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9 August 2024  John Weaver  Senior Program Developer
 

Summary
Bad sectors, or bad blocks, are sections of a storage device that are permanently damaged, leading to potential data loss and unreliability for future storage. There are two primary types of bad sectors: physical and logical. Physical bad sectors result from physical damage to the hard drive, such as head crashes, dust contamination, wear and tear, or manufacturing defects, and cannot be repaired. Logical bad sectors, on the other hand, appear to malfunction due to software issues or corruption, although the article does not specify the causes or solutions for logical bad sectors. If the number of bad sectors exceeds a certain threshold, the hard drive will fail to function properly.



Table of contents

table iconTypes of Bad Sectors
table iconCauses of Hard Bad Sectors
table iconChecking and Marking Bad Sectors
table iconData Recovery from Hard Drives with Bad Sectors
table iconContinuing Use of a Partially Corrupt Hard Drive
table iconUsing Renee Becca for Backup
table iconConclusion
A bad sector, also known as a bad block, is a section of a storage device that is permanently damaged. When a sector is damaged, all data stored on it may be lost, and it becomes unreliable for future data storage. If the number of bad sectors exceeds the limit set by the manufacturer, the hard drive will cease to function properly.
bad sectors

Types of Bad Sectors

There are two main types of bad sectors: physical (or hard) bad sectors and logical (or soft) bad sectors.

Physical Bad Sectors

A physical bad sector is a portion of the hard drive that is physically damaged. This can occur due to various reasons such as: – The hard drive’s head touching the platter. – Dust settling on the sector. – Wear and tear on a solid-state drive’s flash memory cell. – Manufacturing defects or other wear issues. Physical bad sectors cannot be repaired.

Logical Bad Sectors

A logical bad sector is a portion of the hard drive that appears to be malfunctioning. This can happen when the operating system tries to read data from the sector and finds that the error-correcting code (ECC) does not match the sector’s contents. Logical bad sectors can often be repaired by overwriting the drive with zeros or using tools like Windows’ Disk Check. When a bad sector is detected, the computer marks it as bad and reallocates data to a different sector. This is tracked in hard drive S.M.A.R.T. analysis tools like CrystalDiskInfo under “Reallocated Sectors.”
Clone your Hard disk at the first sign of bad sectors to prevent data loss.

Causes of Hard Bad Sectors

Bad sectors can be caused by various factors, including:
- Manufacturing defects: Modern manufacturing techniques are not perfect, and some drives may ship with bad sectors.
- Wear and tear: On solid-state drives, sectors can become bad due to repeated writes.
- Physical damage: Dropping the drive, dust entering the drive, or other physical impacts can cause bad sectors on traditional magnetic hard drives.
broken hard disk

Checking and Marking Bad Sectors

Before attempting to repair bad sectors, it is essential to check the disk and mark the bad sectors as unusable. Here are the steps to do so:
1. Type cmd in the Windows search box and right-click Command Prompt to choose Run as administrator.
run as administrator
2. In the command line window, type chkdsk c:/f /r and hit Enter. (Replace C with the appropriate drive letter if needed.)
3. You will receive a message stating that Chkdsk cannot run because the volume is in use by another process. Type Y to continue.
4. The check disk process will run during the next restart, marking bad sectors as unusable. After marking the bad sectors, it is advisable to back up your files to avoid data loss.

Data Recovery from Hard Drives with Bad Sectors

If you need to recover data from a hard drive with bad sectors, consider the following tips:
- Act quickly: Delaying can lead to further data loss.
- Avoid using the hard drive: Continued use can cause more damage.
- Disconnect the hard drive: Connect it to a different computer for recovery.
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Continuing Use of a Partially Corrupt Hard Drive

Technically, you can continue using a partially corrupt hard drive by stripping out the bad sectors. This method has been used for decades. Windows itself tracks bad sectors and assigns them to a hidden file named $BadClus to prevent their reuse. Modern HDDs have hidden spare space that automatically remaps bad sectors before the OS intervention.
This remapping continues until the spare space is exhausted, at which point the drive’s capacity will decrease, and the drive becomes unreliable for use as the main system disk.

Using Renee Becca for Backup

To ensure data safety, using a reliable backup tool is essential. Renee Becca is a specialized tool for system and hard disk data backup and restoration. It helps back up and restore important data such as programs, system configurations, emails, photos, videos, documents, and bookmarks. Utilizing advanced incremental and differential backup technology, it saves time and disk space. It supports system, partition, hard disk, and file backup, as well as disk cloning. The software also allows for automatic backup plans, saving time and effort.
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How to Use Renee Becca to Backup Windows System

Step 1: Download, install, and run Renee Becca on the computer, and select the (System Backup) option.
system backup renee becca
Step 2: Select the source file and the destination. The source file typically defaults to the system partition, and the destination is where you want to save the system backup. In the backup plan, choose a suitable scheme based on your needs. Renee Becca offers 5 options: version chain mode, single version mode, full mode, incremental mode, and differential mode.
Renee Becca offers 5 backup plans:
* Version chain mode: Keeps the latest 5 versions, automatically deleting older versions after each backup.
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In addition, using Scheduler, you can set a daily/weekly/monthly automatic backup plan and the time to start the backup. Click (OK) to enable the automatic backup.
system backup-schedule
Step 3: After all settings are completed, click (Backup). You can view the backup progress by switching to the Task tab on the main interface of Renee Becca. If you need to restore the system, please read the System Restore guide.
system backup renee becca

Conclusion

Understanding bad sectors and how to manage them is crucial for maintaining the health and performance of your storage devices. By checking for bad sectors, marking them as unusable, and taking steps to recover data, you can mitigate the risks associated with bad sectors. Always back up your data regularly to prevent data loss from bad sectors or other issues.
Hot Topic - ADsRenee Becca – Safe and Quick System Migration to SSD

Automatic 4K alignment Improves SSD performance during system migration.

Support GPT and MBR Automatically adapt to the suitable partition format.

Support NTFS and FAT32 Redeploy various files in different file systems.

Back up quickly Back up files at up to 3,000MB/min.

Overall backup schedule Support system redeployment/system backup/partition backup/disk backup/disk clone.

Automatic 4K alignment Improve SSD performance

Support GPT and MBR Intelligently adapt to a partition format

Support NTFS and FAT32 Redeploy files in different file systems

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