Fixing Bad Sectors on Hard Drive

jaib9990

New Member
Messages
19
I am unable able to load into Windows 8. The automatic repair and chkdsk is taking 3 days and still hasn't fixed the issues.

I used Ubuntu live USB to backup all the data on my hard drive, however some files failed to be backed up. I did a SMART disk check in Ubuntu and it reported that my drive has bad sectors.

Is there anyway I can fix the bad sectors to backup the remaining files that failed to transfer?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8
You could try chkdsk /r or spinrite
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    7/8/ubuntu/Linux Deepin
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
Use sudo fdisk -l to list all the drives and their partitions. For each drive:

sudo badblocks -nvs /dev/sdx

where your hard drive is /dev/sdx. This will perform a non-destructive read/write test on the disk without doing a filesystem check.

If you don't care about the data, you can do this instead, to do a more thorough scan:

sudo badblocks -wvs /dev/sdx

The -w option tells badblocks to write a known pattern, then read back the data to make sure it matches the pattern. It does this 4 times, using the patterns 0xaa, 0x55, 0xff, and 0x00 (alternating 0's and 1's, then all 1's, then all 0's). Note that this will overwrite all data on the drive and wipe out all the partitions, as well.
If you happen to have a Linux filesystem on the drive, you can check for filesystem errors and run badblocks at the same time.

First, get the list of all the drives and their partitions:

sudo fdisk -l

Then for each partition:

sudo e2fsck -fcc /dev/sdx#

Again, /dev/sdx is the hard drive you want to scan. # is the number of the partition (e.g., /dev/sdb1). Specifying c twice will force fsck to run, and will use badblocks to do a non-destructive read-write test. If you just use the c option once, badblocks will do a read-only test.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 8 and Linux (MINT)
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo Win 8 & Toshiba Linux
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung SyncMaster
majulook, where can I find sudo fdisk for windows? Googling didn't give me a clear download utility URL :)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7 Pro 64bit [MS blue-disk set]
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    2 Acers & 1 Antec[?]
    CPU
    i7 in 2 Acers, i5 in desktop
    Motherboard
    Desktop w/Gigabyte
    Memory
    Two w/16GB, 1 w/8GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Laptops GameWorthy; Desktop maybe GameWorthy
    Monitor(s) Displays
    flatscreens; 2 are BluRay worthy
    Screen Resolution
    1368x768; 1600x900
    Hard Drives
    1TB internals; 2 ext usb WD 1TB HDs
    PSU
    what's PSU?
    Cooling
    Regular plus external fans
    Keyboard
    desktio w/PS2
    Mouse
    desktop w/PS2
    Internet Speed
    DSL middle level [160?]
    Browser
    from Netscape 0.9 to FF 36
    Antivirus
    well-balanced, well-configured mult-layered defense is best
    Other Info
    From MS-DOS 3.3, MS-DOS 6.22, from Windows 3.1 to WFW 3.11 to Windows 95-98SE, now to Windows 7 Pro.
    Security for now: Windows 7 Firewall, Emsisoft AM, MSE [scan-only], SpywareBlaster, Ruiware/BillP combine
Use sudo fdisk -l to list all the drives and their partitions. For each drive:

sudo badblocks -nvs /dev/sdx

where your hard drive is /dev/sdx. This will perform a non-destructive read/write test on the disk without doing a filesystem check.

If you don't care about the data, you can do this instead, to do a more thorough scan:

sudo badblocks -wvs /dev/sdx

The -w option tells badblocks to write a known pattern, then read back the data to make sure it matches the pattern. It does this 4 times, using the patterns 0xaa, 0x55, 0xff, and 0x00 (alternating 0's and 1's, then all 1's, then all 0's). Note that this will overwrite all data on the drive and wipe out all the partitions, as well.
If you happen to have a Linux filesystem on the drive, you can check for filesystem errors and run badblocks at the same time.

First, get the list of all the drives and their partitions:

sudo fdisk -l

Then for each partition:

sudo e2fsck -fcc /dev/sdx#

Again, /dev/sdx is the hard drive you want to scan. # is the number of the partition (e.g., /dev/sdb1). Specifying c twice will force fsck to run, and will use badblocks to do a non-destructive read-write test. If you just use the c option once, badblocks will do a read-only test.

Thanks majulook
The commands you specified me to run in Linux are to test which blocks are bad on a specific partition. However, it is possible at all to FIX the blocks WITHOUT losing the data. I was able to backup on my data however, few folders within /Users/myusername/Desktop were corrupted. I need to recover the data, it is very important.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8
Sorry, but you can't "fix" bad sectors (which are hardware issues) using software. I know SpinRite claims to do this, but that claim has been debunked years ago.

Also, it is useless to provide Linux filesystem commands to "fix" Windows filesystem problems.

CHKDSK, the most used Windows utility, doesn't "fix" bad sectors, either, it only attempts to find filesystem problems and migrate used block to other, good, sectors.
 

My Computer

Would it be worth ofline sector-by-sector imaging or cloning the drive and then accessing the clone or image?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 with Bing x64
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Aspire ES1-512-CSYW
    CPU
    Intel Celeron N2840 @ 2.16GHz
    Motherboard
    Acer Aspire ES1-512 BIOS: Insyde Corps V1.07
    Memory
    4GB DDR3L SDRAM
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel HD
    Internet Speed
    10Mb/s 3 Network HSPA+
    Browser
    IE11 and Firefox
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
Sorry, but you can't "fix" bad sectors (which are hardware issues) using software. I know SpinRite claims to do this, but that claim has been debunked years ago.

Also, it is useless to provide Linux filesystem commands to "fix" Windows filesystem problems.

CHKDSK, the most used Windows utility, doesn't "fix" bad sectors, either, it only attempts to find filesystem problems and migrate used block to other, good, sectors.

So does this mean I won't be able to recover the files?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8
Would it be worth ofline sector-by-sector imaging or cloning the drive and then accessing the clone or image?

How can I do this? Do I just clone the Windows partition or the entire hard drive? I am guessing this would require me to have another hard drive the same size or larger?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8
majulook, where can I find sudo fdisk for windows? Googling didn't give me a clear download utility URL :)

This is for LINUX the OP is using a Ubuntu Live USB to run the check and fix
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 8 and Linux (MINT)
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo Win 8 & Toshiba Linux
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung SyncMaster
OP -- Who made the drive you might find a tool on the support site for the drive that might assist with the bad sector movement of data

You can try
Check out
Hiren's BootCD 15.2 - All in one Bootable CD » www.hiren.info
(Download URL) Download Hiren

HDAT2 4.9B1
Unstoppable Copier 5.2

may work...

The process might take a long time.
Plus there are bunch of other very handy tools on that disk.

Simply download the software, burn the ISO to a CD and boot from the CD.

The paid version of this does work (I never used the free version) Best Hard Disk Repair Software to Fix Bad Sectors on Hard Drive
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 8 and Linux (MINT)
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo Win 8 & Toshiba Linux
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung SyncMaster
OP -- Who made the drive you might find a tool on the support site for the drive that might assist with the bad sector movement of data

You can try
Check out
Hiren's BootCD 15.2 - All in one Bootable CD » www.hiren.info
(Download URL) Download Hiren

HDAT2 4.9B1
Unstoppable Copier 5.2

may work...

The process might take a long time.
Plus there are bunch of other very handy tools on that disk.

Simply download the software, burn the ISO to a CD and boot from the CD.

The paid version of this does work (I never used the free version) Best Hard Disk Repair Software to Fix Bad Sectors on Hard Drive

Do I need to close the entire hard drive or can I get away with cloning only the Windows partition? IS there a way to backup the cloned image to a network drive instead of buying a external drive to save the close image to?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8
Would it be worth ofline sector-by-sector imaging or cloning the drive and then accessing the clone or image?

How can I do this? Do I just clone the Windows partition or the entire hard drive? I am guessing this would require me to have another hard drive the same size or larger?
You would clone the entire disk if you only cloned window you would only be able to extract windows files. Its your data files you want to extract. Yes you need a disk or something to image it too and to extract your files to. once you salvage the files you can you can use that disk to maintain a back up scheme or routine. If you can't handle a routine get Carbonite it will keep your data files backed up real time. I use it as part of my back up Scheme. It has bailed me out more than once.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro MC
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus G75VW / Z97 Pro
    CPU
    Intel Core i7-3610QM / I7-4790K
    Motherboard
    Z97 Pro
    Memory
    16 GB Hyundai HTM315156CFR8C-PB PC3-12800
    Graphics Card(s)
    nVIDIA GeForce GTX 670M (GF114M)
    Sound Card
    VIA 6.0.10.1600
    Screen Resolution
    1080
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 850 Pro 256, Samsung 850 Pro 1TB
    Internet Speed
    30 down 3 up
    Browser
    Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    NIS and Malwarebytes
The Linux tools would work better in moving data sector by sector. There is also EaseUS Data recovery tech that can do a Sector by Sector move.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Linux Mint 17.2
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Toshiba Satellite C850D-st3nx1
    CPU
    AMD E1-1200 APU with Radeon (tm) HD Graphics 1.40 GHZ
    Memory
    12GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    AMD Radeon™ HD 7310 Graphics
    Sound Card
    Realtek HD
    Monitor(s) Displays
    LCD
    Screen Resolution
    1366 x 768
    Hard Drives
    Crucial M500 240GB SSD
    Mouse
    Logitech M525
    Internet Speed
    45/6 - ATT U-Verse
    Browser
    Google Chrome
    Antivirus
    None needed. It is Linux.
    Other Info
    Arris NVG589 Gateway; Router - Cisco RV320; Switch - Netgear GS108 8-Port Switch & Trendnet TEG-S50g 5-Port Switch; Access Points - Engenius ECB350, Trendnet TEW-638APB; NAS - Lenovo ix2-4; Printer - Brother HL-2280DW; Air Print Server - Lantronix XPrintServer

    A/V UPS - Tripp-Lite Smart 1500LCD 1500 Va/900 W.
Thanks majulook, I didn't recognize what Ubuntu was -- until I reRead the thread :)

Concerning Spinrite -- I have used it in the past. There are a very few things Spinrite can "fix," or "reAlign," etc.
While a hardware-bad sector cannot be fixed, hopefully a realignment of the read/write heads, a refresh, a rewrite of the contents within a non-totally bad sector, a weak sector, can bring back contents of said marginal sector, just long enough to enable image backup, folder/file backup -- ir done within hours, within minutes of said recovery. I've done it with older IDE HDs, once on an early SATA HD [I think that's what is was]. After backup, hopefully a restore onto another known-good HD will bring back needed folders/files.
I do not know what & if Spinrite 6 can do to recover content within today's platter-clatter drives. Haven't tried that.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7 Pro 64bit [MS blue-disk set]
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    2 Acers & 1 Antec[?]
    CPU
    i7 in 2 Acers, i5 in desktop
    Motherboard
    Desktop w/Gigabyte
    Memory
    Two w/16GB, 1 w/8GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Laptops GameWorthy; Desktop maybe GameWorthy
    Monitor(s) Displays
    flatscreens; 2 are BluRay worthy
    Screen Resolution
    1368x768; 1600x900
    Hard Drives
    1TB internals; 2 ext usb WD 1TB HDs
    PSU
    what's PSU?
    Cooling
    Regular plus external fans
    Keyboard
    desktio w/PS2
    Mouse
    desktop w/PS2
    Internet Speed
    DSL middle level [160?]
    Browser
    from Netscape 0.9 to FF 36
    Antivirus
    well-balanced, well-configured mult-layered defense is best
    Other Info
    From MS-DOS 3.3, MS-DOS 6.22, from Windows 3.1 to WFW 3.11 to Windows 95-98SE, now to Windows 7 Pro.
    Security for now: Windows 7 Firewall, Emsisoft AM, MSE [scan-only], SpywareBlaster, Ruiware/BillP combine
I used the dd command in linux to clone the corrupted hard drive (1TB) onto a 3TB blank hard drive. I got input/output error and the dd command stopped. I am now running the dd command again with conv=noerror,sync option to fully clone the drive.

Does this mean that I won't be able to ever backup the corrupted files?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8
I used the dd command in linux to clone the corrupted hard drive (1TB) onto a 3TB blank hard drive. I got input/output error and the dd command stopped. I am now running the dd command again with conv=noerror,sync option to fully clone the drive.

Does this mean that I won't be able to ever backup the corrupted files?

Macrium Reflect can be instructed to copy a disk and ignore bad sectors in Other Tasks.

v5: Imaging disks with bad sectors (Bad Sectors)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 with Bing x64
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Aspire ES1-512-CSYW
    CPU
    Intel Celeron N2840 @ 2.16GHz
    Motherboard
    Acer Aspire ES1-512 BIOS: Insyde Corps V1.07
    Memory
    4GB DDR3L SDRAM
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel HD
    Internet Speed
    10Mb/s 3 Network HSPA+
    Browser
    IE11 and Firefox
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
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