Current pending sector count error Part 2

[billubakra]

@whitestar_999 @patkim @Desmond

Thanks guys

I will try low level formatting with the hdcd method posted above. Should I go with the latest hbcd version developed by fans or the oldest one created by hiren himself which is like 10 years old? Is hbcd having crystal disk info built in? Want to check the disk condition after formatting via it. There is only one hdd connected to this system so this drive will be selected. A quick question, if the drive is connected in a hdd enclosure and formatted after connecting it to another system then does it make more difference?

Is it true the higher the ssd storage size more is its longevity? Is it true both for dram amd without dram?

That kingston ssd is without dram available for around 2k, fine for this pc as usage is less? Or crucial one with the same capacity and no dram for 500 extra?

I am again going to take a leap of faith and get a ssd+hdd and hope that same issue will not make the hdd go kaput this time. Any further pointers that you can tell which can find the culprit behind this?

About the multimeter test, keeping it as a last option because I have a weird feeling that nothing will come out of it. Plus as multimeters are non returnable so money will be wasted as we have no use for it. Will try to arrange it from someone. Just touch the two MM wires to the PSU and post the reading here? Can the MM be used to get readings of the UPS also? The entire rig along with the antec psu was bought in Q2 of 2017.

Initial hdd bought from local market, went kaput with the current pending sector error after 2 years. The rma one sent by wd, again kaput with the same error in 2 years. The packing of online websites is not like old times now, they pack even the hdds in that white polybag these days. I am talking about the official sellers too.

Can you share the link for the Toshiba hdd? Not able to find it from a reputed seller. A site by the name of ubuy is selling 2tb Toshiba hdd for around 2.5k. Surprisingly the reviews on other websites seems okayish for this site.
Please share the one for the seagate one too. Is it having 3 year warranty? 7200rpm? Is the customer support good?

I am not able to use produkey as Windows Defender treats it as a virus and admin access is needed to exclude it. I bought the key for this Windows 10 home version from a guy at erodov. The hdd is going kaput folder by folder. Any way to retrieve the key? Or any key finder/command which does not require admin access? The cmd command way is not displaying the key, even though cmd is being opened via task manager as admin

 

[whitestar_999]

Is it true the higher the ssd storage size more is its longevity? Is it true both for dram amd without dram?

That kingston ssd is without dram available for around 2k, fine for this pc as usage is less? Or crucial one with the same capacity and no dram for 500 extra?

ssd storage size has no relation with its longevity except for the fact that usually bigger size ssd have more endurance rating & dram ssd have more endurance rating than dram less ssd of same size. You can get kingston or crucial but I suggest going for kingston A400 series & not Q500 series over crucial BX500.

Initial hdd bought from local market, went kaput with the current pending sector error after 2 years. The rma one sent by wd, again kaput with the same error in 2 years. The packing of online websites is not like old times now, they pack even the hdds in that white polybag these days. I am talking about the official sellers too.

I think mdcomputers/vedant/primeabgb still send hdd in lots of layers filled with bubble wrap & you can call them before dispatch to send hdd with "extra secure packing".

I am not able to use produkey as Windows Defender treats it as a virus and admin access is needed to exclude it. I bought the key for this Windows 10 home version from a guy at erodov. The hdd is going kaput folder by folder. Any way to retrieve the key? Or any key finder/command which does not require admin access? The cmd command way is not displaying the key, even though cmd is being opened via task manager as admin

Win 10 key activation data is saved on MS activation servers & as long as hardware id is not changed(aka mobo+processor remain same) the system will be automatically activated after connected to net. For extra assurance you can create a MS account(live or outlook) & then login via that acc on your win 10 system which should link the activation status to that MS acc.

 

[billubakra]

ssd storage size has no relation with its longevity except for the fact that usually bigger size ssd have more endurance rating & dram ssd have more endurance rating than dram less ssd of same size. You can get kingston or crucial but I suggest going for kingston A400 series & not Q500 series over crucial BX500.


I think mdcomputers/vedant/primeabgb still send hdd in lots of layers filled with bubble wrap & you can call them before dispatch to send hdd with "extra secure packing".


Win 10 key activation data is saved on MS activation servers & as long as hardware id is not changed(aka mobo+processor remain same) the system will be automatically activated after connected to net. For extra assurance you can create a MS account(live or outlook) & then login via that acc on your win 10 system which should link the activation status to that MS acc.

Is Kingston A400 series better than the Crucial BX series? Both are dram less afaik. Has any hardware related website compared them both?

I will contact mdcomputers tomorrow and will get back to you. Are they going to run a prime day kinda sales this month?
Brother can you please share a reputed seller selling Toshiba/Seagate either 1.5 or 2 tb hdd online? Not able to find one. My heart is just not agreeing with wd.

PFA

https://imgur.com/a/njfmavL

If the system is too slow to link a MS account with it, then can one be sure that the Windows will be auto activated as HWID is the same?


I will try low level formatting with the hdcd method shared in the previous posts, just not getting the time. Should I go with the latest hbcd version developed by fans or the oldest one created by hiren himself which is like 10 years old? Is hbcd having crystal disk info built in or some other hdd monitor app? Want to check the disk condition after formatting via it.

@patkim @Desmond

*www.amazon.in/dp/B0722XPTL6

Edit- Just checked that this is with dram. How are they providing with dram in this budget? How is the after sales service? Nothing is mentioned about warranty on that page.


Edit 1
Is this a 2.5" or 3.5" drive?

https://imgur.com/a/P9WmNJB

https://imgur.com/a/3wqAt8n

 

[whitestar_999]

Edit- Just checked that this is with dram. How are they providing with dram in this budget? How is the after sales service? Nothing is mentioned about warranty on that page.

I already told you earlier & saying this again, only look at crucial mx500 or samsung evo 860/860 for dram 2.5" sata ssd.

*www.pressreader.com/usa/maximum-pc/20190625/282819307706579

Is Kingston A400 series better than the Crucial BX series? Both are dram less afaik. Has any hardware related website compared them both?

Performance wise both are similar but in my limited experience(maybe just an exception) I found kingston A400 a little bit faster than BX500 in some situations.

Brother can you please share a reputed seller selling Toshiba/Seagate either 1.5 or 2 tb hdd online? Not able to find one. My heart is just not agreeing with wd.

Is there any more reputed online seller specialized in pc components than mdcomputers/vedant/primeabgb/theitdepot? Getting hdd is pure luck, yours seem to be bad with WD so go with seagate but don't expect any guarantee of not having bad luck again.

Should I go with the latest hbcd version developed by fans or the oldest one created by hiren himself which is like 10 years old? Is hbcd having crystal disk info built in or some other hdd monitor app? Want to check the disk condition after formatting via it.

You can go with either one, if I remember correctly the original HBCD used to come with some hdd monitoring/repair tools so should be the same with new fan made version too.

 

[billubakra]

I already told you earlier & saying this again, only look at crucial mx500 or samsung evo 860/860 for dram 2.5" sata ssd.

*www.pressreader.com/usa/maximum-pc/20190625/282819307706579

View attachment 21641


Performance wise both are similar but in my limited experience(maybe just an exception) I found kingston A400 a little bit faster than BX500 in some situations.


Is there any more reputed online seller specialized in pc components than mdcomputers/vedant/primeabgb/theitdepot? Getting hdd is pure luck, yours seem to be bad with WD so go with seagate but don't expect any guarantee of not having bad luck again.


You can go with either one, if I remember correctly the original HBCD used to come with some hdd monitoring/repair tools so should be the same with new fan made version too.

Thanks. Ordering today and will do the hbcd thing today or tomorrow.
Edit- The current drive is 3.5"

Official video of the case says 3.5" drive and 2.5" ssd can be fixed in it

but official website says 3.5/2.5 inch drives can be fixed *www.corsair.com/eu/en/Categories/Products/Cases/Carbide-Series™-SPEC-01-Red-LED-Mid-Tower-Gaming-Case/p/CC-9011050-WW#tab-tech-specs they have given 4 drive mounts with it and 3.5" hdd fixes well in it.

Another video-

As per this video from @06.00 to 06.30 2.5" drive can be fixed but it is saying to screw it from the bottom part

Does that mean that we have a go for 2.5" hdd + ssd? Do we need any additional adapter or something for the 2.5" hard drive? Planning to keep the 2.5" ssd as it is without fixing in a bay.

How is this ssd Buy Online ADATA Ultimate SU650 120GB SSD ASU650SS-120GT-R In India ? @whitestar_999

 

[whitestar_999]

Does that mean that we have a go for 2.5" hdd + ssd? Do we need any additional adapter or something for the 2.5" hard drive? Planning to keep the 2.5" ssd as it is without fixing in a bay.

You don't need anything for a 2.5" ssd. I am currently using a 2.5" sata ssd just lying there on top of drive cage in corsair carbide 100R. For 2.5" hdd there are 3.5" to 2.5" adapters but why would anyone want to waste a hdd bay inside a pc for a 1tb laptop/2.5" hdd.

For dram less ssd I consider kingston A400 a bit better than crucial bx500 which is better than wd green which is better than adata su650.

 

[billubakra]

You don't need anything for a 2.5" ssd. I am currently using a 2.5" sata ssd just lying there on top of drive cage in corsair carbide 100R. For 2.5" hdd there are 3.5" to 2.5" adapters but why would anyone want to waste a hdd bay inside a pc for a 1tb laptop/2.5" hdd.

For dram less ssd I consider kingston A400 a bit better than crucial bx500 which is better than wd green which is better than adata su650.

For 2.5" hdd there are 3.5" to 2.5" adapters but why would anyone want to waste a hdd bay inside a pc for a 1tb laptop/2.5" hdd

So, you mean stick to the 3.5" drive instead of 2.5"? Why? They are small and a little more sturdy, as per the internet, so that's why I asked whether it will fit or not? About 3.5" to 2.5" adapter don't know whether it is needed or not. Just asked about it.

 

[whitestar_999]

For 2.5" hdd there are 3.5" to 2.5" adapters but why would anyone want to waste a hdd bay inside a pc for a 1tb laptop/2.5" hdd

So, you mean stick to the 3.5" drive instead of 2.5"? Why? They are small and a little more sturdy, as per the internet, so that's why I asked whether it will fit or not? About 3.5" to 2.5" adapter don't know whether it is needed or not. Just asked about it.

First of all, max available capacity in 2.5" hdd in retail consumer segment is 1TB. Second, it will cost around 3800(Delhi Nehru place price) vs around 3400 for regular 3.5" 1TB sata hdd. You can easily get 1.5TB-2TB portable 2.5" external hdd for around 4-4.5k in coming prime day sale on amazon/competing sale on flipkart. If internet is correct(which many times it isn't) then 2.5" external hdd should be also more sturdy than 3.5" internal hdd. A 3.5" hdd bay in a pc cabinet will not hold a 2.5" hdd unless the hdd tray is designed for both 2.5" & 3.5" hdd.

 

[patkim]

About the multimeter test, keeping it as a last option because I have a weird feeling that nothing will come out of it. Plus as multimeters are non returnable so money will be wasted as we have no use for it. Will try to arrange it from someone. Just touch the two MM wires to the PSU and post the reading here? Can the MM be used to get readings of the UPS also? The entire rig along with the antec psu was bought in Q2 of 2017.

That's all right. However a DMM is a nice tool to have. You can buy relatively cheaper ones for as low as 150 - 200 Rs. Industrial and good brands are very expensive though. However won't be much of use if you are not a DIYer in general.
To check voltages you need to start the PSU using paperclip test and then measure DC voltages across various PSU output points.
To measure the output of UPS, the same DMM can be used by changing settings to measure AC voltage from 0 thru 750V range.

Any further pointers that you can tell which can find the culprit behind this?

Generally to my knowledge bad sectors is a result of design flaws or limitations, possible ESD damage, physical shocks, anything related to sudden loss of power etc. It may be hard to pin point why it occurs. It's an acceptable limitation of HDDs. In my opinion SSDs have relatively better endurance than HDDs but they are not failure proof!

 

[billubakra]

First of all, max available capacity in 2.5" hdd in retail consumer segment is 1TB. Second, it will cost around 3800(Delhi Nehru place price) vs around 3400 for regular 3.5" 1TB sata hdd. You can easily get 1.5TB-2TB portable 2.5" external hdd for around 4-4.5k in coming prime day sale on amazon/competing sale on flipkart. If internet is correct(which many times it isn't) then 2.5" external hdd should be also more sturdy than 3.5" internal hdd. A 3.5" hdd bay in a pc cabinet will not hold a 2.5" hdd unless the hdd tray is designed for both 2.5" & 3.5" hdd.

Can we use an external hdd as a windows bootable drive? About the 2.5" internal drive , I am not able to find the Toshiba one anywhere. The sellers online and offline are selling refurbished drives with Toshiba stickers. You can tell from the stickers that they are not genuine. I am not willing to go with the 2.5" seagate drives because have heard many horror stories about Seagate, again it depends upon luck but most people have had terrible experience with Seagate. Like I had with WD. What do you suggest we should do here finally? I was planning to get a 500gb crucial bx series and a 2.5" hdd for atleast 1.5tb. The tray of spec-01 will hold a 2.5" drive. I confirmed with their local dealer though it will be screwed on one side only.

Apart from that low level format guide that you shared for hbcd, is there any high level format guide that you can recommend? If this drive somehow works then planning to make it a secondary drive besides the ssd.

P.S. I read on quora, the poster is a professional data recovery guy, he had mentioned that if a drive has errors, soft or hard, and we copy data from that drive to a new drive then there are chances that the errors will be copied to the new drive. He gave many technical reasons for it. Lost its link though. Can we take risk to copy the remanining data via hbcd?

Guys please share final inputs as have to order drives urgently @patkim @Desmond

 

[whitestar_999]

Can we use an external hdd as a windows bootable drive?

You can but you shouldn't.

I was planning to get a 500gb crucial bx series and a 2.5" hdd for atleast 1.5tb. The tray of spec-01 will hold a 2.5" drive. I confirmed with their local dealer though it will be screwed on one side only.

There is no internal 2.5" hdd more than 1TB capacity in retail market as I already mentioned earlier. Crucial MX500 1TB was available for 5800 on amazon yesterday morning so after 10% card discount its final price was 5220. Now this deal is gone so just buy crucial BX500 1TB available at 5584 which will finally cost you 5584-558=5026. Buy 2 of them for 10000 for total 2TB ssd capacity & be done with all this hdd drama.

P.S. I read on quora, the poster is a professional data recovery guy, he had mentioned that if a drive has errors, soft or hard, and we copy data from that drive to a new drive then there are chances that the errors will be copied to the new drive. He gave many technical reasons for it. Lost its link though. Can we take risk to copy the remanining data via hbcd?

First of all, it is irrelevant which error gets copied if you don't know the checksum of all the original data in the first place. Second, if the sectors in source hdd are not readable then no matter what you do the data in those sectors is already lost unless recovered professionally. Soft errors are usually errors in file system/partition table but those also does not mean that correcting them will not result in data loss even on source hdd. Just try to copy what you can & leave the rest to your luck, nothing better you can do excl seeking professional data recovery help.

 

[patkim]

Apart from that low level format guide that you shared for hbcd, is there any high level format guide that you can recommend?

High level format will just create a file system without actually erasing the 1 & 0s that make up files stored on drive. All your files are still there, just logically erased. This has no much relevance in correcting soft SMART errors.

You might have done basic high level format numerous times. Just right click the drive (partition) icon, and click format, choose file system and choose Quick. It is unlikely going to help in this case.

 

[whitestar_999]

@billubakra Crucial MX500 1TB deal is back, get it asap if still available when you see this post.