Current pending sector count error

[sling-shot]

I suggest you use this tool to take a backup to a new large drive so that at least your important personal files are saved. This will copy whatever is possible skipping any unrecoverable files behind.

FreeFileSync

After that on those pesky files which could not be copied you can try Unstopable Copier, a utility from Roadkill.net (I have not personally used it with Windows 10 yet) by keeping settings such that it will skip only the error filled sector after 1 try. After you have extracted whatever you can with this setting, you can try multiple effort settings so that it will try the maximum to recover any bad sector.

Roadkil.Net - Roadkil's Unstoppable Copier Program Download

 

[billubakra]

Did the tests of the internal hdd-

For the extended test, left it running overnight but my bad the power saving option kicked in and the pc was sleeping when I checked it in the morning. But to my surprise it resumed from where it stopped. There is a repair option though but it said to backup everything as data on bad sectors might be lost. Didn't try it as my backup external hdd is also down.

 

[Desmond]

Buy a new HDD and backup into that. It's better to back up any important data before you proceed.

 

[billubakra]

Buy a new HDD and backup into that. It's better to back up any important data before you proceed.

Up for suggestions for the internal one and an external one. For the latter willing to go for the same my passport one and for the former a seagate one. Can someone please suggest a model for normal usage like wd blue with maximum warranty? I had 2tb internal and 1tb external. Now planning to switch the sizes. Recommended? Any software using which I can copy c: data do that I don't have to reinstall everything again.
+ @whitestar_999

 

[whitestar_999]

All budget internal hdd now comes with 2 years warranty.

For transferring OS try macrium reflect free version.

 

[billubakra]

The WD guy called and told me to connect the drive as secondary to some other pc and then erase it using the tool. Can I use a hdd dock instead? It won't help as per him but for creating a rma it is necessary. If its rma'd then they will send a refurbished one. He told me to use the best softwares to format the drive so that the data isn't recoverable. When I asked him about the privacy concerns, he sent me the faq's link ha ha

 

[whitestar_999]

Type of connection doesn't matter(secondary hdd or dock) for using erasing software(use 7 passes option).

 

[sling-shot]

So... unless you have government level secrets, once you have erased it with a low level format, things should be alright.

Because this is a possibly failing hard drive, I suggest that you do a single pass erase first to ensure that you have at least altered all the bits at least once before the drive fails. Then for the second round you may go for multi-pass method if you want to be doubly sure.

CCleaner has option to erase empty drives so you may use that or go for other solutions.

 

[billubakra]

Type of connection doesn't matter(secondary hdd or dock) for using erasing software(use 7 passes option).

He told me to copy data first, then delete that data from this hdd. Leave c drive intact, install it as a secondary drive, he was against dock and then start that erase thing. As per him the c drive will be auto erased, once it is done I am supposed to perform a quick test. If it doesn't work then rma process will start. Could you please elaborate that 7 pass option?

So... unless you have government level secrets, once you have erased it with a low level format, things should be alright.

Because this is a possibly failing hard drive, I suggest that you do a single pass erase first to ensure that you have at least altered all the bits at least once before the drive fails. Then for the second round you may go for multi-pass method if you want to be doubly sure.

CCleaner has option to erase empty drives so you may use that or go for other solutions.

Single pass erase? Please explain. For completely erasing data I read about those bootable pendrives which are unbeatable, its setup is easily available online.

 

[sling-shot]

Let us say that you have written a love story in a notebook using a pencil. You have divided it into chapters. In the first page you have made a list of each chapter and the page numbers where each chapter is written. In the actual pages with content, you do not write any headings but only sentences.

Now suddenly one day you feel embarassed about your story. You do not want to burn the notebook because you are environment conscious and believe in recycling. So you want to erase this notebook. You buy a good eraser and start erasing quickly from the first page.

Once you have erased the first page, because now you have lost the chapter headings I no longer can say which chapter is in which page although I can still read a lot of sentences. This is how a normal file deletion works in almost all operating systems.

To actual delete this love story, you need to erase all the pages. This is called one pass deletion. Now if you look at those pages from a distance, nothing is written.

But if you look closely, you can see impressions of your writing in those pages. They say that a hard drive erased with one pass may still have recoverable data.

So you rub the pages many times such that nothing is visible even when examined closely. This is multi-pass deletion.

Well, my analogy may be wrong because in truth you may be a great writer, but please ignore that for now.

If you want to erase a hard disk in place without connecting to another computer, then bootable pendrives can be used.

 

[whitestar_999]

Something like this:

You have the option to select method with various number of passes(more the passes more will be time taken),3 passes is minimum in my opinion & 7 should be enough for almost anybody.

 

[billubakra]

External hdd after full erase with WD LG tool. But the drive cannot be seen in My Computer now. What's wrong?

 

[sling-shot]

Probably because it needs partitioning into Windows recognisable structure.

Disk management is where you should do it unless you have other third party partition tools.

 

[Desmond]

Probably because it needs partitioning into Windows recognisable structure.

Disk management is where you should do it unless you have other third party partition tools.

This. Check whether you are able to view the disk/partition in Disk Management.

 

[billubakra]

Probably because it needs partitioning into Windows recognisable structure.

Disk management is where you should do it unless you have other third party partition tools.

This. Check whether you are able to view the disk/partition in Disk Management.

Thanks. Will do when I get home. Shouldn't ntfs have been set as default?

 

[whitestar_999]

Thanks. Will do when I get home. Shouldn't ntfs have been set as default?

It is set as default when creating partition,if only hdd erasing is done then there are no partitions(some software ask for creating partition after erasing but seems like WD tool doesn't).

 

[billubakra]

Done, thanks all. Selected MBR nothing happened, closed it reopened and partition done. What is mbr and gpt btw?

. Should I perform another extended test or anything? How can a full erase correct the pending sector count, even if temporarily? It reached to 2 before erasing last night.
Update- Copy/Write speed is less than 1MB/s so its definitely bad but crystal disk info is showing the health as good.

Now coming to the internal one, should I perform a full erase via a dock, my friend lives too far away and there is no time to go to his place and attach my hdd there so thinking of a dock. As per wd I can go for rma, I can use any format tools to delete anything as the extended tests didn't go through.

 

[billubakra]

Another update- The transfer speed is acceptable now. Earlier I was copying firefox profile and some backup of an accounts software with zillions of files and folders, though very small in size. Anyways should I give the internal hdd a shot or just rma it? Either way I am going to start from scratch. I have another 40 days warranty left. The rma procedure will take about 2 weeks.

 

[whitestar_999]

Another update- The transfer speed is acceptable now. Earlier I was copying firefox profile and some backup of an accounts software with zillions of files and folders, though very small in size.

Then 1MB/s is normal,it is called random 4K read write speeds & these are the speeds that matters for OS operation & the reason why SSDs are much faster than HDDs for OS/running usual tasks.

Typical HDD:

Typical ssd:

 

[sling-shot]

Another update- The transfer speed is acceptable now. Earlier I was copying firefox profile and some backup of an accounts software with zillions of files and folders, though very small in size. Anyways should I give the internal hdd a shot or just rma it? Either way I am going to start from scratch. I have another 40 days warranty left. The rma procedure will take about 2 weeks.

As you had seen errors earlier, and the warranty is short just go for RMA.

Peace of mind.