[SOLVED] Samsung 970 EVO 2TB with bad sector errors - now fine???

[cmw_a1]

I have a Samsung 970 EVO 2TB NVME SSD that was dropped off to me in a non functional computer for data recovery and recycling. I was able to recover almost all the data but the drive had a few bad sectors, luckily on not so critical files. I ran CHKDSK /R on the drive and it aborted due to an unspecified error, but not before finding several bad sectors. I figured this was a dud SSD but deleted all partitions and formatted the drive from scratch. I didn't use the quick format option either so it took a few minutes. The format was successful when I came back to the computer and no errors were reported. A subsequent CHKDSK /R found no issues with the drive or listed bad sectors (they were reallocated with spare flash). I checked the SMART status of the drive with Samsung Magician and a couple other utilities and it shows that this is a good drive.

I am always nervous when I find bad sectors on a drive and consider them to be questionable. Usually this is a mechanical drive I am talking about. Should I count on this SSD for anything important or consider it a cull?

Conor

 

[USAFRet]

Should I count on this SSD for anything important or consider it a cull?

Regardless what any software shows you, you should always have a good backup routine and be prepared for total death suddenly, at any moment.

 

[geofelt]

Likely, the drive is good.
If there was a power failure at an inopportune time, some update may have not completed properly. I think Magician can test the drive and if it tests good, I would use it just like a new drive.

That said, USAFRet is right. If you value anything on the drive, have an external backup of it.

 

[cmw_a1]

Likely, the drive is good.
If there was a power failure at an inopportune time, some update may have not completed properly. I think Magician can test the drive and if it tests good, I would use it just like a new drive.

That said, USAFRet is right. If you value anything on the drive, have an external backup of it.

Good to know. I am a backup NAZI myself so not too worried about data loss. I don't want it to have bad sectors that creep in and cause a failure at a bad time. I think I will just hang onto it and throw it in a media player laptop in the future so it won't be in something mission critical.

I wondered if something had happened like a power failure or an issue with the drivers/chipset of the other computer. It appears the motherboard is bad in that unit as the RAM tested good in other system.

Conor