Need help for prolonging HDD with bad sectors death

[Qualtrox]

So I know my way arround hardware and computers overall and recently couldn't boot into windows 7 ultimate, ran a check disk from the win7 setup's command line just for it to rellocate some data from bad sectors and fail at the 5th stage.

By this i know that bad sectors are a problem but have never dealt with this type of problem before
I also know that a hdd with bad sectors is bound to fail at some point

I have read a lot of articles and threads on forums about this pointing towards getting a new hdd.

So what i need help on here is how do i atleast prolong the inevitable death of my hdd because im not doing good money wise lately

So far i'm looking at a full format (failed through the windows xp setup), if there is any other way to do a full format before installing windows 7 without the setup resetting the master data table tell me (dont want it to include the bad sectors again)

Another thing im looking at is a low level format (dont know if hitachi has official software for this)

And the last thing that comes to mind is manually wipeing the hdd but i have never done this before and don't know if it will help in any way with the bad sectors)

Sorry for the wall of text and i appreciate any kind of help you guys can give me.

 

[Boogieman_WD]

Hey there, Qualtrox.

Unfortunately you are right that when bad sectors start to occur this will bring the drive to its end inevitably. Performing a low level format is your best option. However, depending on how damaged the drive is, this might not work and it might even make things a lot worse. It's pretty bad that something like this would occur as the only thing that could prevent the drive from dying - is not using it at all until you are able to get a new one so that you can backup any important data which you might have on it.

If the drive manufacturer does not provide software which can low level format it and you still and to risk it, you can go with DiskPart.
1. Open CMD as administrator
2. Type diskpart and press "enter"
3. Type list disk and press "enter"
4. Type select disk X and press "enter" (where "X" is the number of the drive you wish to select)
5. Type clean all and press "enter"

Please let me know how everything goes.
Boogieman_WD

 

[Qualtrox]

Hey there, Qualtrox.

Unfortunately you are right that when bad sectors start to occur this will bring the drive to its end inevitably. Performing a low level format is your best option. However, depending on how damaged the drive is, this might not work and it might even make things a lot worse. It's pretty bad that something like this would occur as the only thing that could prevent the drive from dying - is not using it at all until you are able to get a new one so that you can backup any important data which you might have on it.

If the drive manufacturer does not provide software which can low level format it and you still and to risk it, you can go with DiskPart.
1. Open CMD as administrator
2. Type diskpart and press "enter"
3. Type list disk and press "enter"
4. Type select disk X and press "enter" (where "X" is the number of the drive you wish to select)
5. Type clean all and press "enter"

Please let me know how everything goes.
Boogieman_WD

Before i start with diskpart could you tell me what is the difference between that and full format.

Because the full format option from the windows xp installation media failed exactly at 100% telling me to try and restart it or that the disk might be damaged.

Knowing that full format from xp also runs something very simillar
to check disk while in progress and chkdsk /r previously failing at stage 5 on windows 7 cmd, i kinda see a connection and don't really know what to expect.

Also found the low level format utility from Hitachi HGST here: https://www.hgst.com/hdd/support/download.htm
But it's only compatible with x86 based cpus and thats a no go since i own an x64 core2quad q9550

However will definitely try that when i get back home and will keep you updated (atm away from work, should be back monday next week)

Thank you for the reply ^.^

 

[Boogieman_WD]

Maybe this will answer your questions about full format and clean all (low level format): http://www.sevenforums.com/general-discussion/203464-diskparts-clean-all-versus-full-format.html.

As I've mentioned, depending on the drive's damage it might be really risky to run a low level format or any types of scans. If there are a lot of bad sectors and are accumulating quickly, this could easily make things worse and end the drive's life.

I'll be sure to check your reply once you've posted it.