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Defective Disk Problems and Errors FAQ's:
Defective Disk Solutions:
What do I do if my disk isn’t working?
If a message appears on your screen asking you if you would like to format your disk, select NO. Formatting a disk erases all of the files saved to that disk.
If a message appears on your screen telling you that your disk is formatted for a MAC try opening the disk on a computer that is running Windows 98 rather then Windows XP. If you need help locating one of these computers please ask the lab assistant for help.
If your disk isn’t working and you can’t access your files there could be a number of things going on. One could be that there is a corrupt file on the disk. You should bring your disk to a help desk assistant and they can run a ‘scan disk’ on it. ‘Scan disk’ is a program designed to fix errors that have occurred on disks. This procedure, however, is not always successful in recovering damaged information. Sometimes it can retrieve only parts of documents, and sometimes it can’t retrieve any information. This is why you should always save your files on your F: drive as well. Another reason why your disk might not be working is because, at times, disks can become track sensitive. This simply means that you will have to insert your disk in the computer where you have most recently been working and, more importantly, where you have most recently saved your work to that disk in order to open your files.
All of the lost disks are collected, labeled and stored at the help desk. If you’ve lost your disk, just ask a help desk assistant if they’ve found it. Also, if your name can be found on your disk, an e-mail will be sent to your St. Thomas account informing you that you’ve lost your disk. This is why it is always a good idea to label all of your disks with your name and your user name.
What should I do when I get a message asking me 'would you like to format your disk now"?
To format a disk means to erase the contents of the disk. If this message appears on your screen, always click NO or you will lose your work. Then go to the help desk with your disk and see if an assistant can open your disk on their computer. If not, they may have to do a scan disk on it to see if the corrupted parts of the disk can be fixed.
DO NOT click yes when the computer asks you if you want to format a disk. Formatting is always done before any information is stored onto the disk or if you want everything on the disk erased. Put the disk you want formatted into the A: drive, double click on My Computer, then right-click on the A: drive and select ‘format’. A box will appear on your screen, under ‘format type’ select ‘full’ and under ‘other options’ select ‘display summary when finished, now click start.
When the disk is done formatting it will display the results of the process, check beside ‘bad sectors’ and if it says anything other than 0 bytes then this disk is damaged and will not save to properly.
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