Why You Should Know About Disks

Disk problems are frequently the cause of startup failures. Some of these problems are the result of hardware errors. But frequently the problem is that Windows NT is unable to find the information about the disk or its contents, usually because of control information corruption. If you know what the control information on your disk should be, you can tell if it has been corrupted.

There are several reasons that Windows NT cannot give your computer complete protection:

This following list highlights simple procedures that you can implement to reduce the potential for problems and make it easier for you to recover when problems occur.

This chapter, and the other chapters in the "Reliability and Recoverability" part of this book, provide much more detailed information about the preceding topics. There are more details about disk organization, file systems, and starting your computer in the following chapters of the Windows NT Workstation Resource Guide: