HDD surface test help, should i do a read+write+read test or just a read+write test to try and fix errors?

[tatsuya1221]

I'm mainly worried about time here, currently one of my my HDD's has errors, some suggesting that it is showing signs of bad sectors, i decided to do a surface test as a last ditch attempt before calling in the warranty, i already started a read+write+read test, however the time it will take is pretty enormous, my question is would it be a better idea to cancel this test and start a read+write test in it's place to try and either speed up the test, or to rule out other issues?
The data itself is irrelevant to me, i already have it all backed up.

As my warranty expires in about 29 days, time is a concern for me, which is why i am asking for those experienced with read+write tests.

 

[hst101rox]

What software are you using? Yes a write based surface test (which requires a read first to then write back the data again) is needed to get the drive to remap the bad sectors (in S.M.A.R.T., going from 'Current Pending Sector Count' to 'Reallocated Sector Count') . First just get the data off that you want to save. You can try Ghost if it's a system drive (wanting all data backed up). If you can't then run HDD regenerator (free on bittorrent). If you want the bad sector to be remapped then also run that software. Spinrite can be another choice, or whatever software you are using now which I am curious what you are using because I haven't yet found a write based surface test that runs on windows -> Instead I have to use a bootable CD.

Windows Chkdsk is just a read test, stupid how it can't do this.

 

[tatsuya1221]

What software are you using? Yes a write based surface test (which requires a read first to then write back the data again) is needed to get the drive to remap the bad sectors (in S.M.A.R.T., going from 'Current Pending Sector Count' to 'Reallocated Sector Count') . First just get the data off that you want to save. You can try Ghost if it's a system drive (wanting all data backed up). If you can't then run HDD regenerator (free on bittorrent). If you want the bad sector to be remapped then also run that software. Spinrite can be another choice, or whatever software you are using now which I am curious what you are using because I haven't yet found a write based surface test that runs on windows -> Instead I have to use a bootable CD.

Windows Chkdsk is just a read test, stupid how it can't do this.

Hard drive sentinel.

I have hd tune as well, but right now i'm currently using hard drive sentinel due to recommendations.
well again this is a factor of determining if i need to call in the warranty or not, so i am left with little choice, this is a media drive anyway and i have everything backed up, though i am wondering if i'd be better off just doing a normal read/write test instead of a read/write/read test (basically does a read/write test while also keeping the data intact, or at least trying to, by rewriting the data it wrote over) as time is a factor.

 

[hst101rox]

Well reading again after reading and then writing is a time waster if you have everything backed up because data may already be corrupted so consider the data garbage on the drive and you'll save time. If the S.M.A.R.T. report says it has bad sectors then they may replace your drive but otherwise they probably will just send it back to you IMO. If the report is already bad then it's ready to be shipped out, if it's not then you could do stuff to cause some minor head crashes and deviant stuff like that but not my recommendation.

If you want to see if the drive is still fit for use, look at the report. Is it running the scan now? Yeah just do read/write. If it stalls at times during the test then that is a bad sign (bad sector found). Look at the report after the test.

This is a good guide on the SMART attributes to decipher what means what. ECC corrected, read errors are signs of data corruption without necessarily bad sectors counted.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S.M.A.R.T.

 

[tatsuya1221]

Well reading again after reading and then writing is a time waster if you have everything backed up because data may already be corrupted so consider the data garbage on the drive and you'll save time. If the S.M.A.R.T. report says it has bad sectors then they may replace your drive but otherwise they probably will just send it back to you IMO. If the report is already bad then it's ready to be shipped out, if it's not then you could do stuff to cause some minor head crashes and deviant stuff like that but not my recommendation.

If you want to see if the drive is still fit for use, look at the report. Is it running the scan now? Yeah just do read/write. If it stalls at times during the test then that is a bad sign (bad sector found). Look at the report after the test.

This is a good guide on the SMART attributes to decipher what means what. ECC corrected, read errors are signs of data corruption without necessarily bad sectors counted.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S.M.A.R.T.

Well C5 and C6 are showing problems anyway, so i'll still do a read/write test as i need to format the drive before sending it in for warranty anyway.

Thanks for your help.