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Current version by colleenthompson,
Text:
| If you do the Write All Zeroes option in Disk Utility (on a Mac), this is supposed to set aside all the bad blocks (be forewarned, it can take a loooong time--we're talking many hours here for a large drive.) |
| That said, if a drive has confirmed bad blocks, I personally don't consider it worth the risk; in most cases, blocks going bad is a condition that continues to worsen. I've had one drive that behaved for a long time after a Write All Zeroes format; and multiple drives that just kept failing. So I don't bother any more. Drives are inexpensive enough, usually, that's it's wiser to replace them. |
| Unfortunately your drive is external, so SMART Utility won't be able to access its self-monitoring attributes. Programs like TechTool Pro (Mac) can do a surface scan and alert you of bad blocks; this takes a long time and can further degrade a failing drive, so back up your data first. Disk Warrior (Mac) can also put up messages while it runs, like "Speed inhibited due to drive malfunction", which can indicate bad blocks, and if you run it from a hard drive and not the CD, the system log often has useful information about the target drive. |
| I've had good luck with warranty replacements for drives with bad blocks. All the manufacturers provide testing software which only runs on Windows (I don't do Windows), but they have always honored the printout I include in the returned drive showing confirmation of a sector (block) problem. |
| Here is a British data recovery company whose web site has some fascinating details about all kinds of hard disk failures: http://www.data |
Status:
open
Edit by colleenthompson,
Text:
| If you do the Write All Zeroes option in Disk Utility (on a Mac), this is supposed to set aside all the bad blocks (be forewarned, it can take a loooong time--we're talking many hours here for a large drive.) |
| That said, if a drive has confirmed bad blocks, I personally don't consider it worth the risk; in most cases, blocks going bad is a condition that continues to worsen. I've had one drive that behaved for a long time after a Write All Zeroes format; and multiple drives that just kept failing. So I don't bother any more. Drives are inexpensive enough, usually, that's it's wiser to replace them. |
| Unfortunately your drive is external, so SMART Utility won't be able to access its self-monitoring attributes. Programs like TechTool Pro (Mac) can do a surface scan and alert you of bad blocks; this takes a long time and can further degrade a failing drive, so back up your data first. Disk Warrior (Mac) can also put up messages while it runs, like "Speed inhibited due to drive malfunction", which can indicate bad blocks, and if you run it from a hard drive and not the CD, the system log often has useful information about the target drive. |
| Here is a British data recovery company whose web site has some fascinating details about all kinds of hard disk failures: http://www.data |
Status:
open
Edit by colleenthompson,
Text:
| If you do the Write All Zeroes option in Disk |
| If you do the Write All Zeroes option in Disk |
| That said, if a drive has confirmed bad blocks, I personally don't consider it worth the risk; in most cases, blocks going bad is a condition that continues to worsen. I've had one drive that behaved for a long time after a Write All Zeroes format; and multiple drives that just kept failing. So I don't bother any more. Drives are inexpensive enough, usually, that's it's wiser to replace them. |
| Here is a British data recovery company whose web site has some fascinating details about all kinds of hard disk failures: http://www.data |
Status:
open
Original post by colleenthompson,
Text:
If you do the Write All Zeroes option in Disk Utility, this is supposed to set aside all the bad blocks (be forewarned, it can take a loooong time--we're talking many hours here for a large drive.)
That said, if a drive has confirmed bad blocks, I personally don't consider it worth the risk; in most cases, blocks going bad is a condition that continues to worsen. I've had one drive that behaved for a long time after a Write All Zeroes format; and multiple drives that just kept failing. So I don't bother any more. Drives are inexpensive enough, usually, that's it's wiser to replace them.
Here is a British data recovery company whose web site has some fascinating details about all kinds of hard disk failures: http://www.dataclinic.co.uk/recovery-hard-disk-drive-bad-sectors.htm
Status:
open