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I'm suspecting a bad block on my HD of my Rev A 17" PowerBook. I got a certain file which I couldn't copy to another harddrive, the copying would halt and eventually "time-out" with an error of -36, grinding the computer to seemingly eternal beachballing in the process. Deleting the file would cause a new file to be affected. I've now just renamed the file to "Bad block" to keep new files from being saved over it.

1) Is this a possible bad block?
2) Will a simple reformat cure it or
2b) Do I need to zero my HD as well?

I know zeroing the drive normally won't do anything, but can this help if a simple reformat doesn't detect the bad block?

Informed replies only, please

[siflippant]

Have you tried DiskWarrior? Works for me...

[Randman]

DW should help. Also, have you simply used Disk Utility? You're logged in as an admin? Do you have privileges set for the file?

Don't think it'll help much in this case, but can try repairing permissions, making sure everything is up-to-date as far as firmware.
You could also try modifying the file via whatever app you'd use with it.

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Yes, I've tried Disk Warrior / Repairing Privileges. Twice. Didn't work. I'm pretty sure this is a hardware-error, as any new file saved after I delete the broken one will get the same problem (error -36 when copying). If I just leave it there, no problems occur.