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by mirajg

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is it possible for a technition to remove bad sectors from a hard disk?

6 replies

by grey_woolf

No. Disk sectors are made up of iron/silicone particles that represent 0's or 1's based on their orientation on the disk. Defective sectors are particles that can not hold their settings.

The disk would have to be stripped of all particles, ground perfectly smooth, remagnetized, and resurfaced. While in a perfectly dust, moisture, and static free environment.

One could buy 10 hard drive for what this would cost.

by mc_user

It is possible for a technician to reformat a hard disk. What this means is that he runs a special program that COMPLETELY ERASES EVERYTHING ON YOUR HARD DISK and makes it ready for you to reinstall your operating system and programs.

When you reformat a hard disk it checks the surface of the drive for bad sectors and builds a table listing where the bad sectors are located. When you start using your drive again the computer now knows never to use those bad sectors again.

Make copies of EVERYTHING before you do a format. Make sure you have ALL of the origional installation CD's and diskettes for you programs and operating system before formatting. Don't forget program serial numbers and any other kind of codes necessary to install your programs.

by vncoder

G'day,
It's not worth the trouble doing on that at all.
Reason:
Have to answer why the disk got bad sector in the first place.
Is it dust particle? Hmmm you got problem with dust once so you will have it again...
Is it defective parts?? Hmm...you have defective parts that cause the bad sector...and it will cause more bad sectors....
Any other reasons???
Why risk your data on the offending hard disk. Much safer to buy a new hard disk.

by arthurp

Faced with the effort & the cost of attempting to repair bad sectors, not to mention the cost in your time, it's not worth it ...

With recent reductions in the price of HD's you may as well buy a new one ...
If your system is a laptop with a 3/4height drive then I suggest that you take a look at IBM's travelstar, which is a reasonable price, & fits most laptops ... otherwise, you're looking at paying approx ?1 a gig, (?120 for a 120Gb HD).

Arthur

by madmark

In this case, you have 2 choices. The BEST way to eliminate your problem is to replace the hard disk. The CHEAPEST way is to backup and format the current hard disk.

Every hard disk has a MTBF rating (Mean Time Between Failures). As an HD getsold, it will lose its abilty to store data. The causes for this can be manifold. Ever bump your knee against the PC while it is working? Kick it accindentally (or on purpose if you run Windoze)? Ever turn it off without shutting down because it locks up?

Each of these actions will cause the little magnets that scoot around a fraction of an inch above and below the platters of the hard disk to come into contact with the platters that are spinning at 5400 - 7200 revoultions per minute.

The result is a little scratch on the surface, and perhaps a little debris in the sealed drive to cause more harm later on.

Magnets do lose their polarity over time as well, as their fields degrade. Formatting will realign the little iron particles on the drive and recharge the undamaged ones to once again store data. More sectors will go bad over time though, as the drive ages. A table is kept on the hard disk to track good and bad sectors. You can manage these sectors yourself, using PCTools or other utilities, but I don't recommend it.

A new drive will provide better performance, and a longer life for your data. You can also get more storage than you currently have for a moderate price. Make your choice.

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