GWSCAN 5.07 is a Gateway-provided IDE hard disk utility used to verify that the disk is operating defect-free. This utility can be found on the customer’s Gateway Systems Bootable Drivers’ CD under DOS. The documentation on how to run the program, with associated cautions and error code explanations, can be found on the GWSCAN.TXT file. If you are uncertain how to use this utility and what the ramification will be regarding losing disk files, contact your Computing Consultant, certified Gateway repair technicians at Lehigh or Gateway Technical Support.

If possible, before running GWSCAN, it is recommended that users BACK UP ALL DATA ON ALL HARD DRIVES. However, if the system will not boot, we have had some success in repairing faulty disk file systems with it. This utility may write to the drive during the re-certification process and recovery of existing data is not guaranteed. Running this utility is worth a try when all other file recovery processes have failed.

GWSAN provides a “quick scan test” and an “extended scan test” for checking the status of the hard drive. The “extended scan test” offers the most assurance that the drive is defect-free and depending on the size of the drive and computer performance may run from 5-30 minutes. The “extended scan test” will scan the hard drive and at the end of the scan will attempt to repair certain data errors within files. Again, this attempt will include writing to the disk to repair a suspected error block, and, if possible, a file backup should have been done. If the process is successful, remove the bootable disk and boot from the C: drive.

The utility also can write zeros to the hard drive (obviously this option will destroy user data), and measure seek times and data transfer rates. Writing zeros to the hard drive is useful when an Operating System reload is the only option remaining and a verification of proper disk operation is desired before starting the long process. This program erases the hard drive writes zeros to the selected drive and cleans everything off the drive. After this program has run DATA CAN NOT BE RECOVERED EVER!! This program can be run after the “extended scan test” fails to recover the disk and it appears the drive is corrupted and reloading the operating system was not successful. This program may repair logical problems with the hard drive, but it will not correct or detect physical problems. If the hard drive is making strange noises, contact repair services immediately.

(Updated GWSAN versions can be downloaded from the Gateway, Tech Support web page. The program must be run from a formatted bootable disk. If you download a new version, before opening the file, insert a blank diskette into the floppy drive A: that has not been formatted in Windows XP, Windows 2000 or Windows NT.)