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    disk error

    Discussion in 'Windows OS and Software' started by bin, Sep 25, 2007.

  1. bin

    bin Notebook Consultant

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    hello,
    my laptop started hanging only today where there will be a weird reading sound from the hard disk.
    i checked my event viewer and there is a disk error:
    The device, \Device\Harddisk0\D, has a bad block.

    i also ran a check with hdtune and there are a few blocks which are damaged.
    can this be fixed? or do i need a new hard disk?
     
    bin, Sep 25, 2007
    #1
  2. qhn

    qhn Notebook User

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    go to ur drive properties and turn on "check for disk error/repair" and let it rip - see how much damage u have

    cheers ...
     
    qhn, Sep 25, 2007
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  3. gerryf19

    gerryf19 I am the walrus

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    Bad blocks cannot be fixed (despite what some utility vendors will tell you)

    All harddrives have a few defects on them and this is built into the design. A bad block is a space on the drive that is either physically damaged (head bounce) or magnetically damaged (space can no longer hold data)

    Harddrives generally have some spare space on them that are not generally reported and when a block goes bad your harddrives circuitry will generally mark them as bad and use a spare block. Some of the softare out there that says they fix bad blocks generally force this to occur.

    However, when the spare space is used up, they can no longer do this and bad blocks will appear. This may be what is happening to you, or the drive simply did not mark the block "bad" yet (your drive will try to write to sector several times before giving up and calling it bad).

    So, what does this mean?

    I have had drives with one bad block last for years; and I have had drives that once they get one block start the bad spots start multiplying by the busload.

    If the drive is non-essential, you can probably get away with using it as extra storage, just keep backups and run regular dskchk on it.

    If it is your primary drive, I would image it now (if you still can--a bad block will often prevent an imaging) and watch it like a hawk or better yet replace it if you can afford it.
     
    gerryf19, Sep 25, 2007
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  4. Pitabred

    Pitabred Linux geek con rat flail!

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    You almost certainly need a new hard disk. If you are seeing damaged blocks, that means that the drive can't work around them any more, so the drive is on it's last legs. Get everything important backed up NOW, and get a new drive ASAP. Especially with the weird sound... if it's a "grinding" of heavy disk usage, you should be ok, but if you hear any "screeching", you know you're in trouble.
     
    Pitabred, Sep 25, 2007
    #4