Sorry if this is off topic - I don't use CDRom much any more since I moved to BST.

My HDD has been developing bad sectors recently which scandisk seems to sort out (I think it copies the data somewhere else and marks the bad sector so Windows doesn't use it again???) and last night it got so bad I can no loger boot Windows from it :(

Thing is - this is the second time this has happened - the first time I sent it back they returned a refurbished model which is now just over a year old so they won't replace it again :(
Thing is - is there any way to repair this myself or get the data off (dumbo didn't back it up when it started going wrong) ir have I lost this forever?

Sorry to be a thickie - I just don't get why this has happened to me again - nobody else I know has ever had bad sectors on their HDDs :(

When I opened my PC to check the connections - the HDD was so hot I couldn't take it out for over an hour - was this the cause of the problem or a symptom of it?

Thanks in advance for any help you might be able to give :)

You may be able to get the data off the HD by placing the HD, in a plastic bag, in the fridge for a few hours. When you bring the HD out of the fridge leave it in the plastic bag and connect upto your computer with the HD on the outside of your computer and sat on an ice pack. Connect another HD and use ghost to copy the bad HD to the good HD.

For gawd sake watch out for condensation and moisture!

Yeah... the above might look funny, but it WORKS.

Just make sure you pick up the right bag when you try to do a stir-fry :)

Excellent - thanks for the advice - I'll give it a go tonight (I'll warn the wife first so I don't end up eating it for dinner:))

I take it that means it's stuffed? I won't be able to salvage the drive itself, just the data (which would still be good)?

Freezing the drive might work. Put it in a paper bag instead of plastic and leave it in the bag when you connect it. A plastic bag runs more risk of condesnation dripping into the computer but paper will just absorb any condensation.

You are going to need to replace the drive anyway as you can not fix it your self. If it is running that hot it could be a serious mechanical problem. Remember that hard drives are spinning and moving parts eventually wear out. So buy your new drive and install the OS on it. Hook the old drive as slave and see if you can pull the important data off it that way.

Harry has a point but if the paper bag gets too wet it may cause a problem. Perhaps the best way would be to use both, the paper bag inside the plastic bag.

Nice one Duffy :D

Originally posted by duffy90210
Just make sure you pick up the right bag when you try to do a stir-fry :)

:laugh:

What if it's a Seagate, I've never tried stir fried barracuda.

I have the same problems with my hard disk and I found something at http://www.fix-hdd-bad-sectors.com Good luck I hope you will resolve your problem.