Back setters in hard disk

i heard that while formatting a hard disk, especially in win xp, back setters are created in hard disk. please if some body know about it..post it here so that i can learn and share the same to my frnds...

[Moderator]

And what is a "back setter"?

[Moderator]

Kinda like Irish Setters...except they walk backwards...

[Moderator]

So when they're pointing at game they point with - - - their tails?

[Moderator]

Now yer catchin on....

i heard that while formatting a hard disk, especially in win xp, back setters are created in hard disk. please if some body know about it..post it here so that i can learn and share the same to my frnds...

Bad sectors, it sounds like. However, this thread starter (user name, odd intention to share the answer with his "frnds") makes me think "spam"... (Why has he got a post count of "0"?)

Anyhow, whatever the operating system, formatting doesn't "create" bad sectors, it just finds them and marks them as not useable.

[Moderator]

However, this thread starter (user name, odd intention to share the answer with his "frnds") makes me think "spam"... (Why has he got a post count of "0"?)

Yep, that's why we're having a little fun with it

hey guys thank you for spending time to tease me...i am just a beginner and so 0 posts...this term "back setters" came to me form a local service person. i took my pc to him coz i wanted an exchange and while checking my hdd he told me that my hdd will soon fail..reason: "due to frequent formatting of the hard disk a lot of back setters are created and this is harmful for the hdd"...honestly i dont know what he meant and that is why i posted here...and i am very thankful for such honest and caring replies . thank you guys...if some one can really help..please help me...

and name is "biodeals" because i am a bioinformatics graduate. thank you.

[Moderator]

Okay, cool. There's no such thing as "back setters". If you mean "bad sectors" as Salmon Trout suggests then the information you have is 100% incorrect.

i am just a beginner and so 0 posts...

But surely he would have had a post count of at least 1?

this term "back setters" came to me form a local service person.

Possibly you mis-heard him. It seemed previously that he may have been saying (or meaning to say) "bad sectors".

he told me that my hdd will soon fail..reason: "due to frequent formatting of the hard disk a lot of back setters are created and this is harmful for the hdd"

Now we are certain he meant "bad sectors", since they are detected (not "created") during formatting. Your hard disk may or may not be failing, but if it is failing, formatting did not cause it.

...honestly i dont know what he meant

When you format a hard disk, any bad sectors are detected and marked so they are not used. To find a few is normal. No hard disk is perfect. If the format process finds a large number of bad sectors this may be a sign of disk trouble, but it is not caused by the format.

Is your hard disk showing signs of trouble?

[Moderator]

NOTE: Off Topic Posts do not register in Forum post counts...

NOTE: Off Topic Posts do not register in Forum post counts...

Hint to Original Poster: this is the "off topic" section of the forum. "Off topic" means any subject which is not connected with the main purpose of the forum, which is computer help. Therefore you picked a wildly inappropriate section of ComputerHope in which to ask your question. A better section would have been "Computer Hardware".

thank you for the reply and that helped me a lot....and regarding the post..i am sorry i placed this in "off topic" and will be precise in future posts.now it is clear on this bad sectors. is there a way to correct them??? i am sure that i cannot get enough help from this local service person as they do some 6 months service course and starts a shop here....

bad sectors. is there a way to correct them???

No there is not. Every hard disk has a few bad sectors. No perfect disk platter has ever been made. To allow for this there is the format process which finds them and maps them out of use. After that the disk should be good for some years unless it is damaged by impact or becomes faulty. So you don't need to worry about them. If your disk is getting an increasing number of bad sectors it is probably reaching the end of its life.