'Reallocated sector count' and other problems with my WD HDD

[ViolaMB]

hello. 2 days ago i started getting warnings 'windows detected a hard disk problem' and that i should backup my files immediately. i did the 'scannow' and 'chkdsk' and it apparently repaired some errors that were present, but the warning still kept coming. yesterday i managed to save some files and i could also access the video files. today/right now i managed to save some more files but now i can't access the hard drive anymore it seems. today i was also getting the error 'the request could not be performed because of an i/o device error', i received it even in utorrent and also in 'disk management' right now when i try to initialize it.

the disk is WD Blue 4TB 5400 that i use for movies, pictures, etc. and i bought it new only 6 months ago, so i'm quite surprised this is happening. i downloaded the WD Data lifeguard Diagnostics and this comes up:




i also downloaded and ran 'Hard Disk Sentinel' and this comes up:




is the disk done and dead? what can i do before using my warranty? are there any solutions that i can use to maybe try and fix it?

is there any chance there could be a problem with something else than the HDD itself?

 

[rgd1101]

utorrent? that high wear and tear.
get it replace under warranty

 

[InvalidError]

Reallocated sectors mean that one or more of the drive's platters is physically damaged and unable to hold data. That happens either because the magnetic coating didn't correctly adhere to the platter substrate or because the head crashed into the surface. Once the surface is damaged either way, the surface irregularity acts a bit like a pothole each time the drive head goes over it, damaging the surface and the head some more until the head fails altogether.

Chkdsk and other disk utilities cannot do anything about physical drive failure. The only thing you can do (next time this happens) is shut down your PC, remove the dying drive and don't plug it back in until your new HDD is ready to start backing up data to. Every second you attempt to do anything else with a failing HDD is one less second of the HDD's possibly very limited remaining usable life left to get your important data off of it.

 

[ViolaMB]

utorrent? that high wear and tear.
get it replace under warranty

what do you mean high wear and tear?

i meant today when downloading 2 separate torrents to the disk 'the request could not be performed because of an i/o device error' also appeared in utorrent.

so you're saying just replace it under warranty right?

@InvalidError

so you mean that this is/can be a manufacturer fault? i'm assuming this can't be my fault right? otherwise thanks for explaining. can i just ask if it's normal that a 6 months old apparently one of the most reliable HDDs can die just like that?

 

[InvalidError]

Physical damage can occur for a variety of reason ranging from manufacturing defect to user error - a sharp bump into the PC case at the wrong moment can cause a head crash, mishandling of the drive during installation can slightly bend the actuator arm, etc.

Whatever the case, a replacement (under warranty in your case) is the only possible fix.

 

[RolandJS]

It doesn't matter how young or how old any HD physically failing is, what matters is that the end-user as soon as possible, yesterday if not today, copy off any and all wanted data folders and files onto external media; after that operations has reached an end, then replace the HD under warranty. Data recovery attempts almost always take precedence over hardware and/software fixing attempts. Let us know when you'
ve successfully got your data onto external media

 

[ViolaMB]

@InvalidError

'a sharp bump into the PC case at the wrong moment can cause a head crash' this could be it if i think about it bacause i have the case on the side of my table and theres a big window next to it so if the windows opened fully it could bump to it, i personally never did it but i don't know if my brother or somebody else just maybe did it...

@RolandJS

as of yesterday night and now today i can't even access the HD anymore, today when i turned on my PC it stays at 'starting windows' and i waited 10 minutes and nothing happens. i turned of my PC, unplugged the HD and then PC starts and loads in 20 seconds. 2 days ago i was able to copy a few folders/files but nowi can't even start my PC if the drive is plugged in.

any other possible way i can access the files and try to copy them to a external drive or the other 2 HDs i have in my PC?

 

[InvalidError]

any other possible way i can access the files and try to copy them to a external drive or the other 2 HDs i have in my PC?

The only option you may have left at this point is professional data recovery which may cost hundreds of dollars per gigabyte if the surface has been too heavily damaged for data to be recoverable with a simple head rack swap. That's why me and others told you to use whatever usable life the HDD may have had left on it on backing up your files immediately.

In all likelihood, whatever data you had left on the drive is good as gone now.

You could try putting the HDD in an external USB enclosure so you can hot-plug/unplug the drive independently from your PC so your PC is ready to start copying files as soon as the HDD shows up in Explorer if you are lucky enough that the drive will still give you some more time but don't hold your breath.

 

[DSzymborski]

Yup, using an external USB enclosure and, if straight up copying doesn't work, trying recovery software like EaseUs or Recuva is your best option at this point without going to more expensive ends. If software doesn't work, you're looking at a professional data recovery firm, which can easily go into four figures.

Sadly, the only dependable way to protect important data is before you have a problem, with a robust plan for backing up that data. By the time a hard drive starts to fail, it's typically too late to start doing that.

 

[InvalidError]

Sadly, the only dependable way to protect important data is before you have a problem, with a robust plan for backing up that data. By the time a hard drive starts to fail, it's typically too late to start doing that.

Most HDD failures are progressive. How much time you have left to do your backup depends on how early you notice the signs and how quickly the failure is progressing. If you notice the first signs of the drive lagging due to multiple increasingly frequent retries, you may have several hours left before failure. If you don't notice until drive errors are so severe that the drive quits responding altogether, then you may be in the last minutes.

That said, I agree that ideally, you should have sufficiently up-to-date backups that you shouldn't need to worry about recovering anything beyond your most recently changed files.

 

[RolandJS]

"@RolandJS as of yesterday night and now today i can't even access the HD anymore"
Viola, I was hoping your HD would suddenly work again, long enough to copy data folders and files. Because long ago I too was having a similar problem, I began and practice a routine backup process, two dedicated external HDs per computer making 2 Cs and 2 Ds on each about every 2-3 weeks, sometimes more often.

 

[ViolaMB]

thanks everybody for helping and explaining. like RolandJS said my HD appears to work just enought that i was able to copy quite a lot of the most important files/folders but i hope i'm still able to do it more, problem is i just don't have the time until saturday, so right now i just unplugged the HD a leave it alone until saturday. i tryed starting my PC with the HD plugged in and i waited about 5 minutes until it started automatically checking and repairing the drive(you know that 'windows detected a problem with Disk and it needs repairing') and then i was able to access it in My Computer. i hope saturday i can copy some more and then hopefully get a new one unter warranty.

if i can also ask you this RolandJS, and others...when i get a new internal wd blue 4TB i'm planing to buy another internal 4TB drive so then i can backup/duplicate everything from one drive to the other, so i'll basically have all the data the same on both drives. is this a good idea? you say that you have 2 external drives on your PC with the same data on both, any reason why you don't have 1 or 2 internal drives or is it just a coincidence?

 

[InvalidError]

A simple reason to put backups on external drives is that malware can't infect or destroy data on a drive that is currently turned off.

 

[RolandJS]

You're on the right track as to my backups. I have two 1TB usb pancake-sized platter-driven hard-drives for each computer. Both of the dedicated HDs average two full images of my "c drive" the OS partition and two full images of my "d drive" data partition. While the backup routine normally goes faster using an internal hard-drive, I do not do that because if ransomware somehow got in -- any hard-drive connected to the computer gets hit. External HDs can also be stored in another room or in another location, away from the computer.