Is my hard disk bad?

[sew999]

I turned on my computer today and this error message came up in my event log.

The device, \Device\Harddisk0\DR0, has a bad block.


So first i checked HDDTUNE test for errors, and no errors, all fields are green. So what can it be? Thx

My disk is: Seagate ST1000DM003-9YN162 1TB SATA III 64MB 7200

 

[EXCellR8]

Worst case scenario your drive could be failing, so back up your data now.

then I'd advise that you run chkdsk on the drive

 

[sew999]

If chkdsk result will be fine?

 

[LTC8K6]

Use Seagate's own SeaTools to check the drive.

http://www.seagate.com/support/downloads/seatools/

 

[sew999]

What if Seagate pass?

 

[ArisVer]

As mentioned, your disk could start failing any time. Backup your data first, and then check your disk. One or a few bad sectors does not mean that the disk is failing but sometimes disks keep developing bad sectors. In the later case the disk will become unusable. If it remains stable it may last a few more years. Bad sectors are marked by the OS and that area of the disk is not used (which could be only a few MBs).

 

[sew999]

Problem started once i installed new 16gb ram 2x8gb DDR3.
memory is Hyperx 16gb DDR3 1600mhz 1.5v


Before new memory i dont get that messages in event viewer about bad blocks. It can be caused by bad memory?

But i run memtest86 for 20 hours without errors.

 

[mikeymikec]

Have those event log errors just come out of the blue (eg. you've had your system for at least several months, and the errors have only just started), as far as you're concerned?

If they've been there all along, I'd consider that a dodgy storage driver is a possibility. However, regardless of a dodgy driver, the disk could still be on its way out.

If the errors have only just started appearing and you haven't updated the storage driver recently, then it probably is the drive.

When you run chkdsk it needs to be the thorough check. I normally do:

chkdsk driveletter: /f /v /r

If it mentioned any failures or any bad sectors/clusters, then the disk has a problem. If in doubt, copy and paste the chkdsk results. If you've run the thorough test, then there ought to be 5 test phases to it, not 3.

As others have said, backups are good.

 

[sew999]

Ok i willl try chkdsk , but i run HDDTUNE and no errors, all fields are green.

 

[mikeymikec]

SMART is by no means the beginning and end of determining storage device failures; the only thing it tells you is whether the drive itself has spotted a problem.

A heck of a lot of HDDs go faulty even though the SMART stats are OK.

 

[sew999]

So what test will be for 100% telling true about disk?

I am not confused because event logs saying about bad blocks, but HDD TUNE telling that all is ok.

 

[sew999]

Ok i do chkdsk driveletter: /f /v /r. But it stuck on 14%. I must wait?

 

[mikeymikec]

So what test will be for 100% telling true about disk?

I am not confused because event logs saying about bad blocks, but HDD TUNE telling that all is ok.

The only "100% accurate test" for hard disks is this: If it doesn't spin up when you switch it on, it's faulty.

Otherwise, there are lots of things that can go wrong with a HDD. Many HDDs fail completely out of the blue (one drive I pulled from a customer's computer had a visibly fried chip on the underside). I've also sent PCs back to their customers that obviously had a weird problem (usually Windows fails to start), but it passed all the tests so it goes back out (unless the customer says "I can't take any chances on this, I'd rather get a new disk unnecessarily rather than have a disk die at an inconvenient moment"), to "properly fail" (ie. fail the tests) a few months later.

Ok i do chkdsk driveletter: /f /v /r. But it stuck on 14%. I must wait?

That's a bug in Windows 8.x (maybe 10 as well, I don't know). Just wait. The percentage won't update any further before the test completes. For a healthy 1TB drive I'd expect the test to take about an hour. For a dodgy one, it may take longer. Powering down a PC during a disk check is a Really Bad Idea (tm).

 

[Burpo]

Seagate junk.. reboot & get what you can off it, and replace it... But NOT another Seagate.

 

[sew999]

can i stop chkdsk ( without hard reset ) ?

 

[mikeymikec]

can i stop chkdsk ( without hard reset ) ?

Not in a way that it will appreciate. You wanted to know if your disk was dodgy, now you want to stop the test?

Stopping a disk halfway through a disk-intensive activity is a pretty good way to screw it up. Using a strong magnet or a sledgehammer on it are more effective methods though.

 

[sew999]

It taking so long , 14% stuck for 40 minutes . How long i must wait?

 

[mikeymikec]

That's a bug in Windows 8.x (maybe 10 as well, I don't know). Just wait. The percentage won't update any further before the test completes. For a healthy 1TB drive I'd expect the test to take about an hour. For a dodgy one, it may take longer. Powering down a PC during a disk check is a Really Bad Idea (tm).

...

 

[sew999]

Ok but if i decide to stop is any safety way to stop?

 

[mikeymikec]

Ok but if i decide to stop is any safety way to stop?

No.

 

[sew999]

I must for 5 hours turn off computer because i am selling graphic card. What if to this time chkdsk will not finish ?

 

[mikeymikec]

I must for 5 hours turn off computer because i am selling graphic card. What if to this time chkdsk will not finish ?

If a drive of that capacity and age takes that long, yet not to have finished the check is probably a fairly sure sign that it is dodgy (assuming that something else isn't wrong with the computer, in which case the disk has probably stopped being checked and the machine has hung during the check).

It's irritating that Win8x (probably 10 too) doesn't show more detailed information during a disk check, because at least with previous versions of Windows one would see progress (be it in the number of files or free space clusters checked) almost constantly.

I would strongly suspect that something was wrong with a modern 1TB drive if it took 3 hours or more to complete that check. How full of data is this drive (because that would affect how long the test takes)?

 

[sew999]

Almost 1TB of data. So if i use hard reset during chkdsk is any risk to damage ram or hdd?

 

[mikeymikec]

Damage to the HDD is the only directly logical problem to expect.

 

[mikeymikec]

Btw, running a drive at near full capacity will stress its components more. Even if the drive isn't faulty, I would recommend getting a larger drive and replacing it.

I should also point out that I've never run a full disk check on a terabyte drive that's near capacity so my estimates of how long it should take shouldn't be taken that seriously. However I would still be surprised if a healthy, modern 1TB drive that's near capacity took 5 hours to run a full chkdsk on.

I've also seen machines with anaemic processors take significantly longer (than ones with half-decent CPUs) to run a full chkdsk.