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When there is no other disk to backup ?

Posted: 2019.02.15. 22:53
by Nero
Not everyone has an additional disk (backup). Depending on the amount of data. And he can not rewrite data to another (healthy) disk.
So the question arises: How do you ONLY ERASE (do not allocate) unstable sectors (197 Current Pending Sector Count) without having to make copies (backup)?
Probably zeroing only detected unstable sectors can avoid the need for a backup?

Re: When there is no other disk to backup ?

Posted: 2019.02.18. 10:43
by hdsentinel
This is EXACTLY the purpose of Disk menu -> Surface test -> Disk Repair test: to find and repair THESE sectors specifically without the need to perform complete backup/overwrite.

The following is very-very common:
- during disk activity (usually writes), power failure/power loss or accidental reset occurs (or the system may hang for some different reason)
- the disk may report weak sector related to the above.
- manufacturer specific test tools usually report problem (as the short/extended self test may also fail)
- chkdsk may even report bad sector
- panic, asking for warranty replacement

Instead, the Disk menu -> Surface test -> Disk Repair test can repair issue.

Seems you may missed its description:

Reads the disk surface to verify if all sectors are readable and forces the disk drive to repair any problematic (pending, weak) sectors: restore the status to good or reallocate (replace from spare area) if required to prevent further use of the original sector.

Also offered on the bottom of Support -> Frequently Asked Questions -> What is a weak sector? How to repair weak sectors?
https://www.hdsentinel.com/hard_disk_ca ... ectors.php

It is not really usable on failing drives or with really high amount of weak / pending / bad sectors, but perfect solution for relatively low amount of problems.