Windows 10 Reservation made.......

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Well, that didn't work.  Even after CHKDSK found and supposedly repaired 38 bad sectors, it still runs into trouble with a Windows backup.  Keeps throwing an error indicating a problem with either the source or destination.  Oh well.  The drive is still functional and I have a new laptop.  I just need to get all my "stuff" transferred before it goes out completely.
 
When CHKDSK "repairs" a bad sector, it just takes the bad data and writes it to another, good, sector.  Spinrite reads over and over again until it recovers all the data without errors, if at all possible, before rewriting it.  It doesn't give up until it succeeds.  So, if you have important data to recover from those bad sectors, Spinrite is the only program I know of that could do it.  It has recovered many unbootable drives that CHKDSK had no possibility of fixing.

For you, it comes down to how badly you want to get an image backup vs. reinstalling Windows and restoring all your data and reinstalling all your programs.
 
Molaker said:
Well, that didn't work.  Even after CHKDSK found and supposedly repaired 38 bad sectors, it still runs into trouble with a Windows backup.  Keeps throwing an error indicating a problem with either the source or destination.  Oh well.  The drive is still functional and I have a new laptop.  I just need to get all my "stuff" transferred before it goes out completely.
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Unless you can't to a re-install or you want to spend the $89 for Spinrite you best option is to copy all of your important documents (usually in your 'documents' folder) to an external disk if you can.  If you're using the backup built into windows perhaps you could try a different backup program?  I use clonezilla and Todo backup.  Clonezilla is not as used friendly so I would recommend Todo for you.  It's free from www.majorgeeks.com.  Geeks also has drive rescue utilities, many of which are much less expensive than spinrite.  Majorgeeks is the only place I download software from because they are the only ones I trust.

Ned, chkdsk also flags the sectors as unusuable and removes them from the FAT so they won't be written to again.
 
Ned, chkdsk also flags the sectors as unusuable and removes them from the FAT so they won't be written to again.
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Yes, it does, but it doesn't recover the data, which was my point.  Very few drives are formatted with the FAT file system, nearly all Windows systems use NTFS and most *nix systems use one of the EXT formats.  About the only drives formatted with FAT are flash drives, and they have their own set of problems :)
 
You may have misunderstood.  It is the physical mapping layer of the drive controlled and maintained by the microcontroller and software imbedded in the drive.  It has nothing to do with higher level formatting.  Not FAT or FAT32 formatting.  It's lower level than even low level formatting.  In simple terms it is a table of good, bad, & locked sectors by (drive level) physical addresses.

I'm not going to spend $89 to test it out.  I could buy 2 new drives for less. 
 
You're the one that said FAT.  I understand how the low level firmware works in the drives to relocate bad sectors, but that's not the same as a FAT file system.  CHKDSK has no access to that function, it's all done by the firmware in the drive invisibly.  Spinrite takes advantage of that in one of its modes to force the drive to relocate marginal sectors.  But if that fails, it has further modes to attempt to recover otherwise lost data from error sectors.  It's not a question of cost, it's a matter of recovering otherwise lost valuable data.  Being able to make an unbootable drive bootable again long enough to recover the data is only one of Spinrite's many advantages.
 
I work in the IT industry and have yet to see an upgrade go well with a Microsoft OS. I have always backed up my data then do a completely fresh installation. In an upgrade you often see incompatibilities and left over pieces of software causing issues. I also wait at least 6 months after a release to see what issues come up as well as fixes that get implemented.

Just my 2 cents
 
I work in the IT industry and have yet to see an upgrade go well with a Microsoft OS. I have always backed up my data then do a completely fresh installation.
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Ray, that's always been my policy as well, but I may just give this update a try and see how it goes.  I have daily image backups so I can always retreat if it goes off the rails :)  The upgrade from 8 to 8.1 did go without any problems, but that wasn't a major change.  Since the free upgrade offer is for a year, it won't cost anything to wait for several months, but with the widespread preview, I don't expect major problems with the general release.
 
So now we're back to the sad fact that in order to get the ISO image that allows you to do a clean install you either have to pay $119 for it (latest announced price) or wait for MS to make it available for free to people who have upgraded.  MS does say they are working on it.  But this seems to change every couple of days so who knows if and when?

I've installed a couple dozen different builds of W10 and have never had one Bork.  But I started with a clean install so it's a bit different. 

Be sure to do a full disk backup before you start.  Again, I recommend Todo Backup (Free) as the easiest to use and most reliable tool.  Also be sure to burn a Todo boot  to a CD or USB drive as well.

 
I did find a procedure for making an ISO from the downloaded update files and posted the link in another message earlier today.  Not as simple as just downloading an ISO file, but not too difficult for anyone with some computer skills.

I've had the Windows 10 preview running in a virtual machine (VirtualBox) since the original release and have done all the updates to that VM with no problems.  Amen to having a current full backup before starting.  Easus ToDo is good, as mentioned, as is Macrium Reflect, also free.
 
I have stacks of 160GB disks laying around (from a disassembled Cisco project) and swappable drive bays so I just swapped in a new boot drive.  On that hardware I use a separate disk for each OS.

I've had a busy day messing with a Cisco VOIP call manager so the information I had was ancient, from yesterday!  I'll find the link! 
 
Molaker said:
Well, that didn't work.  Even after CHKDSK found and supposedly repaired 38 bad sectors, it still runs into trouble with a Windows backup.  Keeps throwing an error indicating a problem with either the source or destination.  Oh well.  The drive is still functional and I have a new laptop.  I just need to get all my "stuff" transferred before it goes out completely.
Click to expand...
Managed to make an image, so I went HD shopping.  Found an exact replacement (750 GB Toshiba) for $49.  For that price I'll give this a shot.....Well, the drive arrived and the image sucked in and looks like all is well....and, the Windows 10 upgrade flag still flying.  So, maybe I'm still good to go when the upgrade hits the streets.
 
Good job, Tom.  Sounds like you're all set.  Hopefully you didn't lose anything important in those bad sectors.
 
Well today is the last day to cancel my reservation for the Windows 10 upgrade.  My biggest concern is the forced automatic updates.  This has many in the IT world ticked off for a variety of reasons. 

What do the wizards here on the forum say about this?
 
I thought about updating my Windows 7 machine that I rarely use since I do most of my computing with a Chromebook until I read the agreement. It is scary:

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/microsoft-services-agreement
 
Marty, I would cancel the reservation so the upgrade doesn't get downloaded automatically.  You can always get it later through Windows Update and install it at your convenience.  Personally, I'm going to wait a few weeks to see what the early adopters say, but my tests so far in a virtual machine have been quite positive.  I'll probably upgrade next month, or shortly after we get home in Sept.
 
As I understood it, your machine will NOT be updated automatically like the normal updates (fixes) from Microsoft. It would be MUCH too dangerous to do it automatically as most people would like to back up their stuff first!!! You will be advised that your copy of the update is available and downloaded, ready to install. You may then install it as you would any change of O/S or copy it to a CD, DVD for later use.

This info can be found by clicking the little white icon in the tray, point #2.

Like SeilerBird, I am not sure I want to update because of that agreement, it seems more and more of MY stuff will be only available through web access and they claim they can deny access. My experience with blocking of my email access and recovering passwords on the email servers with them has been VERY problematic in the last several years. (MY ISP had contracted out its email services to HotMail and they have blocked me at least 3 times so far for so-called 'suspicious' activities. I was never able to determine what "suspicious activity" I was engaged in though, as you can't talk to anyone or even send them an email. One email address was lost completely (unrecoverable) using their methods.)
 
I believe if you have made the reservation, the upgrade will be downloaded, but not installed.  If you cancel the reservation, then you won't be subjected to a multi-GB download.
 
As  I understand it they are to send you an E-Mail when it's your turn to download..

From everything I've read.. I am going to upgrade.

Just now the only upgrades I'm refusing are from HP not Microsoft.. Every time I update my Wi-Fi/BT drivers on my HP they quit working,, So I disabled that one and .. JOY was mine.

Oh and there is a sneaky little way to disable ALL upgrades if Microsoft did what I think they did.

On the TV Shows they yammer about "The Dark Net" (no such thing exists) where you need to know the IP address (The "Dark net" is just the internet sans DNS. technically this laptop is on the "Dark Net" TV show wise since it's not accessable by name via a Domain Name Server).

IF Microsoft addresses the Update server as something like update dot microsoft dot com (That way if the IP ever changes they just update the DNS servers not each and every computer in the world) you can send that URL to 127.0.0.1 and no updates will ever be found (in fact it will go 404 on the request).

But if they address it a 1 dot 2 dot 3 dot 4 or some other IP address.. that won't work.

 
I have no intentions of allowing a Win 10 upgrade on any machine I own or maintain for at least 6 months to let the early adopters get the initial bugs out. And even then not unless an acceptable solution has been found for the uncontrolled update downloads.
 
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