how to check disk for errors (and fix them)?

[3DPiper]

I just tried to restore some files that were on an older external hard drive and not all of them would copy over.

Is there a way I can check the hard drives periodically for errors, and either fix the errors or at least mark the sectors so they aren't used any more?

chkdsk?

I have been backing up to dvdr, but started using external hard drives because my files are so large. I can't get into a situation where I backup to a hard drive and then can't read it back..!

Should I check even new external hard drives for errors?

I've been using external WD 1T Passport usb3.0 and haven't had a problem with them (yet)..

 

[Phillip Corcoran]

You can check your WD external hard drive for faults with WD Data LifeGuard Diagnostic for Windows
http://support.wdc.com/product/download.asp?groupid=304&sid=3&lang=en
(ignore the drive model shown if yours is different, it doesn't matter).

You can also use it to test internal hard drives as long as it's not the OS boot drive, for that you need the DOS-based version which loads from a bootable CD: http://www.smartestcomputing.us.com/topic/63494-looking-for-western-digital-data-lifeguard-iso/
Please note at least one WD drive must be connected to your system (internally or externally) if you want to test a non-WD drive.

But to check for errors with the Windows filing system and to flag any bad sectors as unusable you need to use Windows Error Checker with both check-boxes ticked. Unlike the WD software, the error checker cannot test the actual drive operation, it only tests the OS filing system and flags bad sectors as unusable.

However, once bad sectors start appearing the number of bad sectors will increase over time and this means that the drive should be replaced. Any software which claims to repair bad sectors is not really repairing them, just delaying the inevitable. Putting it simply, bad sectors are not repairable in the true sense of the word.

 

[synphul]

I don't know that it would solve your problems entirely, but chkdsk is one method. To run it, go to the start menu, type in cmd.exe and when it shows up in the list right click and run as administrator. When the dos box pops up, type chkdsk /f C: (or whatever drive letter it is). The /f tells it to attempt to correct any errors. If you want to do a chkdsk run without it doing anything but giving a report, then just use chkdsk C: