Is my hard drive dead (zeroing out data)?

I tried installing Snow Leopard to no avail (it was progressing, but it was at ~70 percent or so after like 8 hours, so obviously something is wrong). So I put the SL disk back in and decided to format the drive and zero out the data. It's saying "Writing zeros to disk. Estimated time: 4 days, 16 hrs" This is an extremely long time for a 160GB hard drive! I don't hear the hard drive seeking or writing or anything. The progress bar doesn't seem to be moving (although I wouldn't expect to see progress on a 4 day estimated time).
Does anyone know how to fix this, or am I going to have to end up taking this iMac in to get it's drive replaced?

Thanks for the reply.
I wasn't having any obvious problems with the hard drive before hand, except sometimes while downloading files and trying to play a movie off of the hard drive, the movie would lag. I don't know if that really means anything though.
I've already tried to partition the drive before. The partition went through, but it didn't seem to help the zero out data part.
Maybe this will help, from the installer log:
Looking for system packages
no system packages found
No or Invalid system receipts found on /Volumes/Macintosh HD
Attempting fallback using: /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/SystemMigration.framework/Resources/FallbackS ystemFiles.plist
Finding system files...
Writing system path cache.
Error writing cache to /Volumes/Macintosh HD/Caches/com.apple.FindSystemFiles.plist
Failed to enumerate /Volumes/Macintosh HD/Library/Caches, cannot prune (
"com.apple.userpictureCache"
Thanks for the help.

Similar Messages

  • Hard Drive problems / unable to Zero out Data etc.

    Hallo.
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    So I took the disk to my computer dealer and he gave me new one - the same WD Raptor ADFD 150 model. I installed it (in lower bay inside my G5) , initialized in Disk Utility and than I did run the Surface Scan test in Tech Tool Pro. I could see the number of block that were tested increase for a while but than it stopped for a few minutes (10 or more ) and after a while it reported that it found 39 bad sectors! Wow! Fresh new Hard Drive! So again I tried the whole process: to Zero Out this new disk in Disk Utility and Disk Utility freezed. But SoftRaid utility Zeroed this disk successfully - but than after this procedure TechToolPro reported that 1 bad sector was found... I need to say that the Surface Scan test in Tech Tool Pro never got finished (only once when I let it work for about 6 hours) as it reported about bad block(s) after a few minutes or it freezed after a few minutes...
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    Message was edited by: Diamond Dog

    Something to try:
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    Select your external HD on the left side of the Disk Utility window
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    If it is not GUID (assuming you have an Intel iMac), consider repartitioning your HD to GUID. The Windows partition scheme on many external HDs. FAT 32, often has problems accepting large data transfers from Mac-partitioned hard drives.

  • Zero Out Data on a SSD drive: Are my findings correct?

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    Retired Engineer, do you have any references?  What I have read says otherwise. 
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    http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9211519/Can_data_stored_on_an_SSD_be_secu red_
    http://arstechnica.com/security/2011/03/ask-ars-how-can-i-safely-erase-the-data- from-my-ssd-drive/
    http://static.usenix.org/events/fast11/tech/full_papers/Wei.pdf
    http://cseweb.ucsd.edu/users/swanson/papers/TR-cs2011-0963-Safe.pdf

  • How do I get finder to recognize my hard drive after pulling my hard drive out without eject...? Is my hard drive dead? I see it in disk utility... Can I get my info back?

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  • Disk Utility: Differences between "Zero Out Data" and "7-Pass Erase"?

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    <http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=232007>
    <http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=138559>
    <http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=118455>
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    iMac G5 20" 1.8GHz   Mac OS X (10.4.6)   1.25GB RAM, 160GB hard disk, SuperDrive

    HI, Bret.
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    My understanding is that the Surface Scan of Tech Tool Pro should identify bad sectors every time it is run unless the bad sectors have been locked out by the drive controller of the ATA drive itself. This is because Surface Scan checks the entire surface of the disk.
    What may have happened is that running "Zero Out Data" spared the bad blocks from a directory standpoint, but did not result in the drive's controller locking out those sectors for reasons detailed in the "Surface Scan" section of the Tech Tool Pro manual. However, the 7-Pass Erase may have resulted in the drive's controller locking out the bad sectors and why Surface Scan did not pick them up after such.
    Given the problems you described, I concur with your plan to have Apple check the affected computer. You might also want to consider purchasing an AppleCare Protection Plan for that Mac: I recommend and buy these for all my Macs.
    For some additional information on bad sectors, see the "Bad Sectors" section of my "Resolving Disk, Permission, and Cache Corruption" FAQ.
    Good luck!
    Dr. Smoke
    Author: Troubleshooting Mac® OS X
    Note: The information provided in the link(s) above is freely available. However, because I own The X Lab™, a commercial Web site to which some of these links point, the Apple Discussions Terms of Use require I include the following disclosure statement with this post:
    I may receive some form of compensation, financial or otherwise, from my recommendation or link.

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    William Boyd, Jr. wrote:
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    Message was edited by: Revearti

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    For those who may have to reformat a new hard disk drive, one may as
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    Ok.
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    Welcome to Apple Discussions, BrettB.
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    Have you also tried booting your PowerBook into FireWire Target Disk Mode (to see if it can be accessed), if you have a bootable backup on an external FireWire drive? Other than that, maybe erase the drive and zero all data.
    However, to be honest, I think you may need a replacement drive.
    15" 1.25GHz/12" 1GHz PBs, 2xPPC Mac minis, 12" iBook G4,   Mac OS X (10.4.6)   Cube, 2xTAMs, iPods 2G/4G, iPs, AEBS, AX

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