Event 7 Bad block in HDD but normal SMART?

[JohnnyGui]

Good day,

To my surprise, when looking at the log events, I noticed 74 error logs starting from 27th of April saying "Bad block found in device /Device/Harddisk0\DR0

From what I know (although I'm not sure) you can look up the number of the disk in Disk Management and I found that "Disk 0" seems to be my main harddrive. Which is a Hitachi HDS921010DLE630

I used Speccy to retrieve the S.M.A.R.T. data wich are shown in the attachment.

Here's the problem; according to Speccy, these SMART data shouldn't be of any concern since it shows "Good" in all attributes. Although it's all considered "Good", it does show the status as "Warning". The temps are good (29 degrees)
Perhaps someone with more knowledge on this could interpret these results better?

Performing checkdisk also shows that there are no issues nor bad sectors found.

What could be the cause here and should I be worried? Could this by any chance be a false positive and if so, caused by what?

 

[RolandJS]

Booting a usb or dvd boot is best, however, in any way, shape or form: Using anything similar to Macrium Reflect or Acronis True Image, please make one if not two full images of both your OS partition and your data partition onto at least one if not two external hard-drives. You might have months, weeks, or only days or hours -- there is no way to predict. hddguru.com has forums which discuss the hazards of attempting recovery of the information inside of weakening or bad sectors. Backups should be made real soon. And, you might check some of your most important data files with the originating programs to ensure you are not going to get a nasty surprise -- corrupted file due to "moved to another sector" HD internal operations.

 

[JohnnyGui]

Booting a usb or dvd boot is best, however, in any way, shape or form: Using anything similar to Macrium Reflect or Acronis True Image, please make one if not two full images of both your OS partition and your data partition onto at least one if not two external hard-drives. You might have months, weeks, or only days or hours -- there is no way to predict. hddguru.com has forums which discuss the hazards of attempting recovery of the information inside of weakening or bad sectors. Backups should be made real soon. And, you might check some of your most important data files with the originating programs to ensure you are not going to get a nasty surprise -- corrupted file due to "moved to another sector" HD internal operations.

I have indeed made a backup of my wanted data. Is it that serious? How come Speccy say that everything is fine?

 

[RolandJS]

Well, it's possible that I am overreaching the seriousness, I do not know where on the continuum is Speccy's HD report. For a second opinion, download, install, run Auslogics DiskDefrag's SMART section, see what it says. If both report green, all might be well. Please keep your backups current. Perhaps, others in eightforums.com will enter in and give their advice.

 

[Itaregid]

I recommend you open an elevated command prompt and run chkdsk /r on the drive. When prompted to allow chkdsk to run at next boot, follow the prompts to allow that, then reboot. Depending on the size of the drive, this process could take many hours (even overnight) to complete, with the system often appearing to be frozen. Just let it run. If it finds errors it cannot correct, or if you keep getting errors in Event Viewer, I would start looking for sales on drives. Remember ALL drives WILL fail - eventually - especially those with moving parts.

Note that S.M.A.R.T. is not an industry standard so it is not always consistently implemented correctly on all systems. A S.M.A.R.T. error that cannot be corrected does typically suggest the drive's reliability is failing. But a lack of a S.M.A.R.T. error does not mean the drive is perfectly okay.

You might also go by the drive maker's own diagnostics utility HGST Windows Drive Fitness Test. Note that Hitachi is now part of Western Digital.

 

[JohnnyGui]

I recommend you open an elevated command prompt and run chkdsk /r on the drive. When prompted to allow chkdsk to run at next boot, follow the prompts to allow that, then reboot. Depending on the size of the drive, this process could take many hours (even overnight) to complete, with the system often appearing to be frozen. Just let it run. If it finds errors it cannot correct, or if you keep getting errors in Event Viewer, I would start looking for sales on drives. Remember ALL drives WILL fail - eventually - especially those with moving parts.

Note that S.M.A.R.T. is not an industry standard so it is not always consistently implemented correctly on all systems. A S.M.A.R.T. error that cannot be corrected does typically suggest the drive's reliability is failing. But a lack of a S.M.A.R.T. error does not mean the drive is perfectly okay.

You might also go by the drive maker's own diagnostics utility HGST Windows Drive Fitness Test. Note that Hitachi is now part of Western Digital.

Thanks for the info. Something weird just happened. So I ran chkdsk /r at next boot and after it finished I let Speccy show me the S.M.A.R.T. data again and now it says that the HDD has 602 Reallocated Sectors Count (359 before), and 64 Current Pending Sector Count (16 before).
Could a chkdsk /r provoke such a thing? See the attachment for the log of the chkdsk /r.

The HGST WDF test you linked me to doesn't show my HDD in the list so I can't select and scan it with the program for some reason.

 

[RolandJS]

By the way, when I recommended Auslogics DiskDefrag -- I meant to include: do only advanced/custom install! Do not use normal/express install. Custom/advanced install lets you UNclick the unwanted stuff, and lets you decline the offer following the defrag install.

 

[JohnnyGui]

By the way, when I recommended Auslogics DiskDefrag -- I meant to include: do only advanced/custom install! Do not use normal/express install. Custom/advanced install lets you UNclick the unwanted stuff, and lets you decline the offer following the defrag install.

I'm considering to fully zero-write the harddrive to scan and see if it can reallocate the bad sectors.
I have a Hitachi HDD but I'm not sure which software to use for this. Any ideas on this?

 

[Itaregid]

chkdsk will attempt to repair any bad sectors. If it cannot, it will move any data there to a good spot, them mark the old as bad. If me, I would run it again.

Zero write does not do anything in terms of recovering any bad sectors. A full (not quick) will hit every storage location and if bad, mark it bad and unusual but of course, will delete any data you might want to keep.

 

[JohnnyGui]

chkdsk will attempt to repair any bad sectors. If it cannot, it will move any data there to a good spot, them mark the old as bad. If me, I would run it again.

Zero write does not do anything in terms of recovering any bad sectors. A full (not quick) will hit every storage location and if bad, mark it bad and unusual but of course, will delete any data you might want to keep.

The thing is, that there are an increasing number of pending sectors that chkdsk apparently can't seem to correct. Zero-writing would delete everything on these sectors (the HDD would "notice" that the data on it is irrelevant) and not use it in the future, at least that's what I read
about it.

What I want is to start fresh with data only on the working sectors and not have any pending ones. And see from there how it will go.

 

[RolandJS]

I'm considering to fully zero-write the harddrive to scan and see if it can reallocate the bad sectors.
I have a Hitachi HDD but I'm not sure which software to use for this. Any ideas on this?

There are several zero-writers, DBAN is just one of the many. Remember, if the ReAllocation count is creeping upwards, if the hard-drive is slowly failing, you are only re-arranging the chairs on the Titanic.

 

[JohnnyGui]

I'm considering to fully zero-write the harddrive to scan and see if it can reallocate the bad sectors.
I have a Hitachi HDD but I'm not sure which software to use for this. Any ideas on this?

There are several zero-writers, DBAN is just one of the many. Remember, if the ReAllocation count is creeping upwards, if the hard-drive is slowly failing, you are only re-arranging the chairs on the Titanic.

I fully agree with you and I love the analogy . I'm curious to see how fast the count will go up from scratch. Do you happen to know the limit of the number of reallocation sectors in a HDD?

 

[Itaregid]

The thing is, that there are an increasing number of pending sectors that chkdsk apparently can't seem to correct. Zero-writing would delete everything on these sectors (the HDD would "notice" that the data on it is irrelevant) and not use it in the future, at least that's what I read
about it.

What I want is to start fresh with data only on the working sectors and not have any pending ones. And see from there how it will go.

No, you are confused. When you "zero write" a drive, you do just that, you write zeros to every single storage location on the drive. This "wipes" the drive of all data. That is exactly what DBAN does - it "wipes" the drive by writing a bunch of 1s and 0s to every storage location many times. This is to prepare a drive to give away so the next owner does not, and cannot find any of your data. Wipe programs are not diagnostic and repair programs.

The fact chkdsk cannot repair the drive tells me to get rid of the drive - it cannot be trusted any more. Especially since the number of bad clusters keeps going up.

So again, if you run a zero writer or wipe program like DBAN, Erasure, or CCleaner's Drive Wiper program, you will permanently delete (over write) ALL of your data.

 

[RolandJS]

Itaregid, that is what I was earlier stressing -- real soon make backups of folders/files onto external media. Afterwards, just for fun, if DBAN time, DBAN away. The Titanic is going hit the iceberg and sink soon enough.

 

[Itaregid]

And that is fine. I am just trying to stress that DBAN is not a diagnostics or repair tool. It only "wipes" - which is to stay, it just writes a bunch of random 1s and 0s on the disk. If it encounters a problem, it just moves on. You can do the same thing by copying a bunch of big video or music files to the disk until you run out of space. Then delete them, and copy some more. Do that a few times and you accomplish the same thing as DBAN.

 

[JohnnyGui]

And that is fine. I am just trying to stress that DBAN is not a diagnostics or repair tool. It only "wipes" - which is to stay, it just writes a bunch of random 1s and 0s on the disk. If it encounters a problem, it just moves on. You can do the same thing by copying a bunch of big video or music files to the disk until you run out of space. Then delete them, and copy some more. Do that a few times and you accomplish the same thing as DBAN.

My purpose was not to have any data in the bad sectors. By zero-writing it, the HDD will mark them as bad sectors and not use them for the coming time period if any new data is going to be written. Also, I wanted to reset Current Pending Sectors and see how fast it will increase from that.

I just zero-written the harddisk using the command prompt and after putting all my data back, Speccy is saying now that there are 0 Current Pending Sectors. Obviously, the number reallocation sectors has now increased but at least I don't have any data in any bad sectors as before (for now). Chkdsk is now also saying that there are 0 bad files while it said there was 32kb before.

Nevertheless, I understand that this doesn't fix the problem and that zero-writing doesn't repair the HDD (I just didn't like to have data in bad sectors) and I'm buying a new HDD in about 2 weeks or so. I have backed up everything in the mean time.

 

[Itaregid]

By zero-writing it, the HDD will mark them as bad sectors

I don't get you. Why do you keep saying that? Three times (four now) I have repeatedly told you that is NOT how zero-write programs work. They are not diagnostic tools. They don't mark sectors as bad. They just wipe (over-write several times) any pre-existing data so the next owner can not find any of your data. Full (not quick) formats, chkdsk /r, and some diagnostic tools will mark sectors as bad, but wipe (zero-writing tools) do not.

But since you refuse to accept that, I give up. Have a good day.

 

[JohnnyGui]

By zero-writing it, the HDD will mark them as bad sectors

I don't get you. Why do you keep saying that? Three times (four now) I have repeatedly told you that is NOT how zero-write programs work. They are not diagnostic tools. They don't mark sectors as bad. They just wipe (over-write several times) any pre-existing data so the next owner can not find any of your data. Full (not quick) formats, chkdsk /r, and some diagnostic tools will mark sectors as bad, but wipe (zero-writing tools) do not.

But since you refuse to accept that, I give up. Have a good day.

I don't mean to refuse to accept your explanation without any grounds. I think you don't get me, as you said.

My statement is based on readings that I did and these readings tell me that zero-writing DOES make the HDD mark bad sectors and will never use these bad sectors further (.e.g hide them). Any new data that will be written afterwards will be put on spare sectors that the HDD has chosen to reallocate these data to, away from those bad sectors.

That's why chkdsk won't find any bad sectors after zero-writing because the HDD has chosen to ignore those bad sectors since every new data will be written on the reallocated spare sectors. Also, that's why S.M.A.R.T is now giving me 0 Current Pending Sectors since there are NO data in bad sectors that are yet to be reallocated now (these bad sectors now merely contain zero's). Before that, there was data on those bad sectors that Windows wasn't able to read or reallocate simply because they were too corrupted, despite the error correcting technique. So in my case, chkdsk /r wasn't able to remap the data on those bad sectors so the only way to "fix" this is by telling the HDD that I don't need the data on those bad sectors by writing zero's and thus the HDD would hide those bad sectors from future use and put all the new data after the zero-writing in normal functioning sectors.

I really don't mean to just refuse anything you say mindlessly, I could be understanding this the wrong way, but here are the readings about this:

See first post:
Bad sectors on hard disk - Hard Drives - Storage

Here's also a clear explanation on this (especially the 3rd post):
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3096499

See second post:
Moving Damaged Sectors on HDD - Hard Drives - Storage

Second post here:
"Bad Sector" False Positives: Bad blocks caused by write errors? Solved - Windows 7 Help Forums

Third post here:
My HDD has some bad sectors, should I be getting rid of it? - Hard Drives - Storage

There are more sources and websites where I read this but I don't want to fill this whole post with links. If you'd want them, I'd be happy to share them

 

[Itaregid]

My statement is based on readings that I did and these readings tell me that zero-writing DOES make the HDD mark bad sectors

Then just to make sure I do (or don't) understand you, please provide a link to the specific zero-write program referenced in your readings that claims it marks bad sectors as bad.

Links to other forum posts don't mean anything. Those are just people talking (spreading rumors!!!!) without citing any authoritative source. Please provide a link to a specific program that says its wipe feature marks bad sectors as bad and unusable.

Then and only then will I concede that THAT specific program, does indeed mark bad sectors as bad. Otherwise, I will stick to my statements above. And that is that wipe programs are not diagnostic. They don't test for integrity. They just prepare the disk for disposal so no sensitive data can be retrieved by the new owner (or badguy). It takes a format, chkdsk /r, or a specific diagnostic program intended for that purpose to discover, diagnose, and mark bad sectors as bad.

 

[JohnnyGui]

My statement is based on readings that I did and these readings tell me that zero-writing DOES make the HDD mark bad sectors

Then just to make sure I do (or don't) understand you, please provide a link to the specific zero-write program referenced in your readings that claims it marks bad sectors as bad.

Links to other forum posts don't mean anything. Those are just people talking (spreading rumors!!!!) without citing any authoritative source. Please provide a link to a specific program that says its wipe feature marks bad sectors as bad and unusable.

Then and only then will I concede that THAT specific program, does indeed mark bad sectors as bad. Otherwise, I will stick to my statements above. And that is that wipe programs are not diagnostic. They don't test for integrity. They just prepare the disk for disposal so no sensitive data can be retrieved by the new owner (or badguy). It takes a format, chkdsk /r, or a specific diagnostic program intended for that purpose to discover, diagnose, and mark bad sectors as bad.

I used the command prompt "Clean All" to zero-write the HDD. What I'm stating here is the description of what zero-writing in general does.

People talking could well indeed be spreading rumors, but if I'm providing several other independent sources as well, don't you think the odds of it being rumors would be significantly less? Not to mention that some users there are expertises at this. Next to the fact that my statement actually supports the fact that I'm now not encountering any bad or pending sectors according to chkdsk or S.M.A.R.T. software. I've read other users experiencing the same thing as me (Zero Fill Repairs Disk?).

Since I'm using the the "Clean All" command prompt and you'd like an official statement on zero-writing, here's an MVP from Microsoft (J W Stuart) who is stating that a full format identifies bad sectors and maps them out, see the 4th post:

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/...d/3f94ec6a-e0a2-42d6-9b04-9f71d4e484bb?page=1

A full format is since Windows Vista considered as zero-writing just as it is stated in the Knowledge Base here:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/941961

I'm curious about your sources that explicitly say that zero-writing does NOT mark bad sectors and hide them from data writing in the future. I'd be happy to read them.