One of your disks needs to be checked for consistency

shank · 09 Nov 2011

Hi guys. Just got this error when I switched on my computer.

One of your disks needs to be checked for consistency. G:

The disk in question is one of the two partitions( F: and G: )of an old HD that I just slotted into my new system 3 days ago. It was working fine, and able to browse files on it fine until earlier. I let the dskchk run, and it found some errors and orphaned files etc.

Now when I'm in Windows, under My Computer, F: shows with details of space etc, and G: is there but doesn't show details. What do you suggest I do next?

My OS is in my new drive, so it isn't a problem. This old drive has been with me for 7 years, and I'm wondering if it could be failing. Also, I was shifting the CPU earlier, could it have been due to that?

EDIT: Just tried accessing G: in My Computer, and after the green bar filled up for a while, a message popped up saying "G: needs to be formatted before use. Do you want to format it now?" I clicked No, and then an error message popped up saying "G: is not accessible. Data Error: Cyclic Redundancy Check"

rraod · 09 Nov 2011

Your G: partition has gone bad. Try to use a file recovery program like Diskdigger or Recuva and recover as manu files as possible from G: partition. Once you get back most of the files, you can format the partition again.

shank · 10 Nov 2011

Ok thanks! I'll try doing that, but I do have backup of those files. What I'm wondering is, is there a point in keeping the hard drive, as it is quite old and is bound to give me problems again?

rraod · 10 Nov 2011

If the disk is continuously giving you disk errors, even after formatting, then you better discard it. No point in keeping the old one when you get bigger, faster and better drives for a good price now.

shank · 10 Nov 2011

Thanks! Did a format under Disk Management, unchecked Quick Format, went all the way to 100% and then it said format was unsuccessful. Did it with Quick Format checked, and it seemed to work.

Comp Cmndo · 10 Nov 2011

Test the hard drive with the manufacturer's diagnostics.
Hard Drive Diagnostics Tools and Utilities (Storage) - TACKtech Corp.

rraod · 10 Nov 2011

When you choose to run a regular format on a volume, files are removed from the volume that you are formatting and the hard disk is scanned for bad sectors. The scan for bad sectors is responsible for the majority of the time that it takes to format a volume.

If you choose the Quick format option, format removes files from the partition, but does not scan the disk for bad sectors. Only use this option if your hard disk has been previously formatted and you are sure that your hard disk is not damaged.

As your hardi disk has exhibited errors before, I suggest you open the disk properties, go to Tools tab, click on Check Now for error checking and in the opened dialog box put check marks on both boxes and press OK button. Now the check disk program will run in the background, run a surface scan on the disk, and attempt to recover any bad sectors and will mark them as bad when failed. This may take longtime.

While this process is going on you can continue to use the system. Once finished you can be sure that the errors on disk are either fixed or marked as such. You may use the disk now. If the surface disk test fails and gives out many errors then it is possible the disk is damaged beyond repair and you can send it to the bin.

shank · 13 Nov 2011

Sorry for the late reply. I was quite busy the last few days.

Shall try what you suggested and post back.

Just wondering if the scan would affect the F: partition?