i am using windows xp... p4 with 3 ghz, and 256 mb ddr ram. nw my computer's performance is very slow.. i checked for virus..and disabled all startup programes, still i have the same problem.. finally i found one error from performance log that found a bad block on my hdd. if i format my hdd will it solve the problem.
hdd bad block
I'm not sure what has happened on your computer. Probably you can quote the exact error message. This would let us better understand the problem. 
EDIT: I looked up for more information at Google, and found something that might be relevant to the problem you are facing:
Here.
EDIT: I looked up for more information at Google, and found something that might be relevant to the problem you are facing:
Here.
Formatting the drive 'may' fix the problem..sort of. It won't fix the bad block, but the format 'should' remove it from the master file table which should prevent the pc from writing to that block again. Do a full format, not a quick format. A quick format does no error checking.
The biggest problem is that the drive may be in the process of failing, in which case, more bad blocks may pop up. Almost like hard drive cancer.
The biggest problem is that the drive may be in the process of failing, in which case, more bad blocks may pop up. Almost like hard drive cancer.
How old is the hard disk? If it is 3 years plus, it will be better to change the hard disk as the errors will increase. But bad blocks can appear in a relatively new hard disk due to high temperatures.
It is possible to mark the bad block without formatting. You could do a Disk Error Checkup.
To do this in Windows XP:
My Computer
Rt. Click on Hard Disk Drive Letter Properties Tools (tab) Error Checking (check now...).
Make sure you tick both "automatically fix errors" and "scan for and attempt recovery...". You may have to restart the computer to begin the scan.
This should mark the bad blocks. The information on those blocks may not be recovered, but it will make things better a bit. After the scan, open a command prompt and run a "chkdsk c:" and post the bytes in bad blocks. If you can give the value, I could advise on what to do further. Do mention how long the hard disk has been used.
It is possible to mark the bad block without formatting. You could do a Disk Error Checkup.
To do this in Windows XP:
My Computer
Rt. Click on Hard Disk Drive Letter Properties Tools (tab) Error Checking (check now...).
Make sure you tick both "automatically fix errors" and "scan for and attempt recovery...". You may have to restart the computer to begin the scan.
This should mark the bad blocks. The information on those blocks may not be recovered, but it will make things better a bit. After the scan, open a command prompt and run a "chkdsk c:" and post the bytes in bad blocks. If you can give the value, I could advise on what to do further. Do mention how long the hard disk has been used.
Backup the data and change the harddisk immediately. There is no permanent cure of Bad block(except changing the media). It's truely a cancer of hard disk.
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