[SOLVED] I have bad sectors on my HDD can i use it as an external storage device ?

[throwawayhddbadsector]

I am currently using a Toshiba MQ01ABF050 500GB internal hard disk drive. In Crystal Disk Info it shows health status as caution and a yellow mark on Reallocated sectors count. Upon researching on internet i figured out that my HDD has some bad sectors and soon it will die. So now i have decided to upgrade to SSD but i still want to make use of my functional Toshiba MQ01ABF050 500GB inter hard disk drive. To do that i have decided to buy a ORICO 2. 5 inch Hard disk Enclosure and use my HDD as external storage. I have already backed up my data and intend to format my HDD now. So my question is , is this a good idea or will i loose the data if i keep it on my HDD ?

 

[CountMike]

I am currently using a Toshiba MQ01ABF050 500GB internal hard disk drive. In Crystal Disk Info it shows health status as caution and a yellow mark on Reallocated sectors count. Upon researching on internet i figured out that my HDD has some bad sectors and soon it will die. So now i have decided to upgrade to SSD but i still want to make use of my functional Toshiba MQ01ABF050 500GB inter hard disk drive. To do that i have decided to buy a ORICO 2. 5 inch Hard disk Enclosure and use my HDD as external storage. I have already backed up my data and intend to format my HDD now. So my question is , is this a good idea or will i loose the data if i keep it on my HDD ?

It will be just as unreliable in external disk role.

 

[USAFRet]

I am currently using a Toshiba MQ01ABF050 500GB internal hard disk drive. In Crystal Disk Info it shows health status as caution and a yellow mark on Reallocated sectors count. Upon researching on internet i figured out that my HDD has some bad sectors and soon it will die. So now i have decided to upgrade to SSD but i still want to make use of my functional Toshiba MQ01ABF050 500GB inter hard disk drive. To do that i have decided to buy a ORICO 2. 5 inch Hard disk Enclosure and use my HDD as external storage. I have already backed up my data and intend to format my HDD now. So my question is , is this a good idea or will i loose the data if i keep it on my HDD ?

"my functional Toshiba MQ01ABF050 500GB"

It is no longer "functional". It is dying.

 

[NibblesDaCat]

I have dozens of drives that I collected over the years doing repair and recycling that were perfectly fine people got rid of because they upgraded to bigger and better stuff. I have a USB adapter to SATA/IDE and power adapter that I use to power and utilize them I picked up for $10 to use them when needed or plug them directly into a tower. I will overwrite and recycle them as they show signs of failing because I have made many attempts at reviving drives and failed. Its not worth the headache and unless you have a fair amount of skill, knowledge, and the EXACT model, make and drive to cannibalize for parts, the contents of a standard platter type drive would be gone otherwise. Any type of SSD without moving parts is impossible at all to my knowledge, at least without very expensive equipment a normal person may get or own. I have successfully managed to revive a hard drive 2 times out of dozens of attempts by transferring platters or parts. This cost me brand new drives, and HOURS upon HOURs of time and effort.

Based in my experiences I would strongly recommend you not use it to store anything important or as a back up. To copy and transfer non critical data from one pc to another should be fine as you would retain the source files if it fails or corrupts, but to trust a failing drive not to fail with important data to is tempting fate and sadly you normally loose that bet. Its simply not worth it. There is a reason that people that can retrieve data reliably make the kind of money they do. It can costs hundreds of dollars and many hours or more to make an ATTEMPT with no guarantee at success.

Standard platter style storage drives are very cheap these days. Even SSDs are getting rather cheap compared to what they used to cost. I would say it is simply not worth the headache. Take it from someone who has been there and had to deal with it. Overwrite the drive with 1/0s if it contained anything critical a few times and dump it. Buy a new one. A new 1TB 10k bare drive can be had for $20-30. A 2TB external can be had for $40-60, and 6TB external can be had for about $100-150. Buy an new one and be done with it.

 

[throwawayhddbadsector]

I have dozens of drives that I collected over the years doing repair and recycling that were perfectly fine people got rid of because they upgraded to bigger and better stuff. I have a USB adapter to SATA/IDE and power adapter that I use to power and utilize them I picked up for $10 to use them when needed or plug them directly into a tower. I will overwrite and recycle them as they show signs of failing because I have made many attempts at reviving drives and failed. Its not worth the headache and unless you have a fair amount of skill, knowledge, and the EXACT model, make and drive to cannibalize for parts, the contents of a standard platter type drive would be gone otherwise. Any type of SSD without moving parts is impossible at all to my knowledge, at least without very expensive equipment a normal person may get or own. I have successfully managed to revive a hard drive 2 times out of dozens of attempts by transferring platters or parts. This cost me brand new drives, and HOURS upon HOURs of time and effort.

Based in my experiences I would strongly recommend you not use it to store anything important or as a back up. To copy and transfer non critical data from one pc to another should be fine as you would retain the source files if it fails or corrupts, but to trust a failing drive not to fail with important data to is tempting fate and sadly you normally loose that bet. Its simply not worth it. There is a reason that people that can retrieve data reliably make the kind of money they do. It can costs hundreds of dollars and many hours or more to make an ATTEMPT with no guarantee at success.

Standard platter style storage drives are very cheap these days. Even SSDs are getting rather cheap compared to what they used to cost. I would say it is simply not worth the headache. Take it from someone who has been there and had to deal with it. Overwrite the drive with 1/0s if it contained anything critical a few times and dump it. Buy a new one. A new 1TB 10k bare drive can be had for $20-30. A 2TB external can be had for $40-60, and 6TB external can be had for about $100-150. Buy an new one and be done with it.

Thank you for such a detailed answer. I will accept your advice.

 

[throwawayhddbadsector]

"my functional Toshiba MQ01ABF050 500GB"

It is no longer "functional". It is dying.

Got it. Thanks mate.

 

[throwawayhddbadsector]

It will be just as unreliable in external disk role.

i have concluded not use the HDD to store any important data. Thanks for replying.

 

[beers]

i have concluded not use the HDD to store any important data. Thanks for replying.

Agree I wouldn't put anything valuable on it.

If you just need a scratch disk though, you could use it for some unimportant temporary process or easily re-retrievable data such as a Steam library or something until it RIPs completely.