File Cluster Errors

[Wurny]

A customer of mine, is getting file cluster errors, while installing a fresh version of any windows...mostly win98...you can bypass it by skipping the scandisk which seems to cause the error most times...how do you get rid of a file cluster error and or what causes it, could it be a bad stick of ram?

[murphy1]

Hi wurny.!!
have you tried doing a scandisk with the
/t switch? it seems to me that cluster errors are h.d.d related.

[GOOF BALL]

IF YOU ARE GETTING FILE CLUSTER ERROR DURING SCANDISK, IT IS TELLIING YOU THE DRIVE IS GOING BAD, SO WHEN IT READS FROM THE DAMAGED AREA IT IS READING CORRUPTED DATA AND THEN GIVES MORE ERRORS
REPLACE THE DRIVE OR SCAN IT COMPLETELY IN DOS AND LET IT FIX THE ERRORS
IF DRIVE IS A MAXTOR THROW IT AWAY!!

[Wurny]

Guess I forgot to mention this happens when your just doing stuff in windows as well, not just during installation of windows and not during a scandisk.

[Paul Cunningham]

A bit drastic this, but if you do a format of the drive it will mark any bad clusters as unusable. This should solve the problem, unless the drives dying.

[Saki]

If the aboves does not work, try to fdisk the Hard Drive. After fdisk, format the hard drive completely and install only DOS. Do a virus scan and then a defrag. If they don't work, do a scandisk with surface scan from: "SCANDISK /s"

[Saki]

and oh yeah, if you have any hard utilities, use it, like Hard Drive Mechanics.

[Wurny]

Thanx for the help but think Im going to change my name to Smart Tech or something so that I get replys of stuff that I haven't already tried...not trying to sound rude but thanx guys...but it is not the harddrive at all...been checked over completely even with Microscope