How to monitor bad sectors with new hard drive?

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cagross

Commendable
Mar 10, 2016
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1,510
Hi all. After seeing Tom's Hardware forum posts near the top of nearly every computer web search I've carried out, I figure it might be fruitful to post problems here :) So here is my first post.

I am installing a replacement hard drive into my computer. I would like to systematically monitor the fidelity and performance of this hard drive (especially with regards to bad sectors), preferably with Windows (or other) logs, and in an automated fashion. But I don't know exactly how to carry that out. Any help would be appreciated.

Here is some more info:

System:

  • Win 7, 64-bit
    Memory: 8GB
    Processor: Processor: Can't remember off-hand. Some kind of Intel i7.
    Motherboard: GA-P67A-UD3R-B3 (rev 1.x)
My previous hard drive was a Western Digital Blue 1TB (model # WD10EZEX). I received this as a warranty replacement from Western Digital after my previous unit failed. Approximately 14 months later, the replacement drive failed. The computer began to be very sluggish and had more frequent chkdsk's at startup. I ran the Western Digital Data Lifeguard test, but it failed with an error of "Too many bad sectors." I was unable to get more precise error codes/messages, as the drive failed to boot immediately after. Luckily all my data was backed up.

I would like to install a replacement drive. After I install, I would like to keenly monitor the quality and performance of this replacement drive, particularly in terms of bad sectors. If it is my system that is causing these bad sectors, I'd like to be able to spot it early. My question is: *how* do I go about monitoring drive performance/bad sectors? I know chkdsk runs automatically if it thinks there are issues, but I'm interested in day-to-day/boot-to-boot monitoring to see any degradation. My specific questions might be:

1. Are there Windows logs that monitor this? If so, how do I enable them and how do I save/access them?

2. If there are no Windows logs that do this, are there any free utilities that someone could recommend?

3. I don't have too much experience with storage, so I don't even know what to monitor exactly. Is there simply a "number of bad sectors" count that I could measure each day (or each boot)? Or are there separate/additional metrics I should monitor?

4. If I install a second hand replacement drive, should I first reset it somehow? If so, how exactly? Would the zeroing utility offered by different manufacturers (Western Digital, Seagate, etc) be sufficient? Or would a simple quick format in Windows be sufficient?

One possible related issue is that my system does not shut down properly. Every time I carry out a standard Windows shut down, Windows appears to go through all of the shut down steps, and there is eventually no signal to my monitor. But the lights and fans remain on in my case. So clearly a proper shut down is not occurring. I don't know if this related to the bad sectors or not, but I would like to test regardless. Additionally, the onboard LAN on my motherboards is non-operational. I purchased this entire system second-hand, as-is. I have contacted the motherboard manufacturer (Gigabyte), but they say they cannot help me. There are no other issues with my system that I know of.

Thanks in advance.
 
Solution
mjslakeridge
I would say that normally, a virus would not last through a hard drive replacement, UNLESS the virus also migrated to other HDDs you use (data drive, backup drive) or USB flash drives, and then got reintroduced to the main (new) HDD when those components were reconnected to the system. That is why I suggested that you scan all devices that are/will be ever connected to the system.

It is generally a good idea to defragment from time to time, for performance reasons, but I don't think not defragging is causing your bad sector problem.

I think that there are several free programs that can do a secure erase (Acronis True Image Home is a paid for program, maybe they have a free trial). You could probably Google for a secure erase free...
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cagross

Commendable
Mar 10, 2016
8
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1,510
Thanks for that. It looks promising. I have one question about the "reallocated sectors" it reports. For mine, the report reads:

Current: 100
Worst: 100
Threshold: 36

But then when I hover over the big "Caution" button, it reads: Reallocated Sectors Count: 7 Do you know why the discrepancy. I have not looked through the Crystal Disk Info documentation yet, so I'll get on that now. Just wondering if I could get the quick answer from you :)
 
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mjslakeridge

mjslakeridge

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Mar 6, 2013
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You say that you bought the entire system second hand. Does that include the operating system? I would be concerned that the system does not shut down properly, could you have a virus?

Your question about installing a second hand HDD - I personally would get a program that writes 0's and 1's (or whatever it does) to the entire drive. A quick format would not get rid of any malware or virus that may reside on the drive. I use Acronis True Image Home for my backup program and it has a "Secure Erase" feature.

Also make sure you run some anti-virus software on the backup of your data that you mentioned.

I think it is highly unusual to be going through that many hard drives in a short period of time. Do you defragment them from time to time? Are you filling them to near 100% capacity?
 
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iceblitzed

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May 12, 2014
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The way the SMART values are calculated varies from manufacturer to manufacturer. Also some numbers are in hexadecimal notation.


Every drive has the occasional defects in manufacturing. These defects prevent reading/writing to a sector. As a way to combat this, the sectors that are flagged as damaged are moved, or reallocated.

As every drive series is different, sector reallocation is a poor indicator of drive health. Some large drives don't have enough data (user submitted records of "good" drive information), so they default to the danger readings of much smaller drives.


In short, you should worry if reallocated sectors is increasing consistently. If the number is constant after several boots, then it isn't a problem. If it increases consistently then you should be worried.
 
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cagross

Commendable
Mar 10, 2016
8
0
1,510
@iceblitzed: Thanks for all the info. I will monitor my replacement drive in this manner every boot and see if I observe anything.

@mjslakeridge: Thanks for the reply.

>> You say that you bought the entire system second hand. Does that include the operating system?

No I was able to re-format the original hard drive when I purchased it. But then I replaced that hard drive with the unit that just failed on me.

>> I would be concerned that the system does not shut down properly, could you have a virus?

Could a virus last through a hard drive replacement? Not doubting you--I'm actually curious.

>> I use Acronis True Image Home for my backup program and it has a "Secure Erase" feature.

I will certainly use a zeroing utility, and will look into this one, thanks.

>> I think it is highly unusual to be going through that many hard drives in a short period of time.

Exactly. This is why I'm now suspecting my system may be causing this.

>> Do you defragment them from time to time?

Never actually.

>> Are you filling them to near 100% capacity?

No, not even 50%.
 
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mjslakeridge

mjslakeridge

Splendid
Mar 6, 2013
3,386
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21,965
I would say that normally, a virus would not last through a hard drive replacement, UNLESS the virus also migrated to other HDDs you use (data drive, backup drive) or USB flash drives, and then got reintroduced to the main (new) HDD when those components were reconnected to the system. That is why I suggested that you scan all devices that are/will be ever connected to the system.

It is generally a good idea to defragment from time to time, for performance reasons, but I don't think not defragging is causing your bad sector problem.

I think that there are several free programs that can do a secure erase (Acronis True Image Home is a paid for program, maybe they have a free trial). You could probably Google for a secure erase free program or wait for someone here on Tom's to recommend one.

I can't think of a reason why your system is causing the bad sector problem, unless you are kicking the pc case or it is getting bumped around while the HDD is reading or writing to the platters.
 
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Solution
C

cagross

Commendable
Mar 10, 2016
8
0
1,510
>> I can't think of a reason why your system is causing the bad sector problem, unless you are kicking the pc case or it is getting bumped around while the HDD is reading or writing to the platters.[

You don't think that my shutdown issue could be related to the bad sectors?

>> You could probably Google for a secure erase free program or wait for someone here on Tom's to recommend one.

Yep I'll find one online.

Thanks for the help!
 
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