Reallocated Sectors Count - Time for a new HDD?

[Flogger23m]

Was checking my drives and noticed my HDD has some errors for Reallocated Sectors Count. Backing up all data currently. Is this drive essentially on its way out? Only used for about two years, maybe less, so a bit disappointed it lasted so short.

What is the best 7200 RPM drive these days? Have an X300 6TB but it is horrifically loud, which I use for backup. Are the WD Black 6TBs very loud as well? Any Seagate model worth looking into? This will be a storage drive for data. OS/programs/games go on the SSDs.

Looking at these drives:

Seagate Ironwolf 6TB
WD Black 6TB

Seagate is a good bit cheaper, $10 more for 6TB over a 4TB WD Black, or $40 cheaper than a 6TB WD Black. Have had great luck with WD Black drives, used one for 6+ years before without issue. I'm not just too keen on spending a lot on HDDs these days as I was hoping to switch to SSDs 2-3 years down the road completely (except for backup). Didn't think this Toishiba drive would start getting issues this soon.

 

[biffzinker]

Is this drive essentially on its way out?

I wouldn’t be relying on the drive for storing any critical data when it starts reallocating sectors.

You might want to look at a two drive mirroring setup.

Edit: I recently moved from a 3TB Toshiba external too a Western Digital Mybook 8TB that might have a enterprise grade drive in the case.

 

[R-T-B]

I'd say drive is on it's way out, but you could still use it for nonessential storage if the number does not rise. Never use it for essential again though.

 

[Komshija]

It doesn't have to be. My WD Black on my other PC has two reallocated sectors with close to 15 000 power on hours. It has been running for two years without problems.

If your HDD starts reallocating more sectors, it could become a problem. On the other hand my Toshiba X300 4TB, same as yours, has 0 problems and close to 18 000 power on hours.

 

[Flogger23m]

It doesn't have to be. My WD Black on my other PC has two reallocated sectors with close to 15 000 power on hours. It has been running for two years without problems.

If your HDD starts reallocating more sectors, it could become a problem. On the other hand my Toshiba X300 4TB, same as yours, has 0 problems and close to 18 000 power on hours.

Yeah I'm going to monitor it. Bit disappointed in show short this one lasted. Just don't really have the desire to spend $150 for another 4TB at the moment, or around $200 for a 6TB. Will be looking for deals because I do want to get one sooner rather than later. Any good deals on 7200 RPM internal HDDs?

I'm sure Toshiba drives are mostly okay, but around the same time I bought an X300 6TB that made a thunking sound every 6 or so seconds, sent that one back for a replacement which I use for back ups. Works fine so far but I don't keep it plugged in all the time. But in my very limited experience, I just haven't had much luck with Toshiba drives it seems.

 

[biffzinker]

I'm sure Toshiba drives are mostly okay, but around the same time I bought an X300 6TB that made a thunking sound every 6 or so seconds, sent that one back for a replacement which I use for back ups.

The 3 TB Toshiba I replaced I noticed would do background maintenance on the drive after any writes comitted to the drive. After 20-30 minutes a low volume head seeking chatter from the drive would stop.

 

[karakarga]

Try using Hard Disk Sentinel. If it says around %60, you can use for many years. If says health is zero, replace it immediately. It will warn you with "failure predicted" message momentarily. But, those health zero messages sometimes result of bad cooling and irreversible, smart records it and marks. After providing enough cooling, many drives still works for many more years at that situation. Trial version is enough by the way....

 

[hellrazor]

Depends on whether this is the first time you looked at the SMART attributes or not, I would never consider 8 reallocated sectors to be interesting unless they happened all at once.

 

[Assimilator]

This will be a storage drive for data. OS/programs/games go on the SSDs.

Looking at these drives:

Seagate Ironwolf 6TB
WD Black 6TB

If it's a storage drive i.e. speed isn't critical, why are you looking at expensive NAS drives to replace it? A WD Blue 4TB is currently $85 from the Egg.

 

[Tomgang]

When it's sector's there are warning about. I will not use it any more. Continue use can in worst case lead to corrupt data/lost data. Only use it for data you can lose with out crying about or replace it. Also take backup as soon as possible.

 

[Flogger23m]

Depends on whether this is the first time you looked at the SMART attributes or not, I would never consider 8 reallocated sectors to be interesting unless they happened all at once.

I'm not sure the last time I checked it, but it certainly didn't have 8 the last time I did.

Running the Toshiba Storage Diagnostic Tool, will see if it displays any useful information.

If it's a storage drive i.e. speed isn't critical, why are you looking at expensive NAS drives to replace it? A WD Blue 4TB is currently $85 from the Egg.

Seems like aside from WD Blacks, there are no more 7200 RPM drives that aren't NAS unless I am missing something. Would prefer not to go with another X300 personally.

 

[lexluthermiester]

Was checking my drives and noticed my HDD has some errors for Reallocated Sectors Count. Backing up all data currently. Is this drive essentially on its way out? Only used for about two years, maybe less, so a bit disappointed it lasted so short.

What is the best 7200 RPM drive these days? Have an X300 6TB but it is horrifically loud, which I use for backup. Are the WD Black 6TBs very loud as well? Any Seagate model worth looking into? This will be a storage drive for data. OS/programs/games go on the SSDs.

Looking at these drives:

Seagate Ironwolf 6TB
WD Black 6TB

Seagate is a good bit cheaper, $10 more for 6TB over a 4TB WD Black, or $40 cheaper than a 6TB WD Black. Have had great luck with WD Black drives, used one for 6+ years before without issue. I'm not just too keen on spending a lot on HDDs these days as I was hoping to switch to SSDs 2-3 years down the road completely (except for backup). Didn't think this Toishiba drive would start getting issues this soon.

You might want to download and run the Toshiba drive utility as a way of a second opinion. CrystalDisk Is a great utility but does get things wrong from time to time.

Downloads & Product Archive

EMEA Region Toshiba Storage Solutions. Here you can download technical Datasheets, product manuals, images, certain software and further product related documents.

www.toshiba-storage.com

Select your drive model from the drop down menu and grab the "Toshiba Storage Diagnostic Tool".

Western Digital Mybook 8TB that might have a enterprise grade drive in the case.

These are great drives. Should you need a replacement, this is a great option for mass storage.

 

[djisas]

Had a seagate 500Gb drive run for years on relocated sectors and it was an active hdd mainly for downloads, sold it out cheap and haven't heard back from it...

I dont trust seagate for my data now, WD sems to be having a lot of bad coverage lately, Toshiba and HSGT always seemed to be the better drives...

Personally, im sticking with WD right now, have a 4TB red for storage and im thinking on adding another 1TB blue nvme and replace another HDD, quality\price looks unbeatable right now...

 

[Flogger23m]

You might want to download and run the Toshiba drive utility as a way of a second opinion. CrystalDisk Is a great utility but does get things wrong from time to time.

Downloads & Product Archive

EMEA Region Toshiba Storage Solutions. Here you can download technical Datasheets, product manuals, images, certain software and further product related documents.

www.toshiba-storage.com

Select your drive model from the drop down menu and grab the "Toshiba Storage Diagnostic Tool".


These are great drives. Should you need a replacement, this is a great option for mass storage.

Ran both the full scan and the quick scan, both came back as a Pass.

Doesn't give anymore details than "PASS" though.

 

[lexluthermiester]

Ran both the full scan and the quick scan, both came back as a Pass.

View attachment 168426

Doesn't give anymore details than "PASS" though.

That simply means that the drive has passed Toshiba's requirements for proper operation, which are a tad on the stringent side. I'd say the drive is fine. Reallocated sectors is something that happens on mechanical hard drives as time goes on and is automatically handled by the drive controller. All HDDs come from the factory that way because no disk platter is ever completely perfect. Carry on using the drive as you were. Keep checking it every 6 months though.

 

[Aquinus]

These are great drives. Should you need a replacement, this is a great option for mass storage.

+1 on this. I have two of these still in the enclosures. These drives have excellent performance for 5.4k RPM drives. Their sequential read/write speeds are definitely better than the 1TB blacks that I have. The only down side to buying the MyBook then shucking the enclosure is the warranty.

 

[kiriakost]

Reallocated Sectors Count this is not critical so to be considered as damage.
Every hard drive it can produce an new Reallocated Sectors Count, because few sectors on a platter they failed performing according to highest standards.
After of first or second year of operation, then there is no more a new Reallocated Sectors Count.
All sectors over a platter they have been tested at write and delete at several occasions, and the recorded as good ones, they will stay that way for many more years.

Example: The recorded Reallocated Sectors Count this is now fifteen years old.

 

[Deleted member 191766]

I would not use a hard drive with any reallocated sectors... however it could still be useful for say installing Windows 10 on a Windows 7 machine just to activate a digital license.

 

[lexluthermiester]

I would not use a hard drive with any reallocated sectors...

Then don't use ANY hard drive from ANY manufacturer because they ALL have reallocated sectors fresh from the factory. The rest of us who understand the technology and how it works will continue to to happily enjoy the hard drives we buy for years to come.

however it could still be useful for say installing Windows 10 on a Windows 7 machine just to activate a digital license.

That's just silly and a waste.

 

[Deleted member 191766]

I am aware that there are hidden reallocations from new, but if one sees further degradation it may be foolish to risk using the drive if it is mission critical. When I purchase a second hand drive if there are any reallocated sectors reported, I will not use that drive; when one of my car headlamp bulbs fails, I change both as the remaining one is likely near to failure.

Concerning 'that's just silly and a waste'
I have a colleague that wants to upgrade to Windows 10 (from 7) and don't want to leave him in a mess, so I would use the old drive to make sure his machine had a valid Windows 10 digital license; if that failed I could just reinstall his original drive and he would not be left in a bind.

 

[Aquinus]

I am aware that there are hidden reallocations from new, but if one sees further degradation it may be foolish to risk using the drive if it is mission critical.

You do realize that unless it's increasing or really large, it's not bad or unexpected. I'm not going to care if my drive has reallocated 8 sectors out of 2147483648 on a 1TB disk. I'm going to care if it's going up by 8 an hour or day.

 

[lexluthermiester]

but if one sees further degradation it may be foolish to risk using the drive if it is mission critical.

Except that ALL storage drives "degrade". HDDs and SSDs alike. In fact SSDs degrade faster than HDDs. Sectors on a HDD platter will fail as a drive ages but that does NOT mean the drive will suddenly implode. The oldest drive I own is from 2004 and it still runs perfectly. It does have a bunch of bad sectors but that's it's only problem.

When one of my car headlamp bulbs fails, I change both as the remaining one is likely near to failure.

That is like comparing Apples to Oranges and is an invalid comparison.

 

[Deleted member 191766]

As I understand it a reallocated sector is information lost; I consider that serious and would not consider that 'runs perfectly'.

The SSD argument interests me greatly.

Invalid? One failure is an indication of other impending failures.

I'm not going to care if my drive has reallocated 8 sectors out of 2147483648 on a 1TB disk.

For me just one bit lost is reason for concern, even if it is out of 1 TB

 

[lexluthermiester]

As I understand it a reallocated sector is information lost

That is incorrect. Sectors are marked bad, remarked out of the TOC and replaced with a "Z-sector" from a section of the platter reserved for reallocation purposes. The data in the detected suspect sector is then copied, intact most of the time, to the newly reallocated sector. When a drive runs out of Z-sectors the drive controller will then simply mark a sector as bad and copy the data to an empty already allocated sector.

I consider that serious and would not consider that 'runs perfectly'.

If you're talking about a massive amount of sectors going defective in a short period of time, then yes that is a problem. For a few here and there over time, it's not serious and such a drive would still be considered working perfectly.

 

[Aquinus]

As I understand it a reallocated sector is information lost; I consider that serious and would not consider that 'runs perfectly'.

Reallocated sectors does not mean lost data. Only pending sectors to be reallocated that aren't results in lost data. No pending sector reallocation and no uncorrectable sector counts means no data was lost. Data from these unreliable sectors is moved to the new sector and only when it can't be moved or recovered, does it mark it as unrecoverable, but reallocated sectors means that it was moved without issue.