hdd issue

[WarBringerPT]

howdy.
My laptop's storage hdd started to crap on me. 1st it froze the pc whenever I wanted to access it(for a short while), then evolved into not getting any access at all.

removed the hdd, placed it in a hdd case, connected to my desktop, couldn't access it (asked me to format it).
The hdd has another parttion, "hp tools", since it was the main hdd of the laptop before I added a ssd. That partition works 100%.

chkdsk /f /r /x stops at stage 4, saying it doesnt have enough space to reallocate sectors (80gb free space on a 500gb hdd).

Used a program called Eassos recovery, selected the hdd, selected the opton to recover partition, found almost instantly everything is still there, just need to recover the partition. Welp, not with this program, need to buy to recover( can scan, can't recover in trial).
Program also lets me copy files from that partition to another disk, but has a limit of 100mb max per file, which is not enough.

So I'm looking at either recovering the partition without losing the data I have there, or a way to backup what I want, then format.
Any sugestions? Needs to freeware.

Cheers

edit: can also add that after using a hdd diagnostic program called crystaldiskinfo, this hdd is not doing so well in health, using hdtune let me do a scan, 5 hours later the score was I had 1.3% bad sectors.
Running a usb pendriver with fedora, hdd diagnostic there said the hdd had 243 bad sectors.
All I want is at least recover most of what's in there.

[chazus]

I'd say Photorec or Recuva to try and pull the data off there.

As far as I'm aware EaseUS Recovery is able to fix partitions but that doesn't help with bad sectors

[WarBringerPT]

I'd say Photorec or Recuva to try and pull the data off there.

As far as I'm aware EaseUS Recovery is able to fix partitions but that doesn't help with bad sectors

Booted the fedora pendrive, hdd is recognized, atm copying what i want to backup to another external hdd, after that will format it.
My doubt is, 243 bad sectors, dont know if they are hardware issue or just some sort of issue that formatting/creating a new partition will solve it. Will try to use the disk anyway, but not keeping anything important there.

Edit: reason i didnt try fedora before was that the hdd was located in a caddy, it would give an error and would not mount the partition. Now its out of the caddy, into a hdd case, connected by usb. So far so good, no errors while copying.

[Evildeffy]

If you have even just 1 bad sector it means there's physical damage on the drive.

Copy off what you can and toss the drive afterwards, trying to repair it will do nothing, especially with over 240 bad sectors.

Before you ask:
Yes, bad sectors really are that bad, no you cannot fix them, replace the hard drive.
No buts, no ifs, no whys... just replace it.

[WarBringerPT]

If you have even just 1 bad sector it means there's physical damage on the drive.

Copy off what you can and toss the drive afterwards, trying to repair it will do nothing, especially with over 240 bad sectors.

Before you ask:
Yes, bad sectors really are that bad, no you cannot fix them, replace the hard drive.
No buts, no ifs, no whys... just replace it.

http://www.howtogeek.com/173463/bad-...n-do-about-it/
Just pointing out that it can be "software issues", like stated in that link ( and others, but atm on the tablet while laptop is busy copying stuff).
Laptop is working fine with the ssd, ill just format the hdd and see if it can go on for a while longer, if not at least i have everything saved.

[Evildeffy]

http://www.howtogeek.com/173463/bad-...n-do-about-it/
Just pointing out that it can be "software issues", like stated in that link ( and others, but atm on the tablet while laptop is busy copying stuff).
Laptop is working fine with the ssd, ill just format the hdd and see if it can go on for a while longer, if not at least i have everything saved.

Except that software bad sectors do not really exist anymore.
This was when magnetic storage was still working with floppy drives.

It is exceedingly rare to find even 1 of them and a "software" bad sector would not crash the drive to your extent.

What you have in this day and age is a physical damage point.
The drive is busted but if you want to be seriously sure then download Hiren's Boot CD, boot from a CD/USB with it and run ViVard.
That detection algorithm is hardware and hardware only so if detected there (which I'm going to guarantee it is) you are simply put fucked.

The fact your hard drive crapped out on you and didn't want to give you access on your desktop is a hint of hardware failure as well.
As an independent system should be able to access the drive without issues just not able to copy the corrupted data intact.

- - - Updated - - -

Bad sectors can also be caused by the ECC not matching the contents of the sector. Which isn't physical damage.

See above.

[Evildeffy]

What you have typically is what you describe. It doesn't mean it's the only possibility though. I agree that the drive crapping out the way it did likely means there's physical damage though.

It is .. as all bad sectors are physical damage.
A "software" bad sector is not a real bad sector, it is simply damaged data.

But again that no longer exists in this time, even pulling out power whilst your HDD is writing will maybe cause the data to be corrupt but it won't be recognized as a bad sector, simply chunks of files that Windows will put in a directory called "Found.000".

The only way you could have that in this day and age is if you have a 10+ year old HDD and run Windows XP or below.
Windows Vista and up were quite a bit more intelligent on what to call things.

If you so wish you could try this right now... but I'm not buying you a new HDD :P

[Evildeffy]

It still appears as a bad sector. It's what's known as a soft bad sector. You're describing hard bad sectors.

That's what I'm trying to tell you.

Newer hard drives as well as Windows Vista and up (combo of both, not just one) no longer identify it as a bad sector.
Just "chunk of data".

(That is unless you run the legacy scandisk software)

Software bad sectors are a thing of the past unless you have ancient hardware and windows and 0 protection.

[Evildeffy]

You're incorrect. I'm not going to go looking for proof right now, but I've seen bad sectors on hard drives that were software related in the last 5 years.

I have patience, doesn't have to be now, can be anytime soon.
But do note all the proper hardware and age

[WarBringerPT]

I actually have a folder named found.000 . Finished copying everything, going to format it.

[jedimike]

Try a program called SpinRite by Steve Gibson. If you remember TechTV (Leo Leoparte) he does a computer security podcast with them. Real smart guy and has been a programmer for like 40 years. SpinRite is a hard drive recovery utility that will actually go sector by sector and attempt to repair. https://www.grc.com/sr/spinrite.htm

[Evildeffy]

Guess you've never heard of malware before. It's entirely possible to mark sectors as bad in the OS when they're not actually bad. That's what's known as a soft bad sector. They can, and do, still occur. Please, go educate yourself a little on the topic.

http://www.howtogeek.com/173463/bad-...n-do-about-it/

From about 4 years ago. If soft bad sectors weren't a reality on current hardware why even bring them up?

https://www.interdatarecovery.com/bl...ectors-created

From about 2.5 years ago. If soft bad sectors don't happen, why bring them up?

Because of the same reason graphics card manufacturers still recommend a 500W power supply with a 100W TDP card.

You have multiple categories of people and with them come a multitude of systems with different setups.

Regardless the assumption in this day and age is that you have a form of protection against virus/malware, even then those virii and malware generally no longer exist that just mess up your data and most Windows versions used today do have native protection against this (cryptolockers are something entirely different).

But yes if you do manage to get infected because you run no protection at all, not even the windows one, that you could get infected with an older type virus/malware which does as such then I agree you could have software bad sectors.

This scenario is extremely unlikely however.. but I will agree that Murphy's Law is in effect for this and is still exceedingly rare to witness.

However I've answered with respect and respect the same in return and your comment of "go educate yourself" is rather unnecessary.
If you so want I can go all the way back to the late 80s/early 90s when it comes to virii, including the HDD track 0 destroying virii that existed which now is also impossible to do.

I am well educated on the topic thank you very much.

- - - Updated - - -

Try a program called SpinRite by Steve Gibson. If you remember TechTV (Leo Leoparte) he does a computer security podcast with them. Real smart guy and has been a programmer for like 40 years. SpinRite is a hard drive recovery utility that will actually go sector by sector and attempt to repair. https://www.grc.com/sr/spinrite.htm

Good Lord... that's been a while since I last heard that name!
Thanks for the nostalgia on that!

- - - Updated - - -

I actually have a folder named found.000 . Finished copying everything, going to format it.

Good luck on that, you'll need it and a lot of time.
(note: not quick format of course)

[Evildeffy]

Keep trying to move those goal posts. You're 100% incorrect on this and soft bad sectors can occur on Windows versions more recent than Vista even if you don't get any malware. The fact that you think you can't tells me you aren't that well educated on the topic.

And you're shifting and ignoring what is stated, I stated a combination of things and I never denied it's impossible.
I stated, and you can look back through this, the following in my 2nd post:

Except that software bad sectors do not really exist anymore.

It is exceedingly rare to find even 1 of them

Clearly pointing to the fact that they are now so incredibly rare that finding 1 affected user in 5 years is quite a lot.

Meaning exactly as I stated... in this day and age they no longer really exist.
And when they do happen it is usually on older Windows versions with older hardware.
If you are infected by an ancient malware/virus that causes this though then you deserve issues ^^

But if you want to take that as your victory badge then go right ahead, I'm not stopping you.

It will not change the fact WarbringerPT's hard drive is broken mechanically.
Even the HDD's S.M.A.R.T. told him it's in bad health, S.M.A.R.T. doesn't detect software bad sectors f.ex.

[WarBringerPT]

Gonna have to format while in fedora, with windows the disk wont let me. Tries to detect the broken partition, and doesnt move from there.

Edit: slow format, almost 5 hours, oh well.

[Evildeffy]

Gonna have to format while in fedora, with windows the disk wont let me. Tries to detect the broken partition, and doesnt move from there.

That alone isn't a good thing, again.

Try opening a command prompt (with admin privileges) and type the following:
Note: Assuming the drive is lettered C:\ but is likely different on your Windows... find which it is before doing this command.

FORMAT C: /X /FS:NTFS

If this command won't do anything in a command prompt then it's more to show you it's not a software issue.

[WarBringerPT]

Thing is, like i said in my 1st post, this hdd has a 2nd partition "hp tools", that works fine. Its just the one that was used as storage that i cant access.
Cant try the command now, since its already formatting. 3h17m left... the woe of not having usb3 on the laptop.

[Evildeffy]

Thing is, like i said in my 1st post, this hdd has a 2nd partition "hp tools", that works fine. Its just the one that was used as storage that i cant access.
Cant try the command now, since its already formatting. 3h17m left... the woe of not having usb3 on the laptop.

The partition is irrelevant, it is the location of the cluster of bad sectors which will determine where it'll crash upon accessing it.

If the partition HP tools and it's data is located on the outer edge of a platter and the errors are located in the inner edge then the outer edge will remain accessible properly because it's not in the range of where it's broken.

Hard Drives to have a sector reallocation ability but it's limited and simply marks the broken sector as bad.
Which is a stop-gap measure, it might work for a short while but once the damage is there it cannot be fixed and will spread eventually.

It's like trying to ride on a freeway and you just keep hitting potholes .. both your car and the road will further deteriorate.

[Lathais]

Your HDD is borked. Formatting it will not solve the issue, in fact it may make it worse. You need a new HDD. Anytime spent formatting it hoping it will continue to work is pretty much a complete waste of time. If you have bad sectors, 99.99999% of the time or more, you have a physically damaged HDD.

[WarBringerPT]

Well, to update on this:
after the format, the new partition wasn't 100% free space (416gb free out of 425gb). Bad sectors populating that space?
No issues so far, installed games into the hdd and tested, no freezes and hiccups (so far).
With my luck, managed to get a used 500gb hdd for free today, probably from the same time as mine but with a lower usage (crystal disk info says my disk has had 18.6k hours uptime, the "new" one has 8k). So even if my hdd fails completely, I have a replacement for it. But until then I'll fill the hdd with data that can be lost (games and junk).

[Evildeffy]

Well, to update on this:
after the format, the new partition wasn't 100% free space (416gb free out of 425gb). Bad sectors populating that space?
No issues so far, installed games into the hdd and tested, no freezes and hiccups (so far).
With my luck, managed to get a used 500gb hdd for free today, probably from the same time as mine but with a lower usage (crystal disk info says my disk has had 18.6k hours uptime, the "new" one has 8k). So even if my hdd fails completely, I have a replacement for it. But until then I'll fill the hdd with data that can be lost (games and junk).

What it has done is marked all the sectors/blocks of bad space as bad and "do not use".
This is, as explained before, a stop-gap measure and only done on physical damage to prolong use as much as possible for those that can't immediately replace it.

It may work for 1 day, it may for 1 year, it's random but count on shorter rather than longer.