Hello,
I recently ran into a problem where my 100% health hard drive used only 1.5 months suddenly went down to 52% health! Now Hdd sentinel says that there are more then 300 weak sectors in the hdd. I scanned 2000 sectors and found that most of the weak sectors were in a few blocks, the rest were all good blocks. I ran disk repair test individually but the blocks have soooo many weak sectors that repairing a single sector takes an entire minute. With the huge amount of sectors in a single blocks and 3-5 blocks with many if not all weak sectors,
, a disk repair test isn’t an option. A read test classified the block 32 (test only on 32) as failed.
A disk repair test that took 2 hours to fix 63 sectors classified it as damaged(I stopped it myself).
Now my question is should I use the reinitialise test to correct these sectors(a destructive test)? Will that be faster? I don’t mind losing all my data if I can get my hdd back! Or should I just chuck this old western digital 1tb in the bin and move on to find a new one. My system lags like hell as this is also my system disk. One thing to note is that this happened because of a sudden wire pull(take that as a sudden power outage) from the plug but something also to note is that no other components were damaged as My 2tb segate still has 100% health. Which test should O run how do I quickly repair my hdd please help out as soon as possible.
Weak sectors and weak blocks
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hdsentinel
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Re: Weak sectors and weak blocks
The Disk Repair test is focusing on the stored data. It attempts to recover the data stored in the damaged/weak sectors and yes, this may require VERY long time. This is why it is recommended to be used on drives where
- the amount of weak/pending sectors is generally low (some 10's instead of hundreds or thousands)
- the data is important on the drive
Also it is important to know that if 1000's of weak sectors detected, there is very good chance that the Disk Repair may find even more during the testing.
In contrast, the Reintialise Disk Surface test focuses on repairing the disk drive itself. It is faster to automatically attempt to repair the sectors if the data can be cleared.
So yes, it you select to perform the Reintialise Disk Surface, that would be surely faster to proceed (especially if the problems are in one single block only, not spread over the disk surface).
- the amount of weak/pending sectors is generally low (some 10's instead of hundreds or thousands)
- the data is important on the drive
Also it is important to know that if 1000's of weak sectors detected, there is very good chance that the Disk Repair may find even more during the testing.
In contrast, the Reintialise Disk Surface test focuses on repairing the disk drive itself. It is faster to automatically attempt to repair the sectors if the data can be cleared.
So yes, it you select to perform the Reintialise Disk Surface, that would be surely faster to proceed (especially if the problems are in one single block only, not spread over the disk surface).
Re: Weak sectors and weak blocks
Is running a reinitialise disk surface test advisable on a system disk or should I first install windows on my other hdd and boot from there before reinitialise got disk surface on the problematic hdd? Furthermore is running this test only on the few problematic sectors OK or must it be run on the entire hdd?
Aside from this I found a c:/$badclus on block 32(a problematic block). What does this mean? Aside from this block the c:/$badclus is also on some sectors of another block some hundred k sectors away that is marked as good.
Lastly, some read scans picked up a few pending sectors on the other parts of the hdd but these were marked as good blocks. Should I run a quick fix on these selected blocks before a complete reinitialise disk surface test to clear up these sectors more quickly or not?. I can copy most files away from this hdd but I want to get the hdd at the end completely empty of all contents and possibly at 100% health since its run for only 1.5months.
Aside from this I found a c:/$badclus on block 32(a problematic block). What does this mean? Aside from this block the c:/$badclus is also on some sectors of another block some hundred k sectors away that is marked as good.
Lastly, some read scans picked up a few pending sectors on the other parts of the hdd but these were marked as good blocks. Should I run a quick fix on these selected blocks before a complete reinitialise disk surface test to clear up these sectors more quickly or not?. I can copy most files away from this hdd but I want to get the hdd at the end completely empty of all contents and possibly at 100% health since its run for only 1.5months.
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hdsentinel
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Re: Weak sectors and weak blocks
You can't run the Reinitialise disk surface test on the system drive: the Reinitialise Disk Surface clears the data (simpler function usually called as "low level format" elsewhere) - so it is not possible to run on a drive which is actively used (for example by the current running Windows system).
You can use the Reinitialise disk surface test only on a secondary disk drive, so the OS should run from an other disk drive. This is slightly similar how you can format a drive: you can't format the drive which holds the current running system.
The $badclus is a file. Windows does NOT fix the problematic sectors just creates this file over the actual problematic location, to prevent saving any real data on these sectors.
This is not repairing/fixing in any ways, just a very bad attempt to hide the problems.
The page
https://www.hdsentinel.com/hard_disk_ca ... ectors.php
suggested in the text description describes that it is normal that Windows chkdsk does NOT fix the problems, just attempts to hide them this way.
If you perform the complete Reinitialise disk surface test - then these will be eliminated and after creating a new partition, there will be no similar (and a further read test should show no problems at all).
> Lastly, some read scans picked up a few pending sectors on the other parts of the hdd
Yes, I can confirm that it is "normal" and expected in similar situation. Such weak/pending sectors usually caused by the operating environment (see the above link for details), eg. cables, connections, power supply etc.
So (as previously mentioned) it can happen that further test may show additional weak/pending sectors at ANY part of the drive - and the best way is to fix (and prevent them) is to perform complete overwrite - by the Reinitialise disk surface.
You can selectively run this test on the affected blocks - but then you'd see weak/pending sectors on other blocks too - so if there are 1000's of weak sectors, I'd surely run Reinitialise disk surface on the complete drive.
However, I'd first verify the cables, connections - otherwise you may see new and new problems again and again after the current issues repaired.
You can use the Reinitialise disk surface test only on a secondary disk drive, so the OS should run from an other disk drive. This is slightly similar how you can format a drive: you can't format the drive which holds the current running system.
The $badclus is a file. Windows does NOT fix the problematic sectors just creates this file over the actual problematic location, to prevent saving any real data on these sectors.
This is not repairing/fixing in any ways, just a very bad attempt to hide the problems.
The page
https://www.hdsentinel.com/hard_disk_ca ... ectors.php
suggested in the text description describes that it is normal that Windows chkdsk does NOT fix the problems, just attempts to hide them this way.
If you perform the complete Reinitialise disk surface test - then these will be eliminated and after creating a new partition, there will be no similar (and a further read test should show no problems at all).
> Lastly, some read scans picked up a few pending sectors on the other parts of the hdd
Yes, I can confirm that it is "normal" and expected in similar situation. Such weak/pending sectors usually caused by the operating environment (see the above link for details), eg. cables, connections, power supply etc.
So (as previously mentioned) it can happen that further test may show additional weak/pending sectors at ANY part of the drive - and the best way is to fix (and prevent them) is to perform complete overwrite - by the Reinitialise disk surface.
You can selectively run this test on the affected blocks - but then you'd see weak/pending sectors on other blocks too - so if there are 1000's of weak sectors, I'd surely run Reinitialise disk surface on the complete drive.
However, I'd first verify the cables, connections - otherwise you may see new and new problems again and again after the current issues repaired.
Re: Weak sectors and weak blocks
Ok. I just managed to install a new OS on my second hard drive that is also installed. Now I need a step by step guide on how to reinitialize disk surface.
I now have a dual OS present o my pc meaning I can boot from both HDDs. I want to delete the old one so that I can run a disk reinitialize surface scan on that drive since HD Sentinel refuse to run the test on a system disk.
How do I do it? Do I just delete the entire volume of the hdd and then run the test or will I need to format it first?
If I do delete volume on the disk management utility (Win+X), Will a reformat or delete volume function mark weak sectors as bad and prevent the app from accessing them? If this isn't the case should I just delete the entire disk returning it to unallocated space, perform a quick format and then run the test?
Furthermore is it normal for a 100% health drive to drop to 52% suddenly? will a reinitialize disk surface test completely restore my Hard disk's health to 100%? all previous disk repair tests showed damaged blocks but no bad ones(I terminated them when they got slowed down so the just shopwed the blocks as damaged). Contrarily, read tests showed the blocks as bad(I also terminated these tests when they got slowed down...)
I reinstalled the cables and checked them for any visible faults but they seemed fine(I changed them just in case though....).
The OS refuses to delete by just selecting the folders and pressing delete...
Lastly should I attempt to make sure that the drive is completely empty before running the reinitialize disk surface test to ensure it runs at the highest possible speed(I backed up my data though since it is a destructive test).
I await your reply.
I now have a dual OS present o my pc meaning I can boot from both HDDs. I want to delete the old one so that I can run a disk reinitialize surface scan on that drive since HD Sentinel refuse to run the test on a system disk.
How do I do it? Do I just delete the entire volume of the hdd and then run the test or will I need to format it first?
If I do delete volume on the disk management utility (Win+X), Will a reformat or delete volume function mark weak sectors as bad and prevent the app from accessing them? If this isn't the case should I just delete the entire disk returning it to unallocated space, perform a quick format and then run the test?
Furthermore is it normal for a 100% health drive to drop to 52% suddenly? will a reinitialize disk surface test completely restore my Hard disk's health to 100%? all previous disk repair tests showed damaged blocks but no bad ones(I terminated them when they got slowed down so the just shopwed the blocks as damaged). Contrarily, read tests showed the blocks as bad(I also terminated these tests when they got slowed down...)
I reinstalled the cables and checked them for any visible faults but they seemed fine(I changed them just in case though....).
The OS refuses to delete by just selecting the folders and pressing delete...
Lastly should I attempt to make sure that the drive is completely empty before running the reinitialize disk surface test to ensure it runs at the highest possible speed(I backed up my data though since it is a destructive test).
I await your reply.
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hdsentinel
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Re: Weak sectors and weak blocks
Please select Disk menu -> Surface test -> Reinitialise Disk Surface function (and make sure that the proper drive selected).
That's all. Nothing else required. The test will automatically lock the drive and clear the partition(s) and all data from the affected disk drive.
If it is not possible (if you may receive that the drive can't be locked for the test) then there are open file(s) or folder(s) on the actual disk drive. Then you'll probably not able to manually delete partition(s) from Windows Disk Management too - or if you can, then you'll be able to start the test.
> If I do delete volume on the disk management utility (Win+X), Will a reformat or delete volume function mark weak sectors as bad and prevent the app from accessing them?
Absolutely NOT.
And you do NOT need to reformat BEFORE performing the test. The test automatically deletes the partition and clears all data (and fixes the sectors). THEN you'll need to create a new partition and format it.
> If this isn't the case should I just delete the entire disk returning it to unallocated space, perform a quick format and then run the test?
Absolutely NO need to format it before the test.
> Furthermore is it normal for a 100% health drive to drop to 52% suddenly?
No disk problem is "normal" of course. But yes, it is very common that if the operating environment is not stable, then 100's or even 1000's of weak sectors can appear very quickly - which causes a very quick drop of Health as you can see.
> will a reinitialize disk surface test completely restore my Hard disk's health to 100%?
Of course nobody can confirm this FOR SURE. But yes, in most cases such weak sectors are completely fixed and the Health can increase back ideally to 100%.
But this can happen IF there is no problem with the above mentioned cables/connections. Those are frequent cause of weak/pending sectors and can degrade the drive dramatically. If this is still the case, then the Reinitialise Disk Surface test also can't help - or can help only for a short period when problems will appear again.
So before the test, I'd surely check cables/connections too.
Without seeing the actual status, hard to say anything for sure. If you use Report menu -> Send test report to developer option, it is possible to check and this can give details about the actual drive status which can determine the results.
>all previous disk repair tests showed damaged blocks but no bad ones(I terminated them when they got slowed down so the just shopwed the blocks as damaged).
Yes, this is possible. Damaged means that the sector could not be read (tested) for the first time, but it works after a retry (please check the Help for more details).
This is also frequent when the drive is generally working correctly - but the data and/or power cables cause issues.
> I reinstalled the cables and checked them for any visible faults but they seemed fine(I changed them just in case though....).
This is good. I'm afraid most failing cables look similar to good ones.... Very rare to see damages (eg. burn) on cables.
> The OS refuses to delete by just selecting the folders and pressing delete...
It is completely normal and expected. There are lots of system files which can't be deleted (even if you boot from different OS).
Just simply start the test - as it will attempt to delete the partition(s) - or you may try to manually delete the complete partition from Windows Disk Management.
> Lastly should I attempt to make sure that the drive is completely empty before running the reinitialize disk surface test to ensure it runs at the highest possible speed(I backed up my data though since it is a destructive test).
Absolutely no need to delete anything. The test will clear (overwrite) all sectors and delete the stored data.
Previously deleting any files just waste the time, it will not affect the speed or results of the repairing.
That's all. Nothing else required. The test will automatically lock the drive and clear the partition(s) and all data from the affected disk drive.
If it is not possible (if you may receive that the drive can't be locked for the test) then there are open file(s) or folder(s) on the actual disk drive. Then you'll probably not able to manually delete partition(s) from Windows Disk Management too - or if you can, then you'll be able to start the test.
> If I do delete volume on the disk management utility (Win+X), Will a reformat or delete volume function mark weak sectors as bad and prevent the app from accessing them?
Absolutely NOT.
And you do NOT need to reformat BEFORE performing the test. The test automatically deletes the partition and clears all data (and fixes the sectors). THEN you'll need to create a new partition and format it.
> If this isn't the case should I just delete the entire disk returning it to unallocated space, perform a quick format and then run the test?
Absolutely NO need to format it before the test.
> Furthermore is it normal for a 100% health drive to drop to 52% suddenly?
No disk problem is "normal" of course. But yes, it is very common that if the operating environment is not stable, then 100's or even 1000's of weak sectors can appear very quickly - which causes a very quick drop of Health as you can see.
> will a reinitialize disk surface test completely restore my Hard disk's health to 100%?
Of course nobody can confirm this FOR SURE. But yes, in most cases such weak sectors are completely fixed and the Health can increase back ideally to 100%.
But this can happen IF there is no problem with the above mentioned cables/connections. Those are frequent cause of weak/pending sectors and can degrade the drive dramatically. If this is still the case, then the Reinitialise Disk Surface test also can't help - or can help only for a short period when problems will appear again.
So before the test, I'd surely check cables/connections too.
Without seeing the actual status, hard to say anything for sure. If you use Report menu -> Send test report to developer option, it is possible to check and this can give details about the actual drive status which can determine the results.
>all previous disk repair tests showed damaged blocks but no bad ones(I terminated them when they got slowed down so the just shopwed the blocks as damaged).
Yes, this is possible. Damaged means that the sector could not be read (tested) for the first time, but it works after a retry (please check the Help for more details).
This is also frequent when the drive is generally working correctly - but the data and/or power cables cause issues.
> I reinstalled the cables and checked them for any visible faults but they seemed fine(I changed them just in case though....).
This is good. I'm afraid most failing cables look similar to good ones.... Very rare to see damages (eg. burn) on cables.
> The OS refuses to delete by just selecting the folders and pressing delete...
It is completely normal and expected. There are lots of system files which can't be deleted (even if you boot from different OS).
Just simply start the test - as it will attempt to delete the partition(s) - or you may try to manually delete the complete partition from Windows Disk Management.
> Lastly should I attempt to make sure that the drive is completely empty before running the reinitialize disk surface test to ensure it runs at the highest possible speed(I backed up my data though since it is a destructive test).
Absolutely no need to delete anything. The test will clear (overwrite) all sectors and delete the stored data.
Previously deleting any files just waste the time, it will not affect the speed or results of the repairing.
Re: Weak sectors and weak blocks
I ran the reinitialize disk surface test on some of the more damaged blocks all reverted to good and the disk health is now 99% with only one weak sector remaining. Changing that via offset results in a +/- icon showing near the health bar telling me of the health change via SMART offset. I reverted this and the health returned to 99% from 100%.
Is there any way of knowing where this pesky weak sector is or must I run an entire read test on the entire drive to look for only 1 weak sector? is it possible to get the exact location(sector/block) of the weak sector to target the reinitialize disk surface scan on that specific block or must it be run on the entire disk? I don't know where the sector is; though, a disk repair scan showed all blocks as green repairing one sector after the reinitialize disk surface scan had run but the disk health remained 99%.
Is there any way of knowing where this pesky weak sector is or must I run an entire read test on the entire drive to look for only 1 weak sector? is it possible to get the exact location(sector/block) of the weak sector to target the reinitialize disk surface scan on that specific block or must it be run on the entire disk? I don't know where the sector is; though, a disk repair scan showed all blocks as green repairing one sector after the reinitialize disk surface scan had run but the disk health remained 99%.
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hdsentinel
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Re: Weak sectors and weak blocks
Thanks, good to hear that generally the sectors fixed and the Health improved.
Generally most hard disks do not provide information about the proper location of the weak/pending sector.
If it's possible to determine, then the Disk menu -> Surface test -> Quick Fix test in Hard Disk Sentinel attempts to find it and perform fix specifically for that sector (and "near" locations) without the need to perform a complete scan.
However, in some rare cases it is possible that all of the weak sectors fixed already - just the drive "forget" to change the counter. Sometimes re-running the complete Reinitialize disk surface test fixes this as then the drive properly detects that all sectors are fixed. In some other cases, the counter changes back with time, during normal use.
So no need to worry about that particular one weak sector - just make sure that there should be no MORE in the future.
Generally most hard disks do not provide information about the proper location of the weak/pending sector.
If it's possible to determine, then the Disk menu -> Surface test -> Quick Fix test in Hard Disk Sentinel attempts to find it and perform fix specifically for that sector (and "near" locations) without the need to perform a complete scan.
However, in some rare cases it is possible that all of the weak sectors fixed already - just the drive "forget" to change the counter. Sometimes re-running the complete Reinitialize disk surface test fixes this as then the drive properly detects that all sectors are fixed. In some other cases, the counter changes back with time, during normal use.
So no need to worry about that particular one weak sector - just make sure that there should be no MORE in the future.