How to fix bad sectors or clusters on hard drive ?

[pcbugfixer]

Hi, I've just stumbled across this thread from an internet search.
I have begun using Spinrite and at the moment, and I stress at the moment, it's saying that it will take 84 hours to complete!!!!!!! it's a 160 gig HDD.
Is it healthy to leave my laptop on for such a long period of time, even if it is for the greater good?

If you have a Cooling Pad under the Laptop, or at least raise the Laptop off the desk with 2 pieses of wood on either end to allow air circulation under it, it would be OK.

Obviously if the outside or Room temprature is 40C then the Laptop will most likely get too hot, so keep the Room cool (Air Conditioned = Ideal) at 28C is good.

Good idea is to shut it down and take the Battery out and then run it on Power for that time.

pcbugfixer

[bladerunner0023]

I don't have pieces of wood, so I've had to turn the laptop upside down so it's now like this:



Is this ok?

The LCD display won't run to one side of the screen will it? Also, the current temp is 37 degrees celsius, that's with my bedroom door open and no heating on. There will come a point where I want to put the heating on though!

[pcbugfixer]

Few days before I bought a new hard drive. I want to replace it with my old one but I am facing problems. While copying data from old hard drive using to the new one, it gives me lots of errors:
Error 1561 partition improperly dismounted
Error 1534 cluster crosslinked or not allocated
Error 1609 lost clusters
Only thing I've tried is running chkdsk, I've typed chkdsk /f but it found nothing at all.
Can you explain me why is this happening?

If this is your C: drive then the CMD (from DOS prompt) should have been,
chkdsk /f /r
and it will then prompt you that it can only do this at the next re-boot - type Y for yes and press Enter, then re-boot.

If it is the 2nd HDD then it will perform the task immediately unless you have open files which it will offer to close for you, again type Y for yes and press Enter.

This should fix the, if any, "bad sectors" on your HDD, if it does not then you can try the HDD Regenerator ot the Spinrite.

pcbugfixer

[pcbugfixer]

Bad sectors are marked by software such as scandisk. As the program is testing the data occasionally it hits an area on the disk that cannot normally be read - hence it is marked as 'bad'.
Normally these things cannot be removed as they are actual physical imperfections on the disk. Be aware that if these show up during scans, your disk may be approaching the end of it's life, backup and check frequently!
However, scandisk and some other programs are not perfect and they occasionally will mark sectors as bad even though they are not. You can check for this using some programs (don't know which one).
Note: Scandisk marks bad sectors so that the Operating system no longer uses the clusters and it safeguards that no data gets lost.

Thats why we have chkdsk /f /r (/r = repair) or use HDD Regenerator or Spinrite to regenerate the sectors.

pcbugfixer

[bladerunner0023]

G'Day "bladerunner0023"

Looks OK, but does not look as though you have removed the Battery !!

Also the logic of LCD running to one side (bottom) - Think about this one - So in Normal position it also runs to bottom side !!??

Other question is obviously, If this is cost effective, as a new HDD 160GB costs approx AUD$75.00 - USD$69.00

And buy a Cooling pad for everyday usage, until then, always have a space under the Laptop to allow for air circulation.

pcbugfixer

Also, is it normal for it to say it's going to take 1125 hours???!!!!

[pcbugfixer]

Also, is it normal for it to say it's going to take 1125 hours???!!!!

Spinrite - I don't remember, does not sound to be the norm. Report cCould be right however would not take that long
HDD Regenerator 1.71 from Boot CD or 2nd HDD partition accessed from a boot NTFS floppy with regenerating every sector (Option 4 I thing) takes approx up to 400+ hours.

However I would not use this option with a 160GB HDD and opt for the 1st option to Repair which is faster.

If you are using Spinrite, it also has different methods for performing these repairs - you need to read the Help or How to use files to find out which method best suits you.

pcbugfixer you do you don't.

[DEELOCK]

Question: as i also stumbled upon this thread


pcbugfixer or anyone

Is it possible to recover bad sectors cause by excessive shock
(i ran a dos program, which identified my hd as defective/excessive shock)

i will try and run hdd regenerator 1.71 to see if its possible to recover my hd
but if you think is not going to work Can you please advice me ...

also would you recommend my desktop to run nonstop or shut it down after
a couple of days... many thanks and i appreciate if you shed some light

[pcbugfixer]

G'Day DEELOCK,

1st Q. - Is there any important data on this HDD ?
2nd Q. What Brand name is the HDD ?
3rd Q. Did you download any diagnostic tool from the HDD Manufacturer to test the drive in order to ratify the status i.e. that it is "defective/excessive shock" which a DOS program (which one did you use - there are thousands of these type) ?
4th Q. What capacity is the HDD ?

These are just basic questions.

Other consideration(s) is the cost in time -V- the cost of a new HDD if there is no important data on it.

Running a Desktop PC continuously should be no problem if it is well ventilated, i.e. has extra cooling fans inside - one front sucking air in and one at the back sucking air out (same as power supply fan) I have known simple PC's with only 1 HDD, 1 CD/DVD to run OK with only the power supply fan to run continuously for 1+ years and then ceased, so the decision is yours - however you should be OK in a cool or air conditioned room to run it continuously for this task and address the extra cooling later.
All our systems get shutdown at midnight each day and re=started at 7am, except for the Web Hosting Servers which run continuously 24/7 (365) and may be temporarily shutdown for service or re-booting to initialize new installations.

You cannot shutdown your PC while the recovery programs are running and these can take up to 8 days depending on the HDD size, the CPU speed and memory on the PC, on which you run the recovery program.

pcbugfixer

[DEELOCK]

hello pcbugfixer
Thank you for taking the time to help me
well sorry for not being informative
i will answer your questions first...

1st.. No there is nothing important in the hard drive
2nd. The hard drive is a hitachi 160gb
3rd .. the program (Drive Fitness Test) downloaded from hitachigst
was not successful. I did run the program and selected the option
to erase the hard drive and replace everything with zeros, in which the program ran completely thru but in the end it still show as defective....

well to sum it all up... i have a regular computer meaning no extra cooling fans just the basic hardware to power up a pc.... also as i was typing my first post, i decided to run hdd regenarator 1.71 and it was running fixing bad sectors... well last time i checked it found and fixed 430 sectors which took 4 hours(300,000 sectors scanned).. so i left the pc on and went to bed... i woke up this morning and my pc is shut down, i left it on but dont know what happened, i was thinking it finished, but i knew it only ran for at least 8 hours..... i just did not bother with it no more.......

I am positive that my hard drive is dead... I know that running that fitness test with no success means that the hard drive did not work because it replace all bad sector with zeros, but still wanted a second opinion, in which, i ran hdd regenerator, also with no success....

ok thanks for your help pcbugfixer, i am on my way to buy a new hard drive....

by the way, how good is the program hdd regenerator 1.71? i mean this is my first time running such a program with a fail on my side but still i want to have it for future fixes............... many thanks

[pcbugfixer]

G'Day DEELOCK,,

1. A 160 GB HDD with HDD Regenerator v1.71 should run in repair mode starting at 0, approx 50 hours.

2. In your instance I would try to run a low level formatter like MAXLLF.EXE downloaded from Maxtor - This should only run about 50 minutes or less, then run the HDD Regenerator v1.71 from a boot able CD and use the (I think) 3rd option to regenerate all sectors irrespective of good or bad, taking about up to 72 hours.
NB: We used the HDD Regenerator more than any other similar utility.

3. As to the, i.e. your system stopped after 8+ hours, I think is related to the PC overheating and if it is in a cool room, take the side panels off and make sure that the power unit fan is running i.e. blowing air out at a speed that when you place your hand in front of the fan, you can feel an air flow blowing on your hand.

4. All the PC's we sell have at least the 2 extra fans I mentioned, 1 front taking air in and 1 back sucking air out. These are standard 12v 80x80x25mm fans in addition to the power unit fan and of course the CPU fan and any on the higher end Video (graphic) cards. Graphic cards chip overheating is also a common issue with stopping a PC and it pays to mount (if Possible) a small 12v 40x40x10mm fan on the heat sink.

5. Most important is the Heat-sink units themselves, particularly the CPU's, as they get clogged with dust and other particles and need to be cleaned to ensure that the heat-sink alloy is exposed on all surfaces and clean from grime, otherwise they do not allow heat to dissipate and prevent the chip underneath from cooling correctly!.

pcbugfixer

[ljubisa86]

pcbugfixer i need your help...

i have read your post, and use those two software's, HDD Regenerator, and Spinrite.

Whenever i use Spinrite, the software crashes upon starting scanning.

And when i use HDD Regenerator, it works fine, until it reach some sector like 5987538 and stops over there. It was stopped on that sector more then couple hours. Its stopping on 2.3 GB. And if i run the scan after 4 GB, it works fine without bad sectors.
So i think that the bad sectors are somewhere between 0GB and 3 GB.

I have Seagate 750GB hdd, and i was working really fine last 3 years.
Do you think that i should leave HDD Regenerator to run more and see if will pass those bad sectors?

Also is there anyway that i can cut the partition from 0 to those 3 GB and put them on a side and never use them?

what is your suggestion? Thanks

[pcbugfixer]

G'Day ljubisa86,

HHuummmm ..... Seagate not one that I would choose, that aside, you need to use the Seagate tools SeaTools to start in this instance by running the diagnostics from the bootable CD.

Read the "SeaTools for Windows" section carefully and
1. download the tool
2. Read the tutorial, and
3. Download and read the "Learn More"

Also take note of the "About SeaTools Test Codes" as Seagate had a series of HDD's that had a firmware bug and if your drive is in that series, they will replace it or fix it for you.
Phone Seagate and ask them, have your serial number ready and other firmware details on the label of the HDD. The issue is that the drive appears to be "Kaput" but in fact is not and if they fix the firmware, all your info re-appears, that is IF it is one of the series of HDD with the firmware problem.. If not the read on ....

After you have run the Seagate tools, which should determine the error, Use their low level formatter and then create a new partition then format it and then run the HDD Regenerator v1.71 and do a repair of all, i.e. regenerate all sectors (option 3 or 5 I think) this, if you have a reasonably fast PC to run it on, should only take about 7 to 10 hours for the HDD Regenerator

pcbugfixer

[ljubisa86]

Thanks for your reply,

i already try that software Seagate tools, and it didnt work.
I have that Hirens Boot Cd, and has a lot of software for drivers.

As i said, when i run HDD Regenerator, it stops somewhere on 2.3 GB.
If i run it from 3 GB it runs well...
but it seeps like stops on 2.3 GB and runs over there for all night...

I have some important data, thats why i dont want to format the hard drive.

I will leave HDD Regenerator for couple days, and see what will happen, if not i will format it, and then will try to get the files back with GETDATABACK.

If you have some more idea`s about this please let me know...

[ljubisa86]

Thanks for your reply,

i already try that software Seagate tools, and it didnt work.
I have that Hirens Boot Cd, and has a lot of software for drivers.

As i said, when i run HDD Regenerator, it stops somewhere on 2.3 GB.
If i run it from 3 GB it runs well...
but it seeps like stops on 2.3 GB and runs over there for all night...

I have some important data, thats why i dont want to format the hard drive.

I will leave HDD Regenerator for couple days, and see what will happen, if not i will format it, and then will try to get the files back with GETDATABACK.

If you have some more idea`s about this please let me know...

[ljubisa86]

Thanks for your reply,

i already try that software Seagate tools, and it didnt work.
I have that Hirens Boot Cd, and has a lot of software for drivers.

As i said, when i run HDD Regenerator, it stops somewhere on 2.3 GB.
If i run it from 3 GB it runs well...
but it seeps like stops on 2.3 GB and runs over there for all night...

I have some important data, thats why i dont want to format the hard drive.

I will leave HDD Regenerator for couple days, and see what will happen, if not i will format it, and then will try to get the files back with GETDATABACK.

If you have some more idea`s about this please let me know...