windows 8 - Is it possible to mark or segregate bad blocks on HDD?

07
2014-07
  • Gondil

    Hello I want to know if is it possible to mark bad blocks on HDD for OS to not use them. I don't want to save data written on this blocks, just want to get rid of them.

    I found some article where author describe how to partition disk to avoid using bad blocks of HDD. Here is screen of surface scan of my HDD. I count how many MB from the start are OK. And also how many MB from end are OK. It looks like I will lost about 50GB of storage space but it is quite fine for me when the disk will run one year more.

    First I split disk to 2 partitions:

    1. From beginning to around 190 GB
    2. From 190GB to the end

    Then I made surface scan of 2nd partition and everything was OK. I was really happy cause i though that finally I will succeed.

    Than I wanted to copy all data from 1st partition to 2nd BUT in some data a problem occurs. I/O error. I'd say it is Read problem but when I open file on which copying failed it runs OK, for example some pdf files didn't copied but I opened them.

    What can be problem can it be a Write problem? But why there is a problem when surface scan on whole 2nd partition was fine?

    What can I do(except buying new HDD)? Can I somehow do this partitioning and use just partition with good sectors? Will it work? How are data stored on the disk? Can I determine where the data will be written?

  • Answers
  • Rod Smith

    Modern hard disks support Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology (SMART), which automatically maps out bad blocks, replacing them from a pool of blocks that are OK. If you're seeing bad blocks at the OS level, that means that your disk has run out of its "emergency supply" of backup blocks. Normally this is a sign that the disk is on its last legs. Although it could last for months with just that one bad block, it's more likely to begin developing more bad blocks in the near future. In fact, it may do so catastrophically, with the number of bad blocks spreading to consume vast quantities of your data in a matter of minutes.

    Thus, I do not recommend using a software solution to map out your one bad block; instead, replace the whole disk. Although tools to map out individual bad blocks do exist, they were written for pre-SMART hard disks, when a handful of bad blocks were common on brand-new disks. Today, the only safe course of action really is to replace the disk.

  • cybernard

    Although I would go with replacing the hard drive as Rod Smith suggested here is how it is done.

    If you have windows with NTFS or FAT file system you go to an administrative command prompt and type:

    chkdsk /r c:

    (You may substitute any drive letter you want for the c:)

    It will ask you if you want to schedule this for next reboot. Say YES. Reboot and let it scan.

    Now if you drive gets new bad sectors you will have to scan all over again.


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    windows - scan partition for bad blocks
  • Ove

    Hello everyone I have a hard disk with bad sectors on it. I want to partition the drive so that the partitions are in the good part of the hard disk, and the parts that have bad sectors are not used. The first ~20GB of the hard disk are good. Then comes a ~13GB part that is riddled with bad sectors. After that, the hard disk is good again, but at the very end there is a ~2GB part with bad sectors. I have used an app called "Hdtune" to get this information, and I have created a 19GB c: partition at the beginning of the drive, then skipping the 13GB of bad sectors, then creating the D: partition that spans the rest of the disk, minus the last 2GB.

    The C: partition works well (i have been using it for a month and i have got no error whatsoever), but the D partition has been giving me problems. Somehow, it seems that I have some bad sectors in the D: partition.

    I am looking for an app that scans the HDD, finds the bad blocks, and shows them in a map so I can see if they are in the D partition. Or, an app that scans only a specified partition for bad sectors, and then shows in a map where the bad sectors are in the partition. I want to know this so I can resize the D partition so that it is outside of the bad area of the disk.


  • Related Answers
  • Ove

    I have found a great app called Partition Wizard. It allows me to do a surface scan on a single partition (not the whole drive) and I can see a map of that partition. I have scanned my D partition, and I have seen that at 98% I got bad sectors. So I shrunk the partition by 1 GB, and now I can use it with (relative) confidence :)