to me, not even if
you think you don't need that much now; you never know what your
future needs might be. And the 1TB one is faster.

 

[Char Jackson]

I just checked on Amazon.com. I didn't look at all the choices, but
the first 320GB drive was $45 and the first 1TB one was $49.

Saving $4 to get only 1/3 the size makes no sense to me, not even if
you think you don't need that much now; you never know what your
future needs might be. And the 1TB one is faster.

I totally agree with you. I was just taking the extreme position where
it was crucial to save every dollar possible, which was an assumption
on my part.

 

[Dave]

I had this new clone shop assembled computer for 15 months.

My C partition has windows 7 32 bit home premiums for just under one
year.

I make frequent true image backups and do "experiment" with windows 7
and at times after mucking up my system I will restore the most recent
image.

(I make a daily backup of my Thuderbird folder to a separate partition
with
a batch file). The backups and images are on a second hard disk.

A few days ago when I tried to restore a one week old image I got a MFT
error.

In the end I did succeed after formatting the partition.

DOES THIS MEAN MY HARD DISK IS BECOMING FLAKY?

If it is the case I would replace with another 320 gig western digital
blue as
the cost is reasonable and I do not want waste more time with a flaky
disk.

I am a health professional who enjoys tinkering with windows and helping
family and
friends with the knowledge thus acquired.

WD has a diagnostic software you can use to check your drive. On my desktop
I can access it from the BIOS or from the software installed.
HTH,
Dave

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

I just checked on Amazon.com. I didn't look at all the choices, but
the first 320GB drive was $45 and the first 1TB one was $49.

Saving $4 to get only 1/3 the size makes no sense to me, not even if
you think you don't need that much now; you never know what your
future needs might be. And the 1TB one is faster.

Don't forget that energy (and hence data) has mass, so the 1TB drive
might be too heavy for Student's desk when it gets full. Would you pay
an extra $4 and take a chance of ruining your desk?

I have friends who would think I was serious when I wrote the above and
would follow up by trying to talk me out of believing in Relativity.
Honestly...

 

[Student]

I run Win 7 in a 100 gig partition and only use about 30 percent of it.
If you have ever had to check a drive for errors and don't have 2 days to
spare, you may appreciate the merits of using a smaller drive.

I am doing the same.

I was wondering that by using only 100 gig for win 7 would I be increasing wear and tear
on selected part of the hard disk?

Farouk

 

[Dave]

Don't forget that energy (and hence data) has mass, so the 1TB drive
might be too heavy for Student's desk when it gets full. Would you pay
an extra $4 and take a chance of ruining your desk?

We just got all new desks at my school so I think it would be ok as they
seem to be very strong. ;-)

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

We just got all new desks at my school so I think it would be ok as they
seem to be very strong. ;-)

Thanks - you made me laugh outloud.

 

[Student]

No, there is (hopefully!) no physical contact between the heads and
the platter surfaces. You're simply changing the magnetic orientation
of specific areas of the platters. There's no location-specific wear
involved.

That was a dummy question from me

I felt nervous enough that I replaced my disk with

Seagate Constellation ES (ST3500514NS) 500GB SATA 3GB/s 32MB Cache (OEM)

http://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=15_210_212&item_id=033045

The saleman told me it was "enterprise disk" I could do a cheaper disk.

I was not interested. In my last 3 significant computer problems (2 at work and one at home) they were
all hard disk related.

The 60 dollars extra I paid will hopefull save me a few hours in the future.

F

 

[John Aldred]

1) where are you going to find a hard drive that small?

No problem, purchased a 250 gig Seagate last week from a high street store.

2) Why would you bother to buy and install a hard drive that small?

I run Win 7 in a 100 gig partition and only use about 30 percent of it.
If you have ever had to check a drive for errors and don't have 2 days to
spare, you may appreciate the merits of using a smaller drive.

 

[Joe Morris]

Don't forget that energy (and hence data) has mass, so the 1TB drive
might be too heavy for Student's desk when it gets full. Would you pay
an extra $4 and take a chance of ruining your desk?

Easy enough to protect yourself from disk damage: just allocate a reasonable
fraction of the disk...something maybe 20-30% - to files that contain
nothing but binary zeros. The zeros, of course, have both the appearance
and function of consumer-grade flotation rings (aka "used innertubes") and
will thus counterbalance the significantly more weighty ones, which, of
course, have the appearance of an ingot of lead.

Don't allocate too many zeros, however; the disk might become too light and
float away.

....and you're right; there probably are people who claim to be IT experts
but would still believe this. Digital snipe hunt, anyone?

Joe (still feeling the effects of surgery last week...)

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

Easy enough to protect yourself from disk damage: just allocate a reasonable
fraction of the disk...something maybe 20-30% - to files that contain
nothing but binary zeros. The zeros, of course, have both the appearance
and function of consumer-grade flotation rings (aka "used innertubes") and
will thus counterbalance the significantly more weighty ones, which, of
course, have the appearance of an ingot of lead.

Don't allocate too many zeros, however; the disk might become too light and
float away.

...and you're right; there probably are people who claim to be IT experts
but would still believe this. Digital snipe hunt, anyone?

Joe (still feeling the effects of surgery last week...)

Well, it left your sense of humor intact