The device, \Device\Harddisk1\D, has a bad block.

[mara-]

Hi,

In last few days I'm seeing this in EvenViewer:

The device, \Device\Harddisk1\D, has a bad block.

I assume that my hard disk life is near end. Right?

But how can I find out which one, since I have two?

Cheers

[CoffeeFiend]

I assume that my hard disk life is near end. Right?

Sometimes they only one bad block and stay like that for a while, but more often than not, you have more than one, and they tend to "multiply". Some people keep using them despite of this, but I don't trust my data to a drive with obvious signs of failure (likely on an old drive with a decent amount of wear), especially nowadays, when you get can a brand new 750GB'er for $90.

But how can I find out which one, since I have two?

In disk management you should be able to find out which of the two it is. But Harddisk1 is your 2nd hard drive (and it says D too) -- not the one you're booting from.

[mikesw]

why not run checkdisk under the disk drive properties and select both check boxes so that it checks the

filesystem and any bad data block/sectors that aren't being used?

[CoffeeFiend]

why not run checkdisk under the disk drive properties and select both check boxes so that it checks the filesystem and any bad data block/sectors that aren't being used?

Like I said, you can try to keep using it like that, but why would you really want to?

You know there are problems with the disk surface for sure and it's not gonna get any better, likely worse. Corrosion? Hopefully not because that spreads a lot. Wear? Again, spreads. Heads landed? who knows... Likely SMART data reports serious problems too. You're at risk of losing important data, and data corruption in general causing various problems (crashes, hangs and BSODs namely). One a bad block in the wrong spot can totally corrupt your filesystem, and then hopefully you manage to recover your data. It's a disaster waiting to happen as far as I'm concerned. In fact, on modern drives you shouldn't see bad sectors EVER. The drives have plenty of spare sectors that they remap with transparently. So if it starts to show some, it's run out of sectors to remap with, so it's definitely spreading a lot (SMART data would have details).

Data is far more valuable than an old worn out defective hard drive costs to replace. Even if you didn't need 750GB or didn't have $90 to spend, you can get a 250GB'er for $45. It's brand new (no mechanical wear), the disk surface doesn't have problems, it's likely faster, has a warranty and all.

[jaclaz]

I wouldn't be so "catastrophic".

What I would do (assuming that you anyway have a complete and recent backup):

1) Change the drive cable (yes, errors in event viewer about a bad data block can be caused by the cable or contacts) or at least try re-seating it at both ends

2) run CHKDISK

3) run CHKDSK /R

But, BEFORE the above:

To identify the drive, all you need to know is that first hard disk is \Harddisk0, so the one you have problems should be your second one, but it can also be your CD or DVD drive:

http://www.tek-tips.com/viewthread.cfm?qid...6661&page=4

Which drive/partition has letter D:\ in your system?

By comparing the output of MOUNTVOL command with that of VLM (part of the DSFOK toolkit):

http://members.ozemail.com.au/~nulifetv/freezip/freeware/

you can make sure which is which.

But the error could also be due to a "bad" driver, you should use the HD manufacturer utility to check the drive, usually they run from a bootdisk and directly access the drive, so that if the HD pases the check, it means that it is something else (driver or however software) that is causing the problem.

jaclaz

[mara-]

Thanks guys for response. I have a lot of bad block in event viewer and whenever bad block occur my computer go in short freeze. Also, this is 5-year old hd, so I think it going to die. I done chkdsk /f and it did not help. So I already bought new hd, WDC WD5000AAKS and I'm moving my data on it. After that I'll not use old disk at all. Also, I recently replaced my computer with new one because of dead motherboard and I kept my two working HD-s, but one which is now getting this bad blocks behaved strangely, for example manufacturer utility does not recognize it, Acronics backup program does not recognize it, tool Drive Space Indicator won't show indicator on it...

Cheers

[mara-]

Just the update for those with same issue:

It was not my old Maxtor disk which caused the bad block problem, even it has problems described above. It was my WDC WD2000KS. But, I was able to fix this issue. I downloaded WD Diagnostics, I run Extended Diagnostic and the tool found the bad sector and "repaired" it (Windows XP did not detected nothing). Since than I did not have single bad block. I done the diagnostic 3 days ago, and my computer is running at least 12 hours per day. I also run diagnostic once more, and no any problems. Anyway, there was one good thing here. Bad block was excuse for me to by new HD, I needed more space .

So if anyone have this problem, try to run official diagnostic tool, for your HD to see will it fix the problem.

Cheers