Internal HDD has bad clusters, need to know some answers regarding reformatting.

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cannibalcorpse_08

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Aug 19, 2017
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Btw, this isn't my laptop. My mom lend it to me coz my laptop died 2 years ago..

According to Chkdsk, it detected some bad sectors and some unreadable areas on the HDD. I can still use the laptop with the said failing HDD but there are times when it would suddenly become unresponsive and some files cannot be copied to other storage because it would just also get stuck. I'm having second thoughts whether I should reformat the HDD because of the several reasons like:


  • 1. How can I reformat this laptop if I don't have a Windows 8.1 disc?

    2. The OS is called "Windows 8.1 Single Language". The product code of my Windows 8.1 has OEM in it. Does that mean I would need to buy another product key for Windows just to do a full reinstall of the OS?

    3. If I do a full reinstall of Windows 8.1, would things run normally as they did before the bad clusters?

    4. When is the right time to reinstall Windows OS on a HDD with bad clusters? I mean I can still use it as my laptop's HDD but would things just get worse if I wait or do I need to do a reinstall ASAP?

    5. I have a portable HDD which I can use as a replacement, would I need a new OEM Windows code just to install Windows 8.1 or can I just use the same one I'm using right now?

Btw, I just noticed that the Health check from HD Tune and Defraggler both say Warning state. I can still use my laptop just for browsing.
 
Solution
USAFRet


Replacing just the drive is NOT a new system.
Reinstall on a new drive.
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mdd1963

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Quite often, once a drive begins to have/reallocate for bad clusters/sectors, it's remaining lifetiime is often compromised, and, for some, can be a week or as little as a day. If you value your data on it, back the data up elsewhere ASAP, so that if a total failure occurs, you are not wishing you had valuable files/priceless photos stored elsewhere...

If it's just a minor corruption glitch, the error /reallocated sector count will not increase appreciably over time...
 
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mdd1963

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If you simply want to reformat it and start over, then within admin tools/storage/disk management simply deleting the partition and quick formatting is normally quite sufficient...; if the drive is truly failing, it will fail again. if it was just a glitch, then the problem might be solved...

(Naturally, this can't be done within Windows if the drive in question contains the OS...)
 
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USAFRet

USAFRet

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You need to obtain two things:

1. An OS install. Win 8.1, or something else of your choice.
2. A whole new hard drive. The current one is dying.

There is no 'fixing' the current drive. It is dying. 5 minutes, 5 days, 5 months...it is dying.
Replace, and install an OS on the new drive.
 
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cannibalcorpse_08

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I guess I can just try using this HDD with bad clusters as an external HDD, hopefully it doesn't corrupt files.

One thing I'm concerned with is the OEM product key of my laptop's Windows 8.1, can I use the same product key if I replace the hard drive? Afaik, OEM Windows only works for 1 system so I'm not sure if it would still consider this laptop the same system if I replace the hard drive.
 
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cannibalcorpse_08

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But what about the OEM Windows that I currently have right now, can I still use its product key if I replace the hard drive? Wouldn't it be considered a new system just by replacing the failing hard drive with a new HDD?
 
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USAFRet

USAFRet

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Replacing just the drive is NOT a new system.
Reinstall on a new drive.
 
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Solution
USAFRet

USAFRet

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You can't use an external drive as a boot drive.
You'll need to take the drive out of the enclosure and connect it internally.

And everything on that drive will be wiped out.
 
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cannibalcorpse_08

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What I meant was using the 2.5" hard disk from my portable HDD as the replacement for my laptop's failing HDD.
 
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