Every chkdsk I do reports 16KB in bad sectors

[Blaq]

I tried to image my laptop's HD, but Macrium Reflect would abort with an I/O error. One of the solutions found online was to run

chkdsk c: /f /r

in an elevated-privilege command window. When the laptop rebooted and ran chkdsk, it reported the following:

Checking file system on C:
The type of the file system is NTFS.
Volume label is Local Disk.

A disk check has been scheduled.
Windows will now check the disk.
  305280 file records processed.                                     1658 large file records processed.                               0 bad file records processed.                                 0 EA records processed.                                       201 reparse records processed.                                  397268 index entries processed.                                    0 unindexed files processed.                                  305280 security descriptors processed.                           Cleaning up 8 unused index entries from index $SII of file 0x9.
Cleaning up 8 unused index entries from index $SDH of file 0x9.
Cleaning up 8 unused security descriptors.
  45995 data files processed.                                     CHKDSK is verifying Usn Journal...
  35410432 USN bytes processed.                                      Usn Journal verification completed.
CHKDSK is verifying file data (stage 4 of 5)...
  305264 files processed.                                          File data verification completed.
CHKDSK is verifying free space (stage 5 of 5)...
  407071 free clusters processed.                                  Free space verification is complete.
Windows has checked the file system and found no problems.

  63963135 KB total disk space.
  61779324 KB in 203146 files.
    137436 KB in 45996 indexes.
        16 KB in bad sectors.
    418075 KB in use by the system.
     65536 KB occupied by the log file.
   1628284 KB available on disk.

      4096 bytes in each allocation unit.
  15990783 total allocation units on disk.
    407071 allocation units available on disk.

Internal Info:
80 a8 04 00 41 cd 03 00 6b c8 06 00 00 00 00 00  ....A...k.......
37 01 00 00 c9 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  7...............
30 c7 d7 77 00 00 00 00 50 23 3c ff 00 00 00 00  0..w....P#<.....

Windows has finished checking your disk.
Please wait while your computer restarts.

I tried to image the disk again — same error. (I also performed some Reflect-specific steps, i.e. checking "Intelligent Sector Copy", "Enable file write caching" and "Ignore bad sectors when creating images".)

I ran chkdsk several times as above and, every time, I get the same 16KB in bad sectors reported.

At this point, I'm unable to do an image backup because of these disk errors. What can I do? Thanks for your help.

 

[tweakboy]

There is a program called, HD Regenerater that will actually fix your bad sectors all of them.. gl

 

[ShintaiDK]

Try run a chkdsk /r to see if there is more.

 

[tcsenter]

chkdsk /r implies /f but also verifies free space and scans the physical media for bad sectors. IOW, if you use /r, you don't need /f.

There may be another issue than the 16KB in bad sectors. I/O error doesn't suggest bad sectors to me, but rather something like a bad cable, flakey drive firmware or controller, perhaps even a BIOS or application bug.

 

[GAO]

"Windows has checked the file system and found no problems"

I think Windows has already mapped the bad sectors out and is just reporting that.

You can chkdsk c: /B. This implies /r and will first wipe out the map of the bad sectors then rescan (you should do this after you have restored a backup of a system with bad sectors mapped to a new drive for instance).

Now if this is the case, then I wonder why macrium would not work...

 

[GAO]

You can choose to have macrium not verify the source file system (backup options). But as tscenter says, it may be some other issue. I think those bad sectors reported by chkdsk may be a red-herring.

Where are you trying to image the backup to? Could the i/o error be there?

 

[GAO]

I looked in the macrium forums and found a similar issue. Was it io error 1117? Their support says that usually has to do with i/o throughput. If you are imaging to an external USB drive, then setup the drive for "Optimize Performance" instead of "Quick Removal". See down near the bottom of the page on this link:

http://support.macrium.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=3939

I don't know if the macrium "Enable Write-caching" does the same thing but it is worth a shot. Just make sure you eject the disk before unplugging it once you have this enabled.

 

[Blaq]

Thanks for all your suggestions.

Try run a chkdsk /r to see if there is more.

I've run chkdsk several times, always getting the same result.

You can choose to have macrium not verify the source file system (backup options).

That's why I used "Intelligent Sector Copy" (only copies blocks used by the OS), "Enable file write caching" (helps avoid I/O errors) and "Ignore bad sectors when creating images".

I'm imaging the laptop's internal HD and storing it onto a NAS drive. (The NAS is new, but worked well with image backups of my other 2 computers.) This means we can eliminate imaging to a USB drive as a cause.

I need to solve this disk error before I can make a backup and finally sleep safe. I see some atapi errors in the Event Viewer during the last backup:

Log Name:      System
Source:        atapi
Date:          12/01/2013 10:33:39 PM
Event ID:      11
Task Category: None
Level:         Error
Keywords:      Classic
User:          N/A
Computer:      michael-LG
Description:
The driver detected a controller error on \Device\Ide\IdePort0.
Event Xml:
<Event xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event">
  <System>
    <Provider Name="atapi" />
    <EventID Qualifiers="49156">11</EventID>
    <Level>2</Level>
    <Task>0</Task>
    <Keywords>0x80000000000000</Keywords>
    <TimeCreated SystemTime="2013-01-13T03:33:39.167Z" />
    <EventRecordID>322240</EventRecordID>
    <Channel>System</Channel>
    <Computer>michael-LG</Computer>
    <Security />
  </System>
  <EventData>
    <Data>\Device\Ide\IdePort0</Data>
    <Binary>0000100001000000000000000B0004C002000000850100C00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000004100000</Binary>
  </EventData>
</Event>

Log Name:      System
Source:        atapi
Date:          12/01/2013 10:33:39 PM
Event ID:      11
Task Category: None
Level:         Error
Keywords:      Classic
User:          N/A
Computer:      michael-LG
Description:
The driver detected a controller error on \Device\Ide\IdePort0.
Event Xml:
<Event xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event">
  <System>
    <Provider Name="atapi" />
    <EventID Qualifiers="49156">11</EventID>
    <Level>2</Level>
    <Task>0</Task>
    <Keywords>0x80000000000000</Keywords>
    <TimeCreated SystemTime="2013-01-13T03:33:39.167Z" />
    <EventRecordID>322239</EventRecordID>
    <Channel>System</Channel>
    <Computer>michael-LG</Computer>
    <Security />
  </System>
  <EventData>
    <Data>\Device\Ide\IdePort0</Data>
    <Binary>0000100001000000000000000B0004C002000000850100C00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000004100000</Binary>
  </EventData>
</Event>

Does this give you a clue?

 

[tweakboy]

Get HDD Regenerator


That fixes the bad sectors.......that is the only way your going to fix the bad sectors. So get to it, instead of lurking on,, find HDD Regenerator run ,,,,,,,, takes time but will fix your bad sectors and it will report 0 when you chkdsk .. ok.

 

[C1]

What's suspicious is the reference to atapi. If anything, you should be transferring DMA protocol. Atapi is a very low speed transfer protocol and is associated now days with a default to a most primitive mode when something problematic happens in which the normal speed connection to the peripheral cannot be attained (for whatever reason).

 

[Blaq]

Here's some additional information. I tried imaging the disk again and here are the events up to the Reflect error:

Level        Date and   Source        Event ID   Task       
             Time                                Category
                                                            
Information  14/01/201  Microsoft-    10029      None       "DCOM  started the
             3 5:46:23  Windows-                            service VSS with
             PM         DistributedC                        arguments """" in
                        OM                                  order to run the
                                                            server:
Information  14/01/201  Service       7036       None       The Volume Shadow
             3 5:46:23  Control                             Copy service
             PM         Manager                             entered the
                                                            running state.
Information  14/01/201  Microsoft-    10029      None       "DCOM  started the
             3 5:46:26  Windows-                            service swprv with
             PM         DistributedC                        arguments """" in
                        OM                                  order to run the
                                                            server:
Information  14/01/201  Service       7036       None       The Microsoft
             3 5:46:27  Control                             Software Shadow
             PM         Manager                             Copy Provider
                                                            service entered
                                                            the running state.
Error        14/01/201  atapi         11         None       The driver
             3 5:51:19                                      detected a
             PM                                             controller error
                                                            on
                                                            \Device\Ide\IdePor
                                                            t0.
Error        14/01/201  atapi         11         None       The driver
             3 5:51:19                                      detected a
             PM                                             controller error
                                                            on
                                                            \Device\Ide\IdePor
                                                            t0.

Nothing to write home about (Reflect uses VSS to enable it to image a disk without having to lock it); just the two atapi errors.

 

[GAO]

ATAPI are CD or DVD ROM devices. What are you trying to create the image on?

 

[tcsenter]

Yep, looks like removable storage device (controller error).

 

[Blaq]

The atapi errors are really puzzling, since the backup is created on a NAS. The (external) optical drive isn't even plugged into the laptop!

This morning, I tried imaging the 3 partitions separately. I was able to image the Recovery and D partitions without error. The problem clearly lies with imaging the C drive.

At this point, I wonder if I should simply change my plans. It may be more efficient than continuing on this course filled with errors that make no sense. (Chkdsk always encounters 16 KB in bad blocks? Atapi errors when no atapi device is present?) My actual goal is to clone the drive onto a new hybrid drive I just bought. The image backup was a precaution in case anything went wrong. All I really want is to clone the drive and throw it away. (It's small and old.)

Macrium Reflect clearly cannot get through my C partition without an error. What would you suggest? ddrescue? Thanks for your continued help.

 

[Dstoop]

If the drive is old, the backup process is being sketchy at best, and you're data drives backed up just fine, the best solution I'd suggest would be not to clone the C drive at all.

Manually make sure you have all of your software licenses/keys, manually copy all of your user files to another drive (just in case), and do a fresh install of the OS on the new drive. Then put the other stuff back, and restore the backups of your data drives if you need to. Since you aren't using the old drive, you can just pop it back in and dont boot from it once the new setup is done if you accidentally forgot to pull something off.

If there's something corrupted on the C drive, you certainly dont want to carry that over. Likewise, if the disk itself is crapping out there's no way to tell if it's going to give you a valid backup anyway. Not to mention all the time that would've been saved via imaging went right out the window when you spent all this time troubleshooting an awkward disk error.