I have 2 Seagate 250GB hard drives (ST3250823AS) that has completed a full chkdsk, and both of them have bad sectors. One of them had 7 bad sectors while the second one has 3 bad sectors. Are the drives doomed to fail? SMART says the drive is okay. They will be used as RAID 0 for OS installation (Vista).
hard drive bad sectors?
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OVERKILL
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Run Seagate's diag util on them. If you get a failure code, you can RMA the drives.
use a smart based diagnostic tool, most real bad sectors in the drive is relocated without user notice. You'd be surprise how many bad sectors are on every single drive.
Beyondlogics have a good smart tool, free.
Beyondlogics have a good smart tool, free.
OVERKILL
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PandaBear makes a great point. I would just like to add to it:
Almost every hard drive out there (probably all of them) have SOME bad sectors on them from the factory. These are flagged by the drive, and the user is never made aware of them. They do NOT show up when you run chkdsk.
You sound like your drive is DEVELOPING bad sectors, because they ARE showing up in chkdsk. This can be an issue. This is why I recommended running Seagate's tool (a free download) to test the drive, and if it generates an error code, then you have something you can use to quickly generate an RMA for the drive(s).
Almost every hard drive out there (probably all of them) have SOME bad sectors on them from the factory. These are flagged by the drive, and the user is never made aware of them. They do NOT show up when you run chkdsk.
You sound like your drive is DEVELOPING bad sectors, because they ARE showing up in chkdsk. This can be an issue. This is why I recommended running Seagate's tool (a free download) to test the drive, and if it generates an error code, then you have something you can use to quickly generate an RMA for the drive(s).
I used HDTune to read the SMART data and this is what it says:
---------------------------------------Current--------Worst----------Threshold------Data
(05) Reallocated Sector Count---------98------------98------------36--------------95
---------------------------------------Current--------Worst----------Threshold------Data
(05) Reallocated Sector Count---------98------------98------------36--------------95
I ran SeaTools on one of the drives and the test failed with 86 errors. I was able to repair the errors and it passes.
These are hard drives I pulled from HP computers so I can't RMA them. Well I can at least pull out the magnets and use them as oil filter magnets.
These are hard drives I pulled from HP computers so I can't RMA them. Well I can at least pull out the magnets and use them as oil filter magnets.
OVERKILL
$100 Site Donor 2021
Write zeroes to the drive. Then test it again.
The SeaTools reallocated the bad sectors to spare location, so your data is still fine. It is possible that a hard drive has bad sectors and still run for years, but I wouldn't push it if you need high reliability. Just using it for disposable data should be fine.
The Reallocation data Seagate uses is a score system, you drop below 36 and it is considered fail, and current you are at 98. Data is "raw data" and it means that it has developed 95 bad sectors since it left the factory. Keep an eye on this number and see if it grows, and dump the drive if it suddenly grow big quickly.
The Reallocation data Seagate uses is a score system, you drop below 36 and it is considered fail, and current you are at 98. Data is "raw data" and it means that it has developed 95 bad sectors since it left the factory. Keep an eye on this number and see if it grows, and dump the drive if it suddenly grow big quickly.
Send them back to seagate if they are under warranty still..
Originally Posted By: JustinH
Send them back to seagate if they are under warranty still..
He already said it isn't under warranty. It was pulled from an HP box.
Send them back to seagate if they are under warranty still..
He already said it isn't under warranty. It was pulled from an HP box.
I've always thought that if a drive showed bad sectors with CHKDSK or any other tool like that, it means that the drive has run out of spare sectors to replace the bad sectors with, and it won't be long before it dies completely.
I use a program called Spinrite and it works great for recovering crashed disc's and/or running maintenance on them to prevent data loss. It checks each sector for integrity by checking the voltage at which the magnetic pick-up reads/writes to that spot on the drive. Depending on the voltage depends on weather or not the sector is defective or going to become defective. It has saved me from many crashes and has recovered lots of friends data. It costs money, but it's well worth it, and I run a maintenance scan on my discs every month and I haven't had a crash in many years! You download the Install file and it will make you a Boot Disk or Boot CD. Give it a try!
http://www.grc.com/spinrite.htm
http://www.grc.com/spinrite.htm
Originally Posted By: StevieC
I use a program called Spinrite and it works great for recovering crashed disc's and/or running maintenance on them to prevent data loss. It checks each sector for integrity by checking the voltage at which the magnetic pick-up reads/writes to that spot on the drive.
Every generation of hard drive from different vendor has their own implementation of the analog side of the signals. There is no generic tool that can actually get to the voltage or the magnetic side of the signals.
The data magnetic field is picked up by the head, then amplified by the pre-amp, and decoded by the "channel" of the ASIC. The channel break down the data between servo and the contents. The servo data will tells the DSP how to regulate the spindle and position the actuator, and the data will be decoded into contents that are sectors. Then it is passed through ECC, caching, data reordering, and sent back to the host (PC).
All of the above are proprietary, or collaboration between different vendors/customers/competitors. Spinrite at most will only read raw data to perform ECC on statistics, and I doubt they can even get to the raw data and be able to decode it without manufacture's help.
From what I read on their website, they either rely on file system knowledge or statistical analysis to recreate some of the data.
I use a program called Spinrite and it works great for recovering crashed disc's and/or running maintenance on them to prevent data loss. It checks each sector for integrity by checking the voltage at which the magnetic pick-up reads/writes to that spot on the drive.
Every generation of hard drive from different vendor has their own implementation of the analog side of the signals. There is no generic tool that can actually get to the voltage or the magnetic side of the signals.
The data magnetic field is picked up by the head, then amplified by the pre-amp, and decoded by the "channel" of the ASIC. The channel break down the data between servo and the contents. The servo data will tells the DSP how to regulate the spindle and position the actuator, and the data will be decoded into contents that are sectors. Then it is passed through ECC, caching, data reordering, and sent back to the host (PC).
All of the above are proprietary, or collaboration between different vendors/customers/competitors. Spinrite at most will only read raw data to perform ECC on statistics, and I doubt they can even get to the raw data and be able to decode it without manufacture's help.
From what I read on their website, they either rely on file system knowledge or statistical analysis to recreate some of the data.
Originally Posted By: PandaBear
Originally Posted By: StevieC
I use a program called Spinrite and it works great for recovering crashed disc's and/or running maintenance on them to prevent data loss. It checks each sector for integrity by checking the voltage at which the magnetic pick-up reads/writes to that spot on the drive.
Every generation of hard drive from different vendor has their own implementation of the analog side of the signals. There is no generic tool that can actually get to the voltage or the magnetic side of the signals.
The data magnetic field is picked up by the head, then amplified by the pre-amp, and decoded by the "channel" of the ASIC. The channel break down the data between servo and the contents. The servo data will tells the DSP how to regulate the spindle and position the actuator, and the data will be decoded into contents that are sectors. Then it is passed through ECC, caching, data reordering, and sent back to the host (PC).
All of the above are proprietary, or collaboration between different vendors/customers/competitors. Spinrite at most will only read raw data to perform ECC on statistics, and I doubt they can even get to the raw data and be able to decode it without manufacture's help.
From what I read on their website, they either rely on file system knowledge or statistical analysis to recreate some of the data.
10+ Years using the software, never had a hard disk failure or data-loss. When friends have had Data-Loss I have always been able to recover their data... This in my opinion speaks for itself.
Originally Posted By: StevieC
I use a program called Spinrite and it works great for recovering crashed disc's and/or running maintenance on them to prevent data loss. It checks each sector for integrity by checking the voltage at which the magnetic pick-up reads/writes to that spot on the drive.
Every generation of hard drive from different vendor has their own implementation of the analog side of the signals. There is no generic tool that can actually get to the voltage or the magnetic side of the signals.
The data magnetic field is picked up by the head, then amplified by the pre-amp, and decoded by the "channel" of the ASIC. The channel break down the data between servo and the contents. The servo data will tells the DSP how to regulate the spindle and position the actuator, and the data will be decoded into contents that are sectors. Then it is passed through ECC, caching, data reordering, and sent back to the host (PC).
All of the above are proprietary, or collaboration between different vendors/customers/competitors. Spinrite at most will only read raw data to perform ECC on statistics, and I doubt they can even get to the raw data and be able to decode it without manufacture's help.
From what I read on their website, they either rely on file system knowledge or statistical analysis to recreate some of the data.
10+ Years using the software, never had a hard disk failure or data-loss. When friends have had Data-Loss I have always been able to recover their data... This in my opinion speaks for itself.
I used SpinRite many years ago when it first came out in the days of DOS. This was when hard drives were 5" full size height and MFM and RLL based.
I haven't heard of SpinRite mentioned in years. I thought they went away. It's good to see that they're still in business. I might just give their new updated version a try.
I haven't heard of SpinRite mentioned in years. I thought they went away. It's good to see that they're still in business. I might just give their new updated version a try.
Their new version still boots off a Disk or CD and is still dos-based. They really have come a long way since the first version of 4 I had used...
I would give you a copy but mine says "Licenses to NAME HERE"
Sorry bud.
I would give you a copy but mine says "Licenses to NAME HERE"
Sorry bud.
OVERKILL
$100 Site Donor 2021
Originally Posted By: StevieC
Originally Posted By: PandaBear
Originally Posted By: StevieC
I use a program called Spinrite and it works great for recovering crashed disc's and/or running maintenance on them to prevent data loss. It checks each sector for integrity by checking the voltage at which the magnetic pick-up reads/writes to that spot on the drive.
Every generation of hard drive from different vendor has their own implementation of the analog side of the signals. There is no generic tool that can actually get to the voltage or the magnetic side of the signals.
The data magnetic field is picked up by the head, then amplified by the pre-amp, and decoded by the "channel" of the ASIC. The channel break down the data between servo and the contents. The servo data will tells the DSP how to regulate the spindle and position the actuator, and the data will be decoded into contents that are sectors. Then it is passed through ECC, caching, data reordering, and sent back to the host (PC).
All of the above are proprietary, or collaboration between different vendors/customers/competitors. Spinrite at most will only read raw data to perform ECC on statistics, and I doubt they can even get to the raw data and be able to decode it without manufacture's help.
From what I read on their website, they either rely on file system knowledge or statistical analysis to recreate some of the data.
10+ Years using the software, never had a hard disk failure or data-loss. When friends have had Data-Loss I have always been able to recover their data... This in my opinion speaks for itself.
Dude, my 8088 still has it's original hard drive
It's now more than 20 years old!
Originally Posted By: PandaBear
Originally Posted By: StevieC
I use a program called Spinrite and it works great for recovering crashed disc's and/or running maintenance on them to prevent data loss. It checks each sector for integrity by checking the voltage at which the magnetic pick-up reads/writes to that spot on the drive.
Every generation of hard drive from different vendor has their own implementation of the analog side of the signals. There is no generic tool that can actually get to the voltage or the magnetic side of the signals.
The data magnetic field is picked up by the head, then amplified by the pre-amp, and decoded by the "channel" of the ASIC. The channel break down the data between servo and the contents. The servo data will tells the DSP how to regulate the spindle and position the actuator, and the data will be decoded into contents that are sectors. Then it is passed through ECC, caching, data reordering, and sent back to the host (PC).
All of the above are proprietary, or collaboration between different vendors/customers/competitors. Spinrite at most will only read raw data to perform ECC on statistics, and I doubt they can even get to the raw data and be able to decode it without manufacture's help.
From what I read on their website, they either rely on file system knowledge or statistical analysis to recreate some of the data.
10+ Years using the software, never had a hard disk failure or data-loss. When friends have had Data-Loss I have always been able to recover their data... This in my opinion speaks for itself.
Dude, my 8088 still has it's original hard drive
I still have my original 80mb hard drive from my 386. It's a Seagate and will be 20 years old next year... ('89). hehehe
I wish I would have kept my Epson 8088; good times with that thing.
Like brianl703, my understanding on hard drives of late is when you start seeing bad sectors; it's time to replace the drive. Embedded drive management (SMART, ect) seem to automatically move data from bad sectors and mark them bad without reporting it to the user.
But once it runs out of it's stash of spare sectors, it has to mark them bad as hard drives of the past had to do. And then you see it reported in chkdsk, ect.
Correct me if I'm wrong though. I haven't had a harddrive since my old 40meg Seagate report any. Maybe a couple on some older 1.2gig Seagates but nothing since.
Like brianl703, my understanding on hard drives of late is when you start seeing bad sectors; it's time to replace the drive. Embedded drive management (SMART, ect) seem to automatically move data from bad sectors and mark them bad without reporting it to the user.
But once it runs out of it's stash of spare sectors, it has to mark them bad as hard drives of the past had to do. And then you see it reported in chkdsk, ect.
Correct me if I'm wrong though. I haven't had a harddrive since my old 40meg Seagate report any. Maybe a couple on some older 1.2gig Seagates but nothing since.
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