Got a corrupt sector that needs repairing

[willyam255]

Hey guys,

My HDD has recently failed on me. I was downloading a file when my laptop froze and following a reboot i was met with a blank screen and i simply could not load past it. This was present before seeing any windows logo, and there was absolutely no access to my desktop or even to the point of the log-on screen.

I have tried formatting the HDD by using the Windows install/recovery disc, and i think this has succeeded in simply removing all information on the drive and not fixed the problem. There is only 1 partition on the drive. I have also attempted to reinstall Windows after formatting, but it just results in freezing and a reboot always takes me back to a black screen.

So now i have run out of ideas, and was wondering if anyone out there has any idea how to overcome this problem. I do have another HDD that im currently using, with Windows 7 etc. installed so i can access my desktop if needed.

Thanks

 

[Joe C]

It is possible to make a partition that has the bad sector and not use it. Now depending where the bad sector is may determine how feasible this is. You can use MHDD or ViVARD to locate the bad sector, These Applications ca be found on the Ultimate Boot CD
Ultimate Boot CD - Overview
I have done this before, but hard drives do not get better with usage and more bad sectors may show up. It might be fun to play with just to see if you can do it anyway. You won't be able to do anything with the bad sector, so you need to make a partition before the bad sector and another partition after the area with the bad sector. Then you can see if you can get windows to install on one of the partitions the you created

 

[carnageX]

Just run chkdsk /f /r on the drive and it will automatically mark off the bad sector to not be used by the OS. No need to make a partition yourself that contains the bad sector or antything silly like that.

 

[Joe C]

I have tried formatting the HDD by using the Windows install/recovery disc, and i think this has succeeded in simply removing all information on the drive

very judgmental comment carnageX....he does not have an o.s.
My personal experience with a bad sector tells me that his pc will lock up when it attempts to read the bad sector even if he were to do a check disk. Please make some kind of attempt to be nice to folks if you want them to hang around here
I suggested that the OP make partitions around the bad sector, not a partition containing the bad sector. With a bad sector, it's very unlikely he would be able to make a partition

 

[carnageX]

very judgmental comment carnageX....he does not have an o.s.
My personal experience with a bad sector tells me that his pc will lock up when it attempts to read the bad sector even if he were to do a check disk. Please make some kind of attempt to be nice to folks if you want them to hang around here

Not really judgemental at all. An OS is not needed to perform a chkdsk /f /r on the drive. You can boot of of a Windows disc and go into recovery mode, or another boot disc that has command-line tools on it.

WHen using the /r flag on a drive, it marks off the sectors that are found to be bad to be unusable. In the thousands of drives I've ran chkdsk on, the only time a chkdsk would fail is if it was more of a problem than just bad sectors, or there were too many for the drive to even operation (let alone format).

More information on chkdsk flags for your reference:
Chkdsk

I was not berating or flaming or anything. I was simply stating that chkdsk is a built-in utility and creating partitions around bad sectors is unneeded. You would also need to know the exact location of the bad sectors to be able to partition around them.

 

[Joe C]

I already recommended MHDD to find the location of the bad sector.
HDDGURU: MHDD

This software can make precise diagnostic of the mechanical part of a drive, view SMART attributes, perform Low-level format, bad sector repair, different tests and tens of other functions.

It's a very good diagnostic program for hard drives, maybe you can check it out some day

 

[carnageX]

Still, it's more work than is necessary.

I usually use SpinRite for diagnostics and recovery of HDD's.

 

[Joe C]

The reason I mentioned making the partitions is that I have seen bad sector(s) from physical damage to the platter itself (head crash), having a laptop would greatly increase this type of damage. You can not do anything with this area of the drive, it will only lock up the pc when attempting to scan it (check disk) or it will only show unrepairable area (third party software). It's a good idea to see if it can be repaired first because nobody can tell how bad this sector is damaged. Spinrite can also be a good alternative to check the status of this sector on the drive, but it's not free

 

[carnageX]

In that case you should just replace the drive if there is physical damage to the drive because it will eventually spread.

 

[Joe C]

I agree, making a partition around the bad sector will buy you some more time, how much I do not think anybody can say. It will need to be replaced