Question Old HDD problem ?

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hars

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Dec 1, 2013
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Hi,

I have two HDDs in my old PC - WD Green 1TB (Windows 7 installed + storage) and Samsung 320 GB (for additional storage).

WD Green was purchased in 2014 and Samsung in 2010. Both the HDD are working fine, however, it has already surpassed the working capacity.

So I ran a test using Crystaldiskinfo and found that the Samsung HDD is in good condition.
But the WD Green is showing as "Caution". There is an issue with Current Pending Sector Count and Uncorrectable Sector Count.

What does it mean? Can it be fixed and will it have any effect on the data stored?

Please advise.
 
hars said:
WD Green is showing as "Caution". There is an issue with Current Pending Sector Count and Uncorrectable Sector Count.
What does it mean? Can it be fixed and will it have any effect on the data stored?
Click to expand...
Can you show screenshot from Health section?
(upload to imgur.com and post link)

Pendings sectors means - the drive could not read some data from drive platters. The data needs to be overwritten to determine, if sector is viable or not. If overwrite fails, then sector gets marked as unusable and gets replaced with a spare sector. There is limited amount of spare sectors available. If drive runs out of all spare sectors, then it is considered failed.

I'd strongly suggest, you get SSD for your pc.
 
SkyNetRising said:
Can you show screenshot from Health section?
(upload to imgur.com and post link)

Pendings sectors means - the drive could not read some data from drive platters. The data needs to be overwritten to determine, if sector is viable or not. If overwrite fails, then sector gets marked as unusable and gets replaced with a spare sector. There is limited amount of spare sectors available. If drive runs out of all spare sectors, then it is considered failed.

I'd strongly suggest, you get SSD for your pc.
Click to expand...
Here is the link -
https://imgur.com/5fsPGFz
View: https://imgur.com/5fsPGFz


Does that mean my HDD is not worth using anymore?
 
hars said:
Does that mean my HDD is not worth using anymore?
Click to expand...
5 pending sectors is not that much.
You can resolve pending sectors with victoria software - test/repair with remap option.
hdd.by

Официальный сайт программы Victoria HDD/SSD

Скачать Victoria 5.37 HDD/SSD 2021 на русском языке. Ремонт HDD, SSD, NVMe, технология SMART на русском языке. Восстановление информации с HDD в г. Гродно.
hdd.by hdd.by
Download link at the bottom of the page.

victoria-remap-bad-sectors.jpg
 
SkyNetRising said:
5 pending sectors is not that much.
You can resolve pending sectors with victoria software - test/repair with remap option.
hdd.by

Официальный сайт программы Victoria HDD/SSD

Скачать Victoria 5.37 HDD/SSD 2021 на русском языке. Ремонт HDD, SSD, NVMe, технология SMART на русском языке. Восстановление информации с HDD в г. Гродно.
hdd.by hdd.by
Download link at the bottom of the page.

victoria-remap-bad-sectors.jpg
Click to expand...
Is there any inbuilt tool in windows 7 which can be used to rectify the problem easily?

I'm not sure how to use this software.

Also what about the Samsung HDD which is even older that this one but does not show any errors? Can I continue using it for additional storage?
 
SkyNetRising said:
No.

Run the program,
(if it launches in Russian, then you can change language settings)
in Drive Info section select drive to operate with,
switch to Test/Repair section,
click on remap check box,
click on scan.
Click to expand...

Ok, will give this a shot.

If I understood correctly, this software will show which drive partiton has the bad sectors and then will fix it?

Will the bad sectors be reusable again or will it just block that portion of the disk and allocate some space on the spare sectors to be used?

Sorry, but I am not that much well versed with all this, hence asking.
 
hars said:
If I understood correctly, this software will show which drive partiton has the bad sectors and then will fix it?
Click to expand...
No.
It will show technical information about scan progress.
It will show Logical Block Address (LBA) for damaged sector, if one is found.
It will not show partition name or file name , where damaged sector belongs to.
hars said:
Will the bad sectors be reusable again or will it just block that portion of the disk and allocate some space on the spare sectors to be used?
Click to expand...
Damaged sector gets tested.
If test passes, pending status gets cleared and sector is considered healthy.
If test fails, then sector is marked as unusable and spare sector is used instead.
 
Last edited:
SkyNetRising said:
No.
It will show technical information about scan progress.
It will show Logical Block Address (LBA) for damaged sector, if one is found.
It will not show partition name or file name , where damaged sector belongs to.

Damaged sector gets tested.
If test passes, pending status gets cleared and sector is considered healthy.
If test fails, then sector is marked as unusable and spare sector is used instead.
Click to expand...

Ok, thanks for your help. I will download the software and get this sorted out.
 
hars said:
Can I search for which drive partition has the bad sectors by running CHKDSK on my pc?
Click to expand...
Yes.
Do that after you have completed scan/remap with victoria software.
Run from elevated command prompt.
chkdsk X: /f​
(replace X: with appropriate drive letter)
If victoria sector scan has caused any file corruption to occur, then affected files will be listed and fixed (probably truncated).
If you're wondering, then sector scan didn't mess up those files, they were unreadable before fix.
 
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SkyNetRising said:
Did you run scan with victoria software?
Did it fix pending sectors?


Sure. Why do you want to use external drive?

Depends on purpose. Why external drive?
Click to expand...

I will scan with Victoria software in a day or two. Just in case if it doesn't solve the problem, I want to make sure I am backing up my data in other drives. I have already saved it in the internal drives but now I have a shortage of space. So I was thinking of buying an external drive to save the essential data.

I want to save my photos, videos, songs list in the drive.
 
hars said:
I will scan with Victoria software in a day or two. Just in case if it doesn't solve the problem, I want to make sure I am backing up my data in other drives. I have already saved it in the internal drives but now I have a shortage of space. So I was thinking of buying an external drive to save the essential data.

I want to save my photos, videos, songs list in the drive.
Click to expand...
Any important data needs to be on at least TWO different devices.
 
SkyNetRising said:
No.

Run the program,
(if it launches in Russian, then you can change language settings)
in Drive Info section select drive to operate with,
switch to Test/Repair section,
click on remap check box,
click on scan.
Click to expand...

I am sharing a screenshot of the scan done by Victoria software -
https://imgur.com/T9CtYEn
View: https://imgur.com/T9CtYEn


It has identified the bad sectors but it also shows an error at the bottom panel - "try REMAP ... Error: Access is denied (FAQ #6, https://hdd.by/victoria_faq )

Not sure what this means. What do I do next?
 
Last edited:
hars said:
Since this HDD is not reliable anymore, can I use an external/portable SSD to store my data?

If so, then which brand SSD is worth the money?

Also, is it advisable to convert an internal drive to an external one by adding an adapter and then use it?
Click to expand...
Don't be affraid of SSD. But if you wish to continue using HDD, look at WD Blue 5400 rpm 4Tb or more. They're not expensive for the size and can last many years.

For an SSD, try Crucial MX500. 1Tb or 500Gb are not too expensive. Perfect if you install the OS on it. Use the HDD for storage.

Of course, you could use only SSD, but HDD is cheaper and a good model like the slow WD Blue can last 10+ years.
 
hars said:
It has identified the bad sectors but it also shows an error at the bottom panel - "try REMAP ... Error: Access is denied
Not sure what this means. What do I do next?
Click to expand...
That means, you have to run Victoria in MBR off mode.
Unfortunately that can not be done on OS drive (drive you have windows installed on).

You'll have to install windows on another drive.
Note - it is recommended to have only single drive connected, while installing windows
(or else you may end up with bootloader on one drive and windows on another drive).
Boot into new windows.
Then run Victoria and turn off MBR on drive you're scanning (Victoria / Disk Editor section).
This makes drive to appear as, if it has no partitions/no data on it.
Don't worry, the data is still there.
After you have finished scanning, turn MBR on. And reboot your pc.
 
Last edited:
SkyNetRising said:
That means, you have to run Victoria in MBR off mode.
Unfortunately that can not be done on OS drive (drive you have windows installed on).

You'll have to install windows on another drive.
Note - it is recommended to have only single drive connected, while installing windows
(or else you may have bootloader on one drive and windows on another drive).
Boot into new windows.
Then run Victoria and turn off MBR on drive you're scanning (Victoria / Disk Editor section).
This makes drive to appear as, if it has no partitions/no data on it.
Don't worry, the data is still there.
After you have finished scanning, turn MBR on. And reboot your pc.
Click to expand...
I have already installed windows in a new ssd and am using the defective WD hdd for storage.

Do I run this with MBR off?
 
Yes.
Before you do that, make sure bootloader is not on the drive, you're turning MBR off.
Also make sure pagefile is not located on the drive either.

Or else this will make your pc either crash or make unbootable.
Can you show screenshot from Disk Management?
 
SkyNetRising said:
Yes.
Before you do that, make sure bootloader is not on the drive, you're turning MBR off.
Also make sure pagefile is not located on the drive either.

Or else this will make your pc either crash or make unbootable.
Can you show screenshot from Disk Management?
Click to expand...
Here is the screenshot of my disk management -
https://imgur.com/AxRPapt
View: https://imgur.com/AxRPapt

View: https://imgur.com/AxRPapt

Disk 0 is the defective HDD.
Disk1 is the new SSD where OS is saved.

Where can I find the option to turn MBR off? Please suggest the next steps.
 
SkyNetRising said:
Looks fine.

BTW - why do you need so much partitions.
Click to expand...

I'm a little confused after looking at some other posts on the same issue .

Is it safe to turn MBR OFF in an internal HDD which does not have OS but is used only for storage?
Will the scan have any affect on the other two drives?
Will the drive be undetected or show up as unallocated after the scan?

I need to be very sure of the steps to follow here so I don't mess up anything or erase my data as I am not well versed with this. Please advise.
 
Last edited:
hars said:
Is it safe to turn MBR OFF in an internal HDD which does not have OS but is used only for storage?
Click to expand...
Yes.
hars said:
Will the scan have any affect on the other two drives?
Click to expand...
No.
hars said:
Will the drive be undetected or show up as unallocated after the scan?
Click to expand...
It will show as unallocated after turning MBR off.
After turning MBR on it will appear as allocated again.
After changing MBR on/off it may be necessary to restart your pc.
 
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