HDD Bad Block.....I tried something

M

Moto Guzzi

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Aug 9, 2002
Messages
1,135
Hi, My HP Laptop HDD throw two HHD Bad Block errors recently.

It only did this when I tried to copy a file over to an external HDD.
-What happens is it copy it somewhere halfway, then explorer hangs, get error bad block for main drive.
-If try to copy the file over to itself, same thing happens(Two files).
-I can rename it.....It does not change position on disk.
-I can delete it.
-The file SIZE is what it was suppose to be.

So it happened again with another file. So after some thinking, I decided instead of running checkdisk & delete it, I am going to rename the file to="Bad Block-Do not Delete this file". My theory is it will keep the bad block occupied so its not used.
-So far a month and I did not see another bad block again.
-I can repeat this for another 5 files if they show up to fill bad block if necessary on disk, then give up on this.

Not sure how this may end, anybody did something similar-?.
 
If the blocks are bad because of write wear, then that may work for a while (but you will continue to get more and more bad blocks as you continue writing to it). Probably a good idea to retire the drive, or use it read-only as much as possible.

If the blocks are bad because of some sort of electro/mechanical failure, the whole drive may fail soon, even if you are only reading from it, so it'd be a good idea to get any important data off asap.
 
Not really a good idea and won't work. While the corrupt file is in a bad sector, the bad sector isn't in the corrupt file.

Hard drives have had S.M.A.R.T. (self monitoring and reporting technology) since the mid 90s and do internal housekeeping, meaning data isn't always guaranteed to be in the same place all the time. This is doubly so since file systems shuffle files around constantly, and programs like defraggers do as well.

This may have worked on MFM and RLL drives back 30+ years ago when bad sector mapping was done manually, but not since then.

You should just backup as much data as possible and replace the hard drive with a new one.
 
I think i found something that might be related.......My RJ45 jack on laptop failed...On inspection the contacts 2 were just broken off, probably of old age...I installed a USB Network adapter and it work great.
I only got this bad block if I copy a file that was downloaded, so I suspect the network adaptor causing corruption in file as it was download, then it just completely failed soon after..Have not seen the problem again.
 
... just run a checkdisk so it can check and take action if there is a bad sector. Thats the only proper way to handle this and you should replace the drive before it dies asap if more errors are found.

Otherwise your just gambling with your data.
 
TrunksZero said:
... just run a checkdisk so it can check and take action if there is a bad sector. Thats the only proper way to handle this and you should replace the drive before it dies asap if more errors are found.

Otherwise your just gambling with your data.
Click to expand...
Agreed. checkdisk isolates and will buy you time. You can even use a checkdisk drive as a backup as it may survive a long time.
 
Hi, this is a very old HP Laptop since XP, I am surprised at how long it last, I bought a I7 Win 7 Laptop which lasted only less than a year, 2 disk drive failures then the MB, scrapped. I also have an older DELL Laptop since XP, and it still works fine....No data on these, just on Internet.
I have DELL XPS I7 Win 10 & DELL I7 Laptop Win 10(Ready 11), no problems with these.
I will never buy anything other than DELL or HP again.
 
Dell is great... if you buy the enterprise grade Latitude line or the XPS line. Everything else is junk and that applies to most laptops from most companies. Oh and always get the Pro level support, just like you should when you buy an Apple.
 
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