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Programs for recovering bad sectors of a hard drive. How to recover damaged bad (BAD) HDD sectors

For those who are not very familiar with a computer and do not know what DOS is, it is better not to repeat everything that will be described in this article, since here we will talk about how to restore damaged HDD sectors.

And so you discovered that you constantly have a disk check when loading, or your hard drive has started to slow down a lot. You scanned with some utility in read mode or some program from this article. Thus, you are convinced that you have slow sectors that respond longer than 500 ms, or BAD sectors, then this article is for you.

How to fix bad sectors

If your disk periodically disappears or is not visible at all, then this is most likely a problem with the controller, cable (cable) or power supply, but we will talk about BED sectors and very slowly readable cells, in general about software errors of the hard drive .

So you have discovered (HDD checking program) that you have slow sectors on your hard drive (usually red or brown). The decision to apply low-level formatting (Erase), we do it with a program MHDD and just forget about programs running under Windows, they won’t help you like HDDscan And Victoria.

Attention!!! All of the operations described below can lead to partial or complete deletion of information on your hard drive (HDD).

So, we boot from the boot disk where there is this MHDD program, these are the STEA Live, Hiren boot cd collections, or you can make a boot disk or flash drive yourself.

Stage 1. Getting rid of slow (red) sectors

Launch MHDD, type the command erase, the list of all commands can be viewed using the F1 command, the program will ask you to specify the scanning range, do not change anything, press Enter by default, wait. If there are red sectors left, you will have to run the command Erase waits

Stage 2. Getting rid of BAD sectors

We launch MHDD, type the Remap command, and the program will automatically scan the hard drive and replace bad sectors with backup ones. I do not recommend running this program if there are a large number of red and bad sectors in the hard drive partitions.

You can also clean the HDD of bad sectors manually, not the entire hard drive, but partially by address range.

Execute the command SCAN, as soon as the BAD sector appears, remember its number, stop the ESC process, run the command Erase and indicate the range in this case, if there is one bad sector, then its number and the next one, that is, we add one, then we run the command again Scan and look at the appearance of new bad sectors and repeat the procedure.

The video shows this whole process well:

If scanning takes a lot of time for you, then no program will help you. And you will have to buy a new hard drive.

P.S.: I am attaching a link to a video showing the operation of the MHDD program for general information.



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18 comments for the entry How to restore damaged bad (BAD) HDD sectors

    Well, you're giving a hint. I booted from MHDD and wrote how you set Erase in the first point and all Windows was erased. Even restoring through the archive didn’t help. Right now I’m installing a new Windows one.

    • Dear yura200, if you read the article carefully, it says that Erase- this is low-level formatting, well, I hope the word formatting, do you understand what it does?)

    So why write the first paragraph, write erase, it’s good that after installing Windows I was able to roll back everything right now. The most interesting thing is that I wanted to start this business from the D drive and there were pictures of the family videos, I would have grabbed it in grief, but it’s good that MHDD did not see the D drive and only the C drive was formatted. I'm pushing here so that others don't wipe out the whole screw. And where in the text do you say that Erase is formatting? When I used Mhdd I used erase when erasing bad blocks. Correct the text.

    • yura200, I am very sorry that you experienced such difficulties, but everything you do is your personal desire. The third paragraph in the text:

      So you have discovered (HDD checking program) that you have slow sectors on your hard drive (usually red or brown). The decision to apply low-level formatting (Erase)

      P.S.: And just for fun, you can look at the translation, it also says a lot erase- erase, cross out (from memory).

    Good afternoon.

    Can you tell me how to get the program to work on a laptop? Neither MHDD nor Victoria can see my hard drive.

    • Danila, Are you sure that you have an HDD in your laptop? and not SSD, because the MHDD and Victoria programs do not work with second disks.

    Dear! If you see orange or red, or even an X in a square on your disk during the test, then don’t torture it, it’s finished. They are just trying to somehow support people during a stroke, and then you see what they become later, but the glands, after you have sent photos, are the only way to a well-deserved rest. And don't listen to or read nonsense about restoration.

    That’s right, on the ASUS X552EA laptop the MHDD program does not see a 500 GB WD HDD (not an SSD, and not a hybrid, regular one).

    I played with the BIOS - this way and that... alas, the MHDD program opens from the bootable flash drive, but does not see the disk, no matter how hard I try.

    It is necessary to set the HDD operating mode to SATA Standard IDE INSTEAD OF SATA AHCI

    I want to check and fix this problem in dos (I checked it in winows with Victoria before) But I can’t switch from AHCI to IDE in the BIOS, there’s nothing similar. HP laptop (they wrote that they removed this function) How can you help?

    Place this hard drive in the system unit and launch it there and, if necessary, configure the BIOS.

    Respect and respect to the author! The user does not have the funds for a new hard drive, but a system engineer is vital... so I found, along the above path, that in addition to the first 42 gigs of crosses, there are two more thirds of the workspace... and the person is grateful!

    Thank you very much for the article!

    It was necessary to restore the functionality of the old disk. I scanned its state with the MHDD program (found on an old CD resuscitator), found several dozen “red” sectors, but did not know that the ERASE command was exactly what I needed. I thought it was a simple erasure of information.

    Now, after processing the disk with ERASE, I scanned it again. The result is not a single BED!

    The question is, if there are problems in the first 4 gigs and the last 4 gigs, and there are 2047 of them, is there any point in straining to recover?

    • Andrey, unless you need to pull the remaining data from the hard drive, but I would not use such a drive in the future.

    Is 653 bads really bad? Erase won't help?

    • Max yeah that's really bad

    Hello bortvlad. Is it worth bothering with treating bad diseases? Windows already monitors and edits cells as best it can. And he won’t write down the information in the bads. The loss of speed is negligible. And replacing cells from the backup area changes the desired table, which, in my opinion, will only accelerate the death of the HDD. If you really want low-level formatting and use the disk for archiving movies, games... What can you say about this software: Low Level Format Tool?

You are reading this article because your HDD is experiencing problems or you accidentally came across a title that interested you. In any of the two cases, it will be useful to know what checking a hard drive for bad sectors is and how to do it. As usual, let's start with terminology. A disk sector is a unit of information storage, the smallest possible. A damaged sector is one that is unreadable due to the fact that it contains a faulty cluster (cell). By the way, on the Internet you can also come across the terminology – bad sector or block. Speaking about bad sectors, we immediately note that there are two types: physical and logical, they arise for the following reasons.

Physical bad block – cannot be restored:

  • ingress of moisture/dust – led to clogging;
    contact of the HDD head with a moving pancake and, as a result, damage;
  • With regards to SSDs, wear and/or overheating of the microcircuit, as well as moisture ingress may be the cause;
  • Factory defects are also possible, especially among inexpensive and little-known manufacturers.

Logical bad sectors - can be fixed, since part of the hard drive does not work correctly:

  • Incorrect disconnection of the power/power cable while writing data to the hard drive, so the operation cannot be completed and is interrupted;
  • virus attack;
  • malicious software.

So, when accessing them, the OS cannot read the information and displays an error code; as a result, Windows will report that the sector is damaged and cannot be further used for storage. The problem of logical bad sectors is solved by low-level formatting, using built-in Windows utilities and third-party software. Below are more details about each possibility.

Built-in tools

Checking an HDD hard drive for bad sectors, as already mentioned, is carried out in a number of ways, starting with the built-in tools of Windows 7.

CHKDSK

Before using check disk, let's use disk check - many have probably already used this service.

If the check indicates errors, it will immediately offer to correct them.

Now let's use a deeper check using the check disk command, which literally translates to disk check:

The chkdsk command has a number of parameters, such as:

  • “/F” - check for errors and fix them automatically;
  • “/V” - during disk scanning, display the full paths and names of files stored on the disk, also for disks with NTFS partitions;
  • “/R” - searches for bad sectors and restores the contents, used with “/F”;
  • "/X" - dismounts the volume before checking if necessary, used with "/F". As well as a number of other parameters.

Checking the flash drive for bad sectors is also carried out, let’s use the “/F” and “/R” keys:



Third party software

Today there is a lot of software that allows you to check your hard drive for the presence of bad sectors, but we will look at proven software. The program for checking an external hard disk HDD for bad sectors is performed using the same means as a regular disk. All instructions indicated are suitable for all types of memory, both stationary and connected via a USB port.

Victoria HDD

The Victoria HDD program is one of, dare we say, legendary.

Designed to check the disk; shows complete information: model, functions, size and much more. It also performs a surface test to determine the presence/absence of bad sectors. Let's check a hard drive or SSD drive for bad sectors in Windows 7 with Victoria. First, you need to download the installation package from our resource, the fact is that it is not possible to download from the official website, since support for this product is no longer provided.


Use only proven resources; I would like to note that no installation is required and no additional components should be included in the archive. After successfully downloading the software, let's proceed to use.


Wait for the result and look at the performance indicators of the screw, so if “GOOD” is highlighted in green, then there is no point in worrying about the operation of the device, but if “BAD” is indicated, then you should take action, but more on that later.

In addition, pay attention to the “Health” column, translated from English as health, and in general, the number of dots and their color will say a lot. It is also worth paying attention to the “VAL” parameter - the higher the number, the better, then “Wrst” or “Worst” - displays the lowest attribute value for the entire time of operation. The “Tresh” parameter is a threshold value for “Val”, and one of the most important “Raw” - displays a quantitative indicator, as in the example indicated by field ID 5 “RAW” - Reallocated sector count indicates the number of rejected and reassigned from the reserve area disk sectors - in this case 1. If the number were much higher, you would have to start worrying.

Let's go to the “Tests” tab → click “Start” → wait for the result.

HDDScan

Another program for checking bad sectors of an SD card and any media is HDDScan. You can download it from the official website.

No installation is required, and we open the executable file on behalf of the machine Administrator.



By the way, by clicking on the same button with the image of a screw → “Identity Info”, you can get complete identification information about the device.


Next about the tests, select “Butterfly Read”.


Here the data will be read into the internal buffer and transmitted through the interface, saving it in a temporary software buffer. Thus, the total indicators of data transfer time and block recording are measured, and readiness is determined after each write, according to the results. Testing is also sequential, from the minimum to the maximum block.

As for the two remaining tests, they work as follows:

  • “Read” - measures the total indicators of disk readiness time and information transfer for each block with results. Testing is also sequential, from the minimum to the maximum block.
  • “Erase” - here the total block record and information transfer time are measured, and displays the readiness for each record with the results. Testing is also sequential, from the minimum to the maximum block.

HDD REGENERATOR

Checking a disk for bad sectors in Windows 7 is also done using HDD REGENERATOR software. I would like to immediately note that it is paid and in English. Free demo version available on the official website


Next, follow the screenshots step by step to install.


Let's start checking:

At the top of the window, click on the long active text “Click here to repair...”, in the program status bar we see information that this copy is not registered and that only 1 sector can be restored.

Further, if a window appears with an important message, translated into Russian it literally sounds like this: “The system has detected a SATA controller operating in AHCI mode. For better performance, it is recommended to change it to IDE compatible mode (in BIOS). Do you need to restart the computer to manually change the controller settings in the system BIOS? It's up to you here.

In order to show the possibility of work, I will connect an external screw and click in the main window again on the active link with the text “Click here to repair...”, having already selected the connected screw:


In the results table we see the following indicators:

  • “D” delays sectors – shows the sectors where the reading delay occurs or is completely erroneous.
  • “B” bad - bad sectors.
  • “R” is turquoise, recovered – restored.
  • “N” new bad sectors appear – new bad sectors appear.
  • “R” is burgundy color, bad sectors reappear - bad sectors that reappear during re-scanning.

By pressing the spacebar, we will exit to the main menu, and by pressing any key, we will exit this report.


Now let’s select scanning with the possibility of recovery, step by step in the screenshots.

Recovering bad sectors

So, the hard drive has been checked for bad sectors in Windows 7, and now it is necessary to restore the data. I’ll say right away that in general, complete recovery of bad sectors is possible from MS DOS with a bootable flash drive. But we will show how the full version of Victoria HDD can correct the situation.

As soon as the list of bad sectors is displayed, go to the “Tests” tab:


So we assigned the program an algorithm to force data to be written to the bad sector of the hard drive, and several attempts will be made. As a result, either the bad sector will become healthy, or it will be replaced by a healthy reserve one, by the way, modern models have a sufficient number of them, but if the screw begins to crumble, it’s time to take action.

Long life to your HDD!

Have a great day!

One of the biggest annoyances for PC owners can be damaged sectors on the hard drive. Such sectors are called “broken,” and the hard disk itself with such damage is said to have begun to “crumble.”

The location of such damage directly determines the ability to turn on/off the computer. If the sectors where the operating system files are located are damaged, the PC will not turn on. If we are talking about sectors where other files are located, then the user will have the opportunity to boot the machine. Depending on this feature, the method for eliminating bad sectors of the hard drive is selected.

What to do

With this type of damage, you need to open “My Computer” and right-click the desired drive. Next, from the proposed options, select “Properties”, then “Service” and “Run check”. You need to check the box “Automatically correct system errors” and “Scan and repair bad sectors”. By clicking “Start”, the user starts checking the hard drive for damage. After this, you are instructed to restart the PC.

In the second case, you should have a disk with a virtual operating system or a Windows installation disk at hand. To start the computer, you need to insert the disk into the drive and turn on the machine in normal mode. All further actions are similar to those described in the previous paragraph. When working with the installation disk, a menu will appear with the option to select the “Restore System” command. As a result, the hard drive will be checked for bad sectors, and any damage found will be repaired.

Special programs

You can also check and restore your hard drive using a program launched through the recovery console. The Recovery Console itself can be launched without a boot disk. To do this, press the F8 key and select Safe Mode, which supports the command line. After the console is loaded, the partition with Windows installed on it is selected. It is necessary to ensure that the partition matches the disk, after which the administrator password is entered. After the appropriate prompt appears in the line, enter the disk name, route and file name. Using the “Enter” key, the user starts the recovery process.

Thus, when checking the “C” partition of the hard drive, you need to launch the system recovery console and issue the command chkdsk c: /f /r. It’s easy to prevent such a nuisance in the future - for this you need to acquire special programs, for example, MHDD. Such

In this article we will talk about bad sectors on the hard drive what they are and how to treat them. But first, let's find out where they come from?

Everyone knows that the hard drive consists clusters- These are miniature cells. Each of the clusters is a logical storage of information where files are constantly written. The combination of all clusters ensures the correct operation of the entire computer.

Bad block or damaged sector- this is an unreadable sector of the disk that contains bad memory cells.

Such a hard drive is no longer suitable for working with the operating system, but you can try to use it as an external drive, like a “large-capacity flash drive.” If you use such a hard drive for storing data, it is advisable to cut off the place where the bad blocks are located using a program for working with hard drives. For example, Acronis DiskDirector.

Bad sector on the hard drive

Most common cause of bad sectors- this is the natural wear and tear of the drive, i.e. If the hard drive has been working for many years, then simply due to the large number of write and read cycles to one sector or another, the hard drive begins to slowly but surely fail. As a rule, this is more than 10,000 hours of work. This increases the access time to the sector, i.e. for a new working cell it is about 10-15 ms, while indicators of more than 150 ms indicate severe wear of the drive. If one sector fails, then others will soon begin to fail, which means you should think about replacing the hard drive, or at least copying the information you need.

We’ve figured out why bad sectors appear, now we’ll discuss how to identify them.

Victoria

Maybe you already know about the program Victoria is a program specially created for in-depth diagnostics of the hard drive. Victoria is available in 2 versions: with and without a graphical shell (DOS version).

Received Smart in the Victoria program

This is an already tested hard drive, and its main parameters are shown here, i.e. data SMART. During the surface test, you can get the response time to a request for each sector. The time is indicated from 5 milliseconds to 1.5 seconds and higher, the lower the better, the faster our hard drive reacts.

As for Smarta, you can navigate by the number of “”, the more of them, the better. Judging by the number" Hardware ECC recovered"It's time to change the hard drive.

  • 1 Raw read error rate 100 253 6 0
  • 3 Spin-up time 97 97 0 0
  • 4 Number of spin-up times 94 94 20 6522
  • 5 Reallocated sector count 100 100 36 0
  • 7 Seek error rate 87 60 30 564751929
  • 9 Power-on time 83 83 0 14937
  • 10 Spin-up retries 100 100 97 0
  • 12 Start/stop count 94 94 20 6273
  • 187 Reported UNC error 1 1 0 103
  • 189 High Fly writes 100 100 0 0
  • 190 Airflow temperature 55 48 45 45°C/113°F
  • 194 HDA Temperature 45 52 0 45°C/113°F
  • 195 Hardware ECC recovered 80 64 0 100816244
  • 197 Current pending sectors 100 100 0 0
  • 198 Offline scan UNC sectors 100 100 0 0
  • 199 Ultra DMA CRC errors 200 200 0 1
  • 200 Write error rate 100 253 0 0
  • 202 DAM errors count 100 253 0 0

Victoria can also do many other operations with HDD, up to closing sectors.

With this function, bad sectors can be closed, however, this will only slightly delay the failure.

You can download the Victoria program on the website, it is free and does not require installation on your computer.

If, for some reason, you didn’t like Victoria, then there is always an alternative, and many others, such as: Active boot disk, HDD Regenerator, R-Studio etc.

Bad sectors are not healed, but closed, and their space on the disk will be assigned to workers.

Recovering HDD using Victoria

No matter how high-quality your hard drive is, sooner or later problems may arise with it. Improper removal of programs, viruses and harmful applications, wear and tear - all this can lead to breakdown of the hard drive and the appearance of so-called. The latter do not make themselves felt instantly; it will most likely take months before you notice the problem.

What are bad sectors?

For a clearer definition of a bad sector, it’s a good idea to understand the design of your hard drive. In general, it consists of rotating magnetic disks, which are divided into tracks, and these same tracks are in turn divided into sectors. They contain any information that you copy to your hard drive. Disk sectors have one unpleasant property - they deteriorate over time and you lose access to them. And this process is accelerated by incorrect work with the computer.

Computer freezes when trying to access any files, long copying from one partition to another, errors and PC reboots - all this can be a consequence of a large number of bad blocks on your “screw”. Some of them can be corrected, and some cannot be treated. Based on this feature and the nature of the damage, all bad sectors can be divided into two types: physical and logical.

  • Physical bads are the result of damage (for example), dust getting inside the hard drive and normal wear and tear of the equipment. The main thing to understand is that in such cases, it can no longer be restored. Even ordinary data recovery from such sectors will be a miracle;
  • Logical bads appear under the influence of viruses, file system errors and incorrect recording of information to disk (for example, a sudden shutdown of the computer while copying files or other active work). In such cases, it is not the magnetic coating of the sector that is damaged, but its data. Such bad sectors can be treated and can be corrected using a variety of programs at home.

Programs for recovering bad sectors of a hard drive

Microsoft provides a built-in utility chkdsk for working with hard drives. By default, the utility only checks for file system errors, but if you add the key /f, That chkdsk will check the disk for bad blocks and try to fix them automatically. Of course, there are many alternative solutions from third-party manufacturers for checking the hard drive and fixing bad sectors, which can be easily found on the Internet. Let's talk a little more about the most popular of them:

  • Victoria is probably the most popular program for testing hard drives and restoring bad sectors on a hard drive. Can be used not only for treatment, but also for testing equipment. As the developers themselves note, when interacting with a hard drive, it ignores the file system and works at the level of I/O ports. This property ensures the most efficient and high-quality work. In addition, there are two versions of the program, one of which runs directly under Windows, and the other under DOS. The latter is more universal, but is also recommended for use by experienced users.
  • MHDD- another popular program that works with equipment through controller ports. It also has two versions (Windows and DOS), both of which are completely free. It is distinguished by a very fast speed of work, which does not affect its quality in any way. In addition, it displays complete statistics on your device: the number of on and off cycles, the number of spindle revolutions, etc. One downside is the unfriendly interface of the program, which will become a problem for inexperienced users.
  • HDD Regenerator is a unique program that, according to the developers, can even restore physical damage. The point is that often physically damaged sectors have incorrect magnetization, which this program eliminates. The rest of the set of characteristics and capabilities is similar to the above utilities.

In conclusion, I would like to note that the main danger of hard drive failure is not in the drives themselves, but in the information that is stored on them. For example, if your video card fails, you can simply replace it. If your hard drive fails, then all the materials that are often so important to us will disappear along with it. Therefore, even if you do not notice signs of poor hard drive performance, test it from time to time. After all, trouble is much easier to prevent than to fix.

A hard drive is a fairly fragile device. Bad sectors are damaged cells for storing information on a hard drive. After using the hard drive for some time, a problem with bad sectors may occur. This is why it is so important to repair bad sectors from time to time.

This can be easily done using various programs, but first you need to determine whether there are bad sectors. Our article is about this, as well as how to restore the boot sector of a hard drive.

How to recover damaged disk sectors

There are many ways to repair bad boot sectors on a disk. Let's look at several of these methods in detail.

How to restore sectors via Windows

If it is possible to enter the OS, then restoring the hard drive will not require much effort. To do this, you need to call the context menu of the hard drive and select “Properties”.

In the new window that opens, select the “Service” tab, where we click on the “Run check” item. Check the boxes next to “Automatically correct system errors” and “check and repair bad sectors.” After this we run the check.

If the disk is a system disk, a reboot will occur and the verification process will begin. If the disk is not a system disk, then the test will pass without rebooting.

The system itself will find all errors and perform recovery. After which it will display statistics of the work done.

But sometimes it happens that the OS does not boot due to bad sectors.

How to recover bad sectors if the OS does not start

If Windows does not start, you can take a disk with a virtual system and load the virtual OS. In it, all steps to restore a hard drive are performed in the same way as in the previous section.

If you do not have a virtual disk with the OS, then a Windows installation disk will help. After downloading it, you need to select “System Restore”. The recovery console will appear, where you need to select the local disk with your OS. Usually this is the “C:” drive.

After the reboot, a console will appear where you need to enter the command “CHKDSK [drive:]”, where:

  • /F - this is disk check and error correction,
  • /R is a search for and recovery of bad sectors.

After this, press “Enter” and wait for the recovery to begin. Then we exit the console and restart the computer. Everything is ready.

How to restore sectors using programs

To restore bad sectors on a hard drive, there are many programs that can be easily downloaded from the Internet. Let's look at their operating principle using the HDD Regenerator program as an example.

The program restores bad sectors by remagnetizing them again. This is achieved by creating a virtual flash drive.

After installation, launch the program. In the window that opens, several options will appear in Russian. You can restore bad sectors both in the Operating System itself and using a flash drive or regular disk from the console.

The program will check bad sectors (broken) and restore them. To make the most of the program, it is better to use a bootable USB flash drive or disk, which is created after installing the program.

In this article we will talk about recovering bad sectors of a hard drive and the reasons for their occurrence. Step-by-step instructions will help you prepare for this procedure and cope with it yourself.

What are bad sectors?

Let's take a quick look at the structure of the hard drive. It consists of several separate disks, above which there are magnetic heads designed for reading and writing information. When storing data, the heads magnetize certain areas of the disk, which is divided into tracks and smaller components - sectors. It is in them that units of information are stored. If a sector becomes unreadable, it is called “broken”.

Several signs indicate the occurrence of such a problem:

  • creaks, rattles, tapping when the disk is operating;
  • heating the surface of the HDD (this should not happen under normal conditions);
  • Frequent errors when working and starting the operating system.

Typical reasons

The main reasons for the appearance of broken hard drive segments are:

Also, malfunctions in the hard drive may occur due to mechanical damage. They are often caused by dropping a hard drive or computer, resulting in damage to the magnetic surface (for example, during transportation). Non-working parts also appear due to manufacturing defects. In this case, they may not appear immediately, but “crumble” over time, quickly increasing their number to a critical level.

Important! If you suspect mechanical damage or defects, you should immediately contact specialists or exchange the hard drive under warranty.

Recovering bad HDD sectors using Victoria

If the appearance of broken segments is associated with software failures, then they can be restored using specialized software. One such program for recovering bad hdd sectors is Victoria. The utility is available in two versions - for Windows and DOS. Recovery via DOS will be the most effective, since when the OS is running, some sectors may be occupied and therefore unavailable for scanning.


Scanning

To get started, we will need to do a little preparation. First, you will need a disk with a program image recorded on it or a bootable flash drive. If everyone can cope with recording an image, then creating a flash drive may be difficult.

Let's take a closer look at this step:

Pay attention! The program takes up very little space, so after installing it, the drive can be used to store other information. To avoid accidentally deleting files necessary for the utility to work, it is recommended to select a separate folder for them.

Let's start the scanning process:


Here we need a point "Reallocated sector count", which displays the number of fragments located in the reserve zone, as well as "Current pending sectors", where parts that cannot be read are displayed. If their number is not very high, then the disk can be restored.

Hard drive recovery

Let's figure out exactly how this process happens. Problem segments can be roughly divided into two types. The first ones are not readable due to a mismatch between the information stored in them and its checksums.

This error occurs during a power outage, when new data has already been written, but the checksums remain old. They simply cease to be recognized and are restored quite easily - by formatting them and recording the correct amounts.

The second type occurs as a result of mechanical damage. In this case, recovery is more difficult, but still possible. Restoring the functionality of such parts is carried out through the use of reserve areas that are on each hard drive.

We begin to recover each of these types of errors.

Video: HDD - “healing” bad sectors

First, let's try to fix bad sectors by erasing the information stored in them:

  • press F4 and get to the verification menu;
  • in the menu for selecting operations with unreadable sectors, indicate “BB: Erase 256 sect” and press “Enter”.

A long process of scanning and repairing bad sectors of the HDD will begin. If the program finds a bad sector, it will try to erase it, thereby correcting the error. If there is a mechanical defect, an error will be reported. In any case, you must wait until the check is completed and then separately correct the sectors with physical defects.

To do this:

Now the recovery operation will work on a different principle, trying not to erase bad sectors, but to replace them with space from the reserve area.

Important! If there are a lot of such sectors, then the reserve space may run out. A special message will inform you about this, and further restoration will become impossible.

After successfully recovering bad sectors on your hard drive, it is recommended to conduct a full check of the file system for errors.

This can be done using the CHKDSK utility or in the following way:

Attention! To ensure that the system not only finds, but also corrects problems, before starting the scan, select “Automatically fix system errors.”

One of the biggest annoyances for PC owners can be damaged sectors on the hard drive. Such sectors are called “broken”, and the hard disk itself with such damage is said to be...

This does not force developers to think through data storage down to the smallest detail. However, in actual operation of the device, all their tricks do not help.

Why do sectors deteriorate?

The operating principle of a mechanical hard drive is very simple. There are several round magnetic plates. The reading heads use them to search for the necessary information. When the hard drive mechanism is subjected to vibration or sudden shock, microscopic scratches may appear on the surface of the drive. This leads to damage to sectors and loss of data - programs, books, music or films.


No matter how carefully you operate your PC, bad sectors may still appear on your hard drive.

If the hard drive is several years old, its seal may be compromised. Any speck of dust that gets inside is a potential cause of bad sectors.

Add to this power surges, abrupt PC shutdowns and simply improper handling of the computer, and the reasons for damage to information will become much greater.

Is there a way out?

If bad sectors appear, there is no need to immediately panic and urgently change the hardware. There are ways to either mark problem areas so that they do not create problems in the future. Or fix the damage using some special programs.


When bad sectors appear, there are two ways - use the system’s own program or a third-party one.

The simplest thing you can do is run a disk surface check. To do this, you need to right-click on the failed logical partition, select “Properties”, then the “Tools” tab and “Run scan”, checking the “Scan and repair bad sectors” checkbox. The system will scan the disk, find errors and either return the sectors to working condition or mark them as bad so that the read heads bypass them and do not create “brakes” in operation.

For more “advanced” users, we can recommend the HDD-Regenerator program. It works at the physical level and helps to cope with the problem where the standard disk check program is useless. The regenerator does deep work and in most cases returns the sectors to normal. You will not lose data and will significantly increase the service life of your hard drive.

There are many other programs, even those that only real “hackers” or experienced users can understand. However, in most cases, the two products described above are sufficient. They are time-tested and have helped in many difficult cases.

Repairing bad sectors will help extend the life of your hard drive and even recover some previously lost files. However, you should remember that this is a responsible and rather risky business, since by pressing the wrong buttons, you can completely ruin your hard drive. Follow the instructions provided in this article strictly and you will be able to recover some bad sectors. Before starting work, select the software with which you will restore sectors. There are many convenient programs for you to choose from: Victoria, HDAT2, HDDregenerator.

How to recover bad sectors of a hard drive using HDAT2

Working with this utility requires the presence of a boot disk or bootable flash drive. You will learn how to write them down in another article. Daemon Tools or Ultra ISO must be installed on your computer.

  • Download the HDAT2 program from the official website https://hdat2.com.
  • You need the “CD/DVD Boot ISO” partition.
  • Download the latest version, which comes in ISO format, not SFX.
  • Find your file in the downloads folder and open it using Daemon Tools or other software for mounting images.


  • Take a blank disk and click on the “Burn image to disk” field.


Please note that all your further work with this utility will take place entirely in the BIOS. Read carefully the fields you click on.

  • To begin, turn off your computer and enter the BIOS. Each brand of computer has its own login buttons. Try holding F12 or F7, or better yet, read about it on the Internet.
  • After entering the BIOS, select the system boot method - CD/DVD, and then enter the HDAT2 command, as in the screenshot below.


  • After this, you will see a menu with hard drives that are connected to your computer. If he is alone, then you should not have any problems with the choice. Click on your hard drive and press Enter.
  • In the window that appears, select the line “Hidden areas menu”.


  • Now test your computer for bad sectors. Even if you know their exact number, you will still have to run the test, since the program needs it to further fix the problem. Click “Powerful test READ/WRITE/READ/COMPARE”


  • That's it. Click on the very first line, as shown in the screenshot, to repair your sectors. Please note that this will take quite a long time, so you can move the laptop aside and go about your business. As soon as the program finishes working with Bad sectors, do not forget to return the system boot not from the CD, but from the hard drive.


How to recover bad sectors of a hard drive using HDD Regenerator

When starting to work with this utility, you can read a lengthy article about its work in order to roughly understand the structure of the program: . The advantage of the utility is that you do not have to create a bootable USB flash drive or disk and log in from the BIOS. Experienced users note that this program actually corrects the problem by degaussing, rather than simply disabling bad sectors.

Download the program on the Internet, keep in mind that only its first use is free. If you want to heal bad sectors again, you will have to buy the software.
Installing the program takes just seconds.


Look carefully at the window interface:

  • The left button “Bootable USB Flash” will help you create a bootable USB flash drive for working with the program in the BIOS.
  • The right “Bootable CD/DVD” creates a boot disk for the same purposes.
  • The top line allows you to work from under the Windows axis, which saves a lot of time.

Click on the top line.


Select your hard drive. The model, amount of memory and all sectors will be written on it. Just double click on it.


Please note that all windows must be closed and all processes stopped. Only then can you start working with sectors - the hard drive should be unloaded as much as possible.

Select the second item in the menu that appears – “Normal Scan (with/without repair)”. This option repairs bad sectors while scanning all sectors of the hard drive. Please note that the mouse does not work in this program. You need to enter the number 2 and then press Enter.


Now you need the “Scan and repair” item to confirm your intention to fix all sectors. Enter number 1.
You can also enter the number 3 to activate the “Regenerate all sectors” item. This option carries out preventive maintenance on absolutely all sectors, even if they are not damaged. This is more suitable for experienced users who can independently cope with possible problems during the regeneration process.


Now you have to select the start of the scan:

  • Point number 1 “Start sector 0” starts scanning and treatment from the very beginning.
  • The second option “Start sector ***” continues the previous scan if it was interrupted for one reason or another.
  • And the third item “Set start /end sectors manually” allows you to enter the range of sectors to check manually.

It's better to start from the very beginning by choosing the first option.


The process will start instantly, all you have to do is wait.