Possible HDD problems?

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The problem is that there's no way to tell where the bad sector is or what it contains. If it is executable code and it has been written badly, i.e. with executable code that does something bad to your machine, it can cause more damage. That's just the risk you take by continuing to run the drive. Your decision.

If it is just one of your documents, movies, or pictures, it's probably OK to keep it...
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thx1138v2

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Jun 18, 2011
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For info on S.M.A.R.T. disk drive reporting:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S.M.A.R.T.

Look at ID's 197 and 198.

It sounds like it is going flaky. The ID's are saying there is a non-recoverable sector read/write error but that doesn't tell you anything about the particular sector. Is it part of a program or is it data. If it's part of executable code you may get crashes or BSOD's. Even bad data is dangerous if it is configuration data for an executable program.

The disk doesn't seem that old but it would still be better to replace it now before you get errant execution of a program that might do more damage.
 
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ipwn3r456

ipwn3r456

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Mar 21, 2012
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I bought the computer about 2 years and 2 months ago, so that's also the age of the HDD as well. Most of the data in my HDD are storage (movies, documents, pictures, etc), and my virtual machines as well. I have a old 500GB HDD that I can use, but is the condition of the HDD that I am using is so bad, that it needs a replacement?
 
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Akashdeep

Akashdeep

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If you have warranty, then replace the HDD.

SMART errors are un-recoverable.
 
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ipwn3r456

ipwn3r456

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Well unfortunately the warranty of my computer just expired like two months ago... I guess bad luck for me. If I continue to use the HDD, what are some things that can possibly happen?
 
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Akashdeep

Akashdeep

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Don't use that HDD anymore. Recover the important files from the HDD to another and stay away from the damaged one.

The SMART error will keep increasing. And as result, you might end up with OS crash, important data loss etc.
 
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thx1138v2

Splendid
Jun 18, 2011
2,172
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The problem is that there's no way to tell where the bad sector is or what it contains. If it is executable code and it has been written badly, i.e. with executable code that does something bad to your machine, it can cause more damage. That's just the risk you take by continuing to run the drive. Your decision.

If it is just one of your documents, movies, or pictures, it's probably OK to keep it running but then you'll need to monitor it and replace it when it starts getting worse.

IMO, drives are so cheap it makes sense to replace it rather than have more problems or more damage or spend time monitoring the bad one. It's been my experience that hardware fails at the absolutely worst possible time and this one is on it's way to failure. That's what S.M.A.R.T. is all about - warning you before it fails.
 
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ipwn3r456

ipwn3r456

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Thanks guys for all the answers. I guess I will be using this hard drive for a little while, if the problem of the HDD goes severe, I will switch the HDD. BTW, is there any good mirroring softwares for mirroring data for my HDD? I might transfer all the data to my other HDD, so I don't need to reinstall everything.
 
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