HD Sectors Bad, Windows 7 Will not Fix.

Hello All, I just bought an WD 320GB 5400K Date:10-08 HD off of an member here that used this hard drive as a external. I Installed W7 on it, and then Ran HD tune and found that i have a few bad blocks.. So i ran the windows error checking run, and it will freeze or not move past 81% when doing this test to fix the bad sectors.. This test was from a boot up. I left it on for 14Hrs and it moved from 0% 79% in under an Hr, but from 79% to 81%... that took better then a whole night, 12+ Hrs. Also when i try to run the HD Tune Benchmark, it will stop at 78% and give me an error that it cant complete or something of the like.. How could i fix these bad sectors. Should i just let windows try at it, no matter how long it takes?. What are my options? Thanks.

 

In The Bin With It

EDIT : if you want to give it a go, hdd regenerator will attempt to fix bad blocks , but the trial version will only fix one, but you could re-run it and you can specify the start sector.

http://www.dposoft.net/

 

As you mentioned the drive is manufactured from 10-08 it should still be in warranty (varies between 3-5yrs). Contact WD for a RMA request and explain the problems you're facing. Hopefully they can give you a replacement drive in exchange. Sometimes physical damage to the drive can cause permanent bad sectors so its best to have it looked at.

 

You can use the online warranty checker, but if it was an oem drive and not retail you might be out of luck.

http://websupport.wdc.com/warranty/...039&custtype=end&requesttype=warranty&lang=en

 

Well thanks for the quick replies. I did run the Warranty checker, and i still have warranty intill 11-20-11. I will give them a call monday.... I would fill it out online, but would rather talk to a person. But all in all, this drive is shot you are saying?

 

bad sector? time for return for warranty..if more and more appeared usually its a sign where the HDD starts to fail..better get it replaced for new ones

 

Yeah, those sectors are gone. The method Windows uses to fix them is to mark them as bad so it doesn't try to use them in the future. With 3.2% bad already, it's very possible more will go bad in the near future. Pull your important data off it as soon as possible and initiate the warranty.

 

Well the laptop hard locked today, twice... Booted up, and it did not even pass post, and it gave me an error saying that i am not using a 65W or higher charger (I am using a OEM Dell 65W Charger..) and the computer will operate at a slower speed... and then a couple of options, one of them being F12 Run Dell Diagnostics/Pre Boot Assessment. Did that, and it gave me a couple of errors along with a whole load of beeping, coming back to the hard drive... WD Will be contacted tomorrow. I cant believe this drive is failing, with such little use.

 

The WD RMA process is extremely painless. Put in the serial number, choose whether you want to upgrade or get a replacement, choose whether you want advance replacement/shipment or not, and voila.

 

ur laptop generally seems to be dying... i hope that isn't the case when u get a new drive...

 

Try using an external usb adapter for the drive and run your formatting and disk tests from another computer. See if the bad results are duplicated there.

Also, have you reseated your system ram, just for the heck of it? Sometimes memory problems that are correctable under the covers of the OS (Win7, etc) will cause problems with drive utilities.

But, if you do determine that the drive is bad, believe it. Bad drives don't heal themselves. No consumer-level utility will fix a drive other than to **maybe** let you recover some of the data. Same thing with the drive-in-the-fridge process. Use your RMA and warranty and get yourself a new drive.

 

Thank you for the replies. Well, the hard drive has nothing installed on it... So i do not have to back up or anything. Kinda nice. Only have a fresh install on W7.. Legal.
So. I gave WD a call, and wow!, They have great service!, I was on hold for 5Min26Sec, and the whole thing took less then 10 minutes, around 15 minutes with holding time. Liking WD! That is good service. WD is the only hard drive in the dimension for 6+ years, and knock on wood, has not a bad sector, gives 50Mb/s transfer,Spins at 7200RPM and is very sound....

 

Well, Very impressed with WD. Received the hard drive today via UPS. When i opened the box, it really is a My Passport Essential in blue. So i took the MPE apart, and the hard drive was a sata WD3200BEVT Scorpio Blue Dated Feb 24 2010 as a Recertified.
Nice now i have another enclosure that i put the 120GB Hard drive in, and in the enclosure i got off ebay, i have the 40GB OEM HDD housed. So it all works out, i installed the OS and everything went smoothly..

 

well why did u get an external hard drive? Shouldn't u have got an internal drive?