When you select a check from this menu, the program determines the number of hard disk drives installed in your computer. If you have more than one physical drive, then each time you select a test you see this prompt:

Check which drive (C/D)?

Press C or D and then Enter.

Seek Check

This test checks the ability of the read/write heads to locate any part of the hard disk. This action by a read/write head is called a seek. During this test, each head seeks each cylinder of the disk in sequence, starting from the center.

Select option 1 from the menu to start this test. The program displays the number of each cylinder it finds. For example, with a hard disk, the first message you see is:

Current cylinder is nnn

where nnn is the largest cylinder number used on the drive. The cylinder number counts down to 0. The seek is performed by the read/write heads simultaneously, so you see the cylinder numbers only once. If no errors occur, the menu reappears.

Write, Read Check

This check tests the ability of the hard disk drive to read and write data. The test writes to and reads from each sector of the innermost cylinder of the disk, using each head.

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Performing System Diagnostics C-27