hard drive help... bad sector?
so, i ran this disk diagnostic tool for my western digital drive (got the tool from western digital site).
the diagnostic claims that there is an error on the disk... probably bad sector according to error code. (final code 0256 - for those who may know)
western digital says that running the repair process using the diag tool MAY result in data loss.
so, i ran windows 2000 scan disk instead... and no errors showed up... weird? but the diag tool from WD still shows the error.
so, i suppose the bad sector(s) are unused space... or parts of files that are barely used???
before i run the diag repair process using the WD software, i want to find out which files/data are in the sector(s) that will be relocated/repaired by the software... in case they are lost.
this is important because the drive is my windows boot drive.
i know that i can back up the data, run the tool, and if it does not boot up anymore just replace using backup data. but that is too troubling/time-consuming.
my question is (finally):
is there some software that can tell me which files/data are in these bad sectors discovered by the WD diag software? so i can figure out whether they are critical windows fine leading to no boot if they are not recovered from the repair...
also, should i even be concerned at all since windows 2000 scan disk found no errors? should i still repair the drive using the WD diag software to prevent worse troubles in future?
besides that, everything in windows works fine... except for this error and warning that pops up in the event log about once a week:
WARNING: The driver has detected that device \Device\Harddisk0\DR0 has predicted that it will fail. Immediately back up your data and replace your hard disk drive. A failure may be imminent.
ERROR: The driver detected a controller error on Device\Harddisk0\DR0.
thanks!
the diagnostic claims that there is an error on the disk... probably bad sector according to error code. (final code 0256 - for those who may know)
western digital says that running the repair process using the diag tool MAY result in data loss.
so, i ran windows 2000 scan disk instead... and no errors showed up... weird? but the diag tool from WD still shows the error.
so, i suppose the bad sector(s) are unused space... or parts of files that are barely used???
before i run the diag repair process using the WD software, i want to find out which files/data are in the sector(s) that will be relocated/repaired by the software... in case they are lost.
this is important because the drive is my windows boot drive.
i know that i can back up the data, run the tool, and if it does not boot up anymore just replace using backup data. but that is too troubling/time-consuming.
my question is (finally):
is there some software that can tell me which files/data are in these bad sectors discovered by the WD diag software? so i can figure out whether they are critical windows fine leading to no boot if they are not recovered from the repair...
also, should i even be concerned at all since windows 2000 scan disk found no errors? should i still repair the drive using the WD diag software to prevent worse troubles in future?
besides that, everything in windows works fine... except for this error and warning that pops up in the event log about once a week:
WARNING: The driver has detected that device \Device\Harddisk0\DR0 has predicted that it will fail. Immediately back up your data and replace your hard disk drive. A failure may be imminent.
ERROR: The driver detected a controller error on Device\Harddisk0\DR0.
thanks!
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ASKER
jhance, you say:
"SCANDISK will tell you if any of the files are involved in this bad sector."
so does that mean if i run scandisk in windows 2000 now and no errors appear, is it safe to assume that the repair process will repair sectors that contain no data... thus there will be no data loss?
this is why i need a way to find out if the bad sector(s) that the WD tool discovered contain data or not? and if so, what data?
there must be some software to do this... thanks.
"SCANDISK will tell you if any of the files are involved in this bad sector."
so does that mean if i run scandisk in windows 2000 now and no errors appear, is it safe to assume that the repair process will repair sectors that contain no data... thus there will be no data loss?
this is why i need a way to find out if the bad sector(s) that the WD tool discovered contain data or not? and if so, what data?
there must be some software to do this... thanks.
WD had some bad batches of HD's in the last year or so, believe the WD software, most likely the HD is failing, the good news is WD is good with warranty replacements.
Listen to the above advice and make the backup before it is too late.
Listen to the above advice and make the backup before it is too late.
Here is a quote from jhance posted on a question I had asked when I was looking for a WD code meaning.
Here's the quote from the WD site:
"If theiagnostics DLGDIAG Final Error Code is not "0000"
If the drive is in warranty, please contact our technical support staff for a replacement hard drive, or further assistance.
They don't seem to list the meaning of the error codes from the diagnostic program that I've been able to find. I've used the WD tech support line in the past and they are always very helpful. If you give them the error code they will tell you the reason for the code.
This is the question it was from:
https://www.experts-exchange.com/jsp/qManageQuestion.jsp?ta=hardgen&qid=11621998
Here's the quote from the WD site:
"If theiagnostics DLGDIAG Final Error Code is not "0000"
If the drive is in warranty, please contact our technical support staff for a replacement hard drive, or further assistance.
They don't seem to list the meaning of the error codes from the diagnostic program that I've been able to find. I've used the WD tech support line in the past and they are always very helpful. If you give them the error code they will tell you the reason for the code.
This is the question it was from:
https://www.experts-exchange.com/jsp/qManageQuestion.jsp?ta=hardgen&qid=11621998
ASKER
two things:
1. the drive is out of warranty - bummer
2. i contacted WD about the error code and they said it means that there is at least one bad sector - there could be more.
still do not know if this bad sector(s) contains data or not. there must be a way to find out... so at least when i run the repair tool i will feel confident enough that the drive will most likely boot again with its data intact.
thanks.
1. the drive is out of warranty - bummer
2. i contacted WD about the error code and they said it means that there is at least one bad sector - there could be more.
still do not know if this bad sector(s) contains data or not. there must be a way to find out... so at least when i run the repair tool i will feel confident enough that the drive will most likely boot again with its data intact.
thanks.
< the drive is out of warranty> then it must be at least 5 years old (or is it now 3 year warranty?)
But at any rate HD of the size this must be are selling for around $100 or less, probably not bigger then 6 or 8 GB, maybe smaller.
Time to upgrade to a newer HD, oor would you rather wait until you lost all data?
But at any rate HD of the size this must be are selling for around $100 or less, probably not bigger then 6 or 8 GB, maybe smaller.
Time to upgrade to a newer HD, oor would you rather wait until you lost all data?
ASKER
rayt333:
i like to squeeze the life out of all my hardware components... ;-) "MTBF" is my middle name.
for everyone else:
i just ran scandisk and it stated that there were 0KB in bad sectors... thus i am assuming that the bad sector(s) reported by WD software is/are empty... hence no data loss - safer to do repair process.
any thoughts? thanks
i like to squeeze the life out of all my hardware components... ;-) "MTBF" is my middle name.
for everyone else:
i just ran scandisk and it stated that there were 0KB in bad sectors... thus i am assuming that the bad sector(s) reported by WD software is/are empty... hence no data loss - safer to do repair process.
any thoughts? thanks
<i know that i can back up the data, run the tool, and if it does not boot up anymore just replace using backup data. but that is too troubling/time-consuming.>
Your call on the importance of the Data on the HD, if it is important then back it up (it will be more time consuming try to replace it without backups, if able to at all)
Then do the repair from WD's utility
Your call on the importance of the Data on the HD, if it is important then back it up (it will be more time consuming try to replace it without backups, if able to at all)
Then do the repair from WD's utility
Did you run SCANDISK in "thorough" mode?
If not, then it is only checking those disk-blocks which
Windows is currently using, rather than testing _every_ disk-block, i.e., including those blocks currently listed as "free" space.
If not, then it is only checking those disk-blocks which
Windows is currently using, rather than testing _every_ disk-block, i.e., including those blocks currently listed as "free" space.
ASKER
otta:
i ran scandisk from windows explorer - right click on drive, select properties, select tools, click on check now under error checking section, check both boxes and click on start... this is under windows 2000.
does that check the free blocks?
i think it does because i remember seeing results and scanning phase for free space on the disk during the scandisk on boot up.
i ran scandisk from windows explorer - right click on drive, select properties, select tools, click on check now under error checking section, check both boxes and click on start... this is under windows 2000.
does that check the free blocks?
i think it does because i remember seeing results and scanning phase for free space on the disk during the scandisk on boot up.
Nope, that does not mean it is scanning the disc surface.
When you start the scandisk program in Windows, you should click the radio-button for "Thorough" (performs standard test and scans disk surface for errors) before clicking OK to start the scan.
When you start the scandisk program in Windows, you should click the radio-button for "Thorough" (performs standard test and scans disk surface for errors) before clicking OK to start the scan.
I would never chance running a HD repair utility without doing a back-up, even if I was pretty sure about bad sectors not containing any data. What if it kinda screws up completely? I accept the risk of repeating other comments here, but I think the only thing to do is to:
1) Back up your data, like NOW.
2) Run the repair utility or, better still, wipe disk and re-fdisk, reformat and reinstall.
Regards
/RID
1) Back up your data, like NOW.
2) Run the repair utility or, better still, wipe disk and re-fdisk, reformat and reinstall.
Regards
/RID
ASKER
zxr250:
this is windows 2000, not 98/me/95... there is no scan disk surface option in windows. sorry
everyone else:
i will just have to take the risk of running the repair process this weekend in the hope that scandisk saying "0KB in bad sectors" means there will be no data loss.
one last question if anyone knows, how can i back up my windows drive when i am logged into windows (am on windows 2000)?
thanks.
this is windows 2000, not 98/me/95... there is no scan disk surface option in windows. sorry
everyone else:
i will just have to take the risk of running the repair process this weekend in the hope that scandisk saying "0KB in bad sectors" means there will be no data loss.
one last question if anyone knows, how can i back up my windows drive when i am logged into windows (am on windows 2000)?
thanks.
> how can I back up my windows drive when I am logged into Windows 2000?
You cannot backup "everything" while Windows is running.
Of course, you can backup all your "data" files,
and create a "disaster recovery plan":
1. reinstall Windows
2. reload data from backup
Otherwise, you should use software like Partition Magic, from PowerQuest Corporation.
You boot P.M. from the P.M. diskettes, and then it can copy the entire partition, block-for-block, to another hard-drive (same size or larger).
You cannot backup "everything" while Windows is running.
Of course, you can backup all your "data" files,
and create a "disaster recovery plan":
1. reinstall Windows
2. reload data from backup
Otherwise, you should use software like Partition Magic, from PowerQuest Corporation.
You boot P.M. from the P.M. diskettes, and then it can copy the entire partition, block-for-block, to another hard-drive (same size or larger).
ASKER
okidoki... thanks otta.
SCANDISK will tell you if any of the files are involved in this bad sector.