Hello I want to know if is it possible to mark bad blocks on HDD for OS to not use them. I don't want to save data written on this blocks, just want to get rid of them.
I found some article where author describe how to partition disk to avoid using bad blocks of HDD. Here is screen of surface scan of my HDD. I count how many MB from the start are OK. And also how many MB from end are OK. It looks like I will lost about 50GB of storage space but it is quite fine for me when the disk will run one year more.
First I split disk to 2 partitions:
- From beginning to around 190 GB
- From 190GB to the end
Then I made surface scan of 2nd partition and everything was OK. I was really happy cause i though that finally I will succeed.
Than I wanted to copy all data from 1st partition to 2nd BUT in some data a problem occurs. I/O error. I'd say it is Read problem but when I open file on which copying failed it runs OK, for example some pdf files didn't copied but I opened them.
What can be problem can it be a Write problem? But why there is a problem when surface scan on whole 2nd partition was fine?
What can I do(except buying new HDD)? Can I somehow do this partitioning and use just partition with good sectors? Will it work? How are data stored on the disk? Can I determine where the data will be written?
Best Answer
Modern hard disks support Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology (SMART), which automatically maps out bad blocks, replacing them from a pool of blocks that are OK. If you're seeing bad blocks at the OS level, that means that your disk has run out of its "emergency supply" of backup blocks. Normally this is a sign that the disk is on its last legs. Although it could last for months with just that one bad block, it's more likely to begin developing more bad blocks in the near future. In fact, it may do so catastrophically, with the number of bad blocks spreading to consume vast quantities of your data in a matter of minutes.
Thus, I do not recommend using a software solution to map out your one bad block; instead, replace the whole disk. Although tools to map out individual bad blocks do exist, they were written for pre-SMART hard disks, when a handful of bad blocks were common on brand-new disks. Today, the only safe course of action really is to replace the disk.