Scandisk shrinking disk space?

[chrisT]

I've added a slave drive(previously used) to an old computer. Problem is that every time I go to Defrag it, it tells me there's an error and I should run Scandisk. But when I run scan disk, 1/2 the disk takes a good 2 two hours to scan and then half my drive space is gone when it shouldn't be. It's almost as if while scanning it writes to the disk but whatever is on there is invisible.

But when I format it, I get all my space back.

It's standard Pentium 90, 32MB, running win95.

Should I just not Scan or Defrag it?

[Underclocked]

Suggest you download and run whatever diagnostic program is available from the disc maker. May tell you of unknown problems with the media, and can also sometimes correct unseen problems. Just about every disc maker has such a program for download.

[GB]

You might have bad sectors.
In windows I wouldn't suggest do surface scan, just standart w/'automatically fix errors' box unchecked.
Run scandisk in MS-DOS and you'll see if you have bad sectors.

[chrisT]

GB,

I've just run scandisk in DOS and while at the end it reports no problems, while its running the bottom half is all marked as 'bad clusters' ??

[GB]

You mean lots of "B"?
Then you have bad sectors.
Try to get utility from HD manufacturers website to check HD.
I would suggest you to get RMA# if it's still under warranty.