Failing Hard drive - Back up or Repair first?

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nottoman

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Jun 19, 2010
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I've got an error in Event Viewer about a Bad Block on my Data drive. I've always wondered if it's better to try to repair with CHKDSK right away or start backing up anything that may not be backed up already?
 
Solution
Karadjgne
Back up first. Fix later. If the hdd has 1 bad block, it's just a matter of time before the rot spreads, the only think chkdsk will do is stop the usage of the bad block, it can't actually repair it. So back up everything and start looking into investing in a new hdd.
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VJ_Gamer

VJ_Gamer

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Aug 8, 2017
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Backup first. Backing up in a spare drive is one of the good practice. CHKDSK is a Windows utility that can check the integrity of your hard disk and can fix various file system errors. You might only have some minor file system errors that are easily corrected. But its better to backup first what you can.

Peace
 
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ohiou_grad_2006

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Dec 3, 2011
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BACKUP! Do NOT do checkdisk on your drive until you do. If the drive is actually failing, checkdisk is actually very hard on drives and can push a failing drive off the cliff so to speak.

Quick program to check drive health is called gsmart control, and it's open source iirc.

https://sourceforge.net/projects/gsmartcontrol/
 
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Karadjgne

Karadjgne

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Dec 26, 2012
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Back up first. Fix later. If the hdd has 1 bad block, it's just a matter of time before the rot spreads, the only think chkdsk will do is stop the usage of the bad block, it can't actually repair it. So back up everything and start looking into investing in a new hdd.
 
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Solution
USAFRet

USAFRet

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Mar 16, 2013
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Backup, absolutely.

If the drive is already showing signs of fail, the more you mess with it (chkdsk), the closer it is to actual fail.

Your data is far more valuable than a $50 drive.


Finally, backups should be done always...not just when presented with signs of failure.
 
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