I was copying some brushes from my portable hdd to my Photoshop folder when I got a BSOD... I didn't get to take down the error ccode cause it restarted automatically. I've attached a minidump. Other symptoms have been CRC errors during copying of files from /:c drive to portable hdd, and freezing.

I'm 99.99% sure my harddrive is on its way out, but just need confirmation. Is there anything I can do to "isolate" all the bad sectors to avoid purchasing a new drive since I am completely broke?

Replies appreciated.

Korrupt

Attached Files

Mini102906-01.dmp (88.0 KB, 2 views)

Your minidump crashes with memory corruption and a bugcheck of 77.

I agree that your hard drive may be the culprit. However, it can also be caused by a boot sector virus. Use your antivirus software to see if you do have a boot sector virus. If that comes up clean, then I suggest you download and run your hard drive manufacturers drive diagnostic utilitiy. If you can`t find it, take a look at this thread HERE.

You should also check your page file as per this thread HERE.

More info on a bugcheck of 77 can be found HERE.

Regards Howard

Thank you, I've already ran diagnostic software etc, and it does show that I have a lot of bad sectors in my harddrive. How would I go about isolating these sectors?

Thanks again,

Korrupt

I`m not entirely sure that`s possible, or even desirable. If your hard drive has bad sectors popping up, then I feel it may be time to get a new one.

However, having said that, your hard drive manufacturers diagnostic utility should be able to do a complete low level format. This may or may not fix the bad sectors issue.

Regards Howard

I'm sorry, but could you explain what exactly a low level format is?

Korrupt

A low level format will restore your hard drive to how it was straight from the factory. It may be able to repair the bad sectors. A normal format, wouldn`t be able to do this properly.

Regards Howard