Bad Sectors, HDD going bad?

[suraswami]

I have a WD Green 1.5TB drive with 64MB cache and its an Advanced format drive. I use it in a external ESata case for backing up my machines. Mainly I connect to my old Windows 2003 server (Enterprise Edition) which acts as my main storage server and copy necessary files to the 1.5TB.

Recently after finishing my usual backup set and was about to check if everything is ok, I randomly tried to open a file and windows threw a error saying the file is corrupted or missing. then tried to open another from the same folder, error!! From a different folder no problem.

I used CrystalDiskInfo to check the drive health and it was in Yellow - Said 'C5 - Current Pending Sector Count' and Raw values showed "1". Did google search and some said might have been a suspect sector and its marked and hence the files are corrupted.

I attached the drive thru USB to my W7 machine and using Mini Tool HDD wizard, filled the drive with zeros and formatted. The error went away. I thought ok I was lucky. Now again connected to the W2K3 server thru Esata and did the same shit load of 1.5TB copying. After that I checked with Crystal and this it reported same error with Raw values now 2. Before copying, Crystal disk reported Good.

Since this is Advanced format drive, does W2K3 somehow corrupt the drive? OR the drive is dying slowly?

The drive is a refurb, replacement from WD, they replaced a dead 1TB green drive with this one. Its almost 3 yrs old now. Never had problems before. Been doing the backups from the W2K3 server for past 3 yrs (but recently filling up almost close to 1.5TB).

I am guessing the Mini Tool when writing Zeros does a low level format? Or low level format is different?

Or is the drive dying, time for a new drive?

Please help.

 

[eidairaman1]

Either controller on mobo, cable, or hdd is shot. Do you have other esata ports? Green drives are not that good and are a marketing gimmick probably time to switch manufacturers/brands.

 

[Drone]

I used CrystalDiskInfo to check the drive health and it was in Yellow

Whenever you see yellow stuff in SMART reports replace the drive asap and before that backup everything that can be backed up. Back in the day I would say that you can use Victoria or something to fix it but now it's not that actual.

But maybe it's a controller's fault

 

[suraswami]

The controller is a PCIE ESata card. I can try onboard sata port to Esata. I also suspect the external case is probably dying too. Should I get a new case or just dump it altogether and buy one of the external 2TB drives?

 

[eidairaman1]

Id say its easiest to get an external drive

 

[rtwjunkie]

Try the drive in another machine. Since it's a storage drive it should be no problem. If it says it on the other one, then it most certainly time to think about replacing. My son has one with a pending sector count of 5, and crystal disk shows yellow. Verified on another machine. However, it has stayed there for several months and not grown. So you could luck out, but more than likely it will be a cascading effect like dominoes.

 

[SuperSoph_WD]

Hey there, @suraswami!

I'd suggest to try WD Align for Windows. The WD Align software aligns partitions on the Advanced Format drive to ensure it provides full performance for certain configurations. I'd check this article as well.
However, what the community has suggested as troubleshooting options is worth trying as well.
I'd take @rtwjunkie's advice and try testing the drive on another computer.
Also make sure you use the WD diagnostics tool to test it - Data LifeGuard. Perform an extended test and see if the sector count error will occur again.
If it does, I'd definitely consider replacing the drive. If you are thinking of an external replacement, I'd suggest to take a look at WD Elements or My Passport Ultra.

Hope this helps you.
SuperSoph_WD

 

[RCoon]

May I suggest running an enhanced secure erase on the drive instead of writing the zeroes to it? Format it shortly after, check the smart data with whatever tool you're comfortable with and then run from there. I do tend to tear drives out from whatever they're in though, and plug them direct into sata. One of the many reasons I dislike a select few of WD's passport drives, because they don't have sata interfaces on them at all, just that frightening USB interface (which becomes an issue when it's the USB port that's broken).

 

[SuperSoph_WD]

May I suggest running an enhanced secure erase on the drive instead of writing the zeroes to it? Format it shortly after, check the smart data with whatever tool you're comfortable with and then run from there. I do tend to tear drives out from whatever they're in though, and plug them direct into sata. One of the many reasons I dislike a select few of WD's passport drives, because they don't have sata interfaces on them at all, just that frightening USB interface (which becomes an issue when it's the USB port that's broken).

To add to what @RCoon said, you can use the Data LifeGuard Diagnostics tool to perform a FULL ERASE (writing zeros) on the HDD. This will wipe out everything, not just write zeros to the first and last million sectors of the drive: http://wdc.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1211
As for the WD My Passport externals, it is pretty important to know that they have a hardware encryption, which allows extra security and makes the drive unable to be used outside of the enclosure.
This is exactly why I recommended to take a look at WD Elements as well, because they do not incorporate such hardware encryption but offer almost the same capacity and speed as My Passport.
Some users prefer the security and others don't.
I do get why the USB interface frightens you though, @RCoon

Hope this was helpful!
SuperSoph_WD

 

[suraswami]

Hey there, @suraswami!

I'd suggest to try WD Align for Windows. The WD Align software aligns partitions on the Advanced Format drive to ensure it provides full performance for certain configurations. I'd check this article as well.
However, what the community has suggested as troubleshooting options is worth trying as well.
I'd take @rtwjunkie's advice and try testing the drive on another computer.
Also make sure you use the WD diagnostics tool to test it - Data LifeGuard. Perform an extended test and see if the sector count error will occur again.
If it does, I'd definitely consider replacing the drive. If you are thinking of an external replacement, I'd suggest to take a look at WD Elements or My Passport Ultra.

Hope this helps you.
SuperSoph_WD

Thanks for posting.

Question -
"
WD Align is only necessary for users who have:

• Installed Windows XP to a WD AFD
• Cloned a source bootable hard drive with any Windows OS to a target AFD
• Created single or multiple partitions on an AFD using Windows XP

"

From above seems like I need only for XP. Since Windows 2003 EE has same core as XP do I need to install the software on the server so it will be aware of the Advanced Format?

I don't remember if I had the jumper, I will have to pull out the drive and check it.

I already did a full drive zero write, followed by a slow format. When checked initially there were no bad sectors, even after 750GB of copying, somewhere between copying 750 and 1TB+ there is a bad sector.

I will try out the suggestions mentioned in this thread. I have copied whatever needed from this drive, so I am covered. I will give this one more try and if still bad, say bye bye and buy a new drive.

 

[eidairaman1]

Id skip green drives altogether

 

[SuperSoph_WD]

Thanks for posting.

Question -
"
WD Align is only necessary for users who have:

• Installed Windows XP to a WD AFD
• Cloned a source bootable hard drive with any Windows OS to a target AFD
• Created single or multiple partitions on an AFD using Windows XP

"

From above seems like I need only for XP. Since Windows 2003 EE has same core as XP do I need to install the software on the server so it will be aware of the Advanced Format?

I don't remember if I had the jumper, I will have to pull out the drive and check it.

I already did a full drive zero write, followed by a slow format. When checked initially there were no bad sectors, even after 750GB of copying, somewhere between copying 750 and 1TB+ there is a bad sector.

I will try out the suggestions mentioned in this thread. I have copied whatever needed from this drive, so I am covered. I will give this one more try and if still bad, say bye bye and buy a new drive.

Hi again, @suraswami!

Very good question which our tech support might be able to answer right away, however I had to do my research.
Unfortunately, on the newer drives the jumper functionality has been removed. Windows 2003 Server might not be able to let you install the WD Align, but I'd recommend to format it on Windows 7 or on XP using the WD Alignment utility.
This blog post might be useful to you as well: http://www.joewein.net/blog/2013/03...ive-alignment-for-windows-xp-and-2003-server/
It's a good thing that you have your data backed up. And if it doesn't work, I'd suggest you go for a NAS/RAID new drive like WD Red for your server. As @eidairaman1 mentioned WD Green drives are not really suitable for this. However, WD Reds are the recommended choice for such purposes: http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.aspx?id=810

Hope this helps.
SuperSoph_WD

 

[erixx]

Installed my self opensoureforge HDD Guardian, it is supposed to early warn of errors.

Just in case..

 

[WildChild2]

Backup the drive, try it in a different machine, and then if no better results, do enhanced secure erase and ONLY use that drive as a temporary storage one. Have some insight to drive industry and know Hitachi has lowest failure rate...or at least did a year or so ago.