Windows 7 - Repair bad sector...

Asked By XJHa

11-Mar-08 03:15 AM

Can it be done? Is there software out there that can repair a bad sector on a
hard drive.

I did a backup recently and it reported there was a bad sector so, I am
curious as to whether there is software  out there that can fix such a
problem?

Please excuse my ignorance if that was a stupid question.

Thanks for any info and help!

11-Mar-08 03:39 AM

No, todays bad sectors are more often mechanical errors, dust inside the
harddrive.

Do a backup and RMA/Replace the drive.

--
Bjarke Andersen

11-Mar-08 04:27 AM

There is some information here. Basically, there are spares that take
the place of the bad ones. Eventually, you run out of spares.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bad_sector

Paul

11-Mar-08 12:51 PM

HDD Regenerator.

--
Kenny Cargill

11-Mar-08 01:12 PM

Replacement disk drives are so cheap these days that it is just not worth the
effort.  One bad sector will lead to another.

11-Mar-08 03:47 PM

What is RMA?


Thank you for your input!

11-Mar-08 03:48 PM

Thanks...

11-Mar-08 03:48 PM

Thanks, I will check that out!

11-Mar-08 03:50 PM

Return Merchandise Authorization = Send it back to vendor

11-Mar-08 03:54 PM

I hear you.

Do you or anyone else know how much info can be lost in one sector.

When my backup started there was 65+GB of info to be backed up. When it
finished I checked the size and it was 56+GB. I lost nearly 10GB of info. Is
that possible? Can one bad sector do that much damage?

11-Mar-08 04:20 PM

Depends on where the sector is! If it contained partition information,
the entire drive contents could appear to vanish! Directory information,
less, file contents even less.

11-Mar-08 08:30 PM

Those refer to the defects detected by the manufacturer.
(i.e. by firmware of a disk controller)

A flaw noticed by the OS is NEVER returned to use and
in never assigned a replacement cluster.


A really poor explanation.

Ed

11-Mar-08 08:55 PM

I don't know if you have been following the whole thread line here or not. In
another reply I asked:

When my backup started there was 65+GB of info to be backed up. When it
finished I checked the size and it was 56+GB. I lost nearly 10GB of info. Is
that possible? Can one bad sector do that much damage?


Is there any way to find out exactly what data I lost? The problems I have
with this system are minor. In fact other than some time delays and and
unusually long time to shutdown, I don't really notice any. However, I am
curious as to finding out what I did loose, if that's possible!

11-Mar-08 09:25 PM

No.  A "bad sector" means that there is some sort of physical damage.
No software product can repair that.  The best that any software product
would be able to do (and WinXP's built-in Chkdsk already does this) is
to mark the sector as bad so that the OS won't use it in the future.



--

Bruce Chambers

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12-Mar-08 12:46 AM

Not exactly. There are utilities such as Restorer2000 that
can tell you what is currently on the drive in total.


Why do you assume you lost anything? When I back up
my systems, the back-up cannot copy files in current use
(which includes a 2 GB swap file), or files & directories
I specifically exclude (see next para).

What program told you that?  Did it include the recycler driectory, tmp
files, system files, etc.? (Why include any of that garbage in a b/u ??)

What program told you that?

Before you ask for more help, how about letting us know
how you "back-up" works.

Ed

12-Mar-08 01:52 AM

I just assumed that the discrepancy in the size of what started and what
ended was lost. Being new to this software I wasn't sure how or what was
being backed up. I did not use any manual settings or exclusions, I just
wanted the whole disc backed up.




The software I used was 'Acronis True Image'. All the info I gave came from
there.


You have been quite helpful and I understand a great deal more now than
before. If I should need further assistance I will start another thread.

Thanks again!

12-Mar-08 08:45 AM

Indeed there is and it is built into the firmware that operates your hard
drive.  The drive contains spare sectors that can be swapped in to take the
place of bad sectors as they are identified.  However, eventually, the
supply of spare sectors dries up and it is then that you get bad sector
errors.