3 bad blocks (TechTool surface scan)
Good afternoon.
Problems: computer slow / Mail gone south
I ran TechTool and it found:
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Surface Scan
The Surface Scan test reads data from every block on the drive to check the integrity of the drive surface.
3 Bad blocks found
Surface Scan <Failed! (-4)>
Tests Completed
This test checks your hard drive for bad blocks. Blocks are sections of your drive which hold data. It is not unusual for a drive block to eventually fail. All drives employ a mapping scheme which allows bad blocks to be "mapped out" so that they are no longer recognized by the file system. ATA drives should do this automatically unless their bad block table is full or the bad block is in a critical area of the drive.
If bad blocks are reported the only cure is to reinitialize the drive with the option to zero all data. First back up any data since this will erase the drive. Use Apple's Disk Utility or another disk formatter with all checking and mapping options enabled.
Surface Scan <Failed! (-4)>
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I have never reinitialized a boot drive, and I am not very confident when it comes to major service like this.
Is there a step-by-step resource out there that will help to get it done?
Thanks for your time!
PS: All other TechTool tests were OK.
PowerBook G4 1.67 mHz 15"-OTHER, Mac OS X (10.4.11)