One of the laptops and PCs’ internal components that are prone to damage is the hard drive. Damage is quite dangerous in bad sectors because it can cause data loss. Even so, there is a way to fix bad sectors on a hard drive that is relatively easy to do if you experience it.
A bad sector is a term to use when one sector on the hard disk is damaged. The damaged sector will not respond to the command “Read” or “Write” from the computer.
Bad sectors can occur on magnetic hard disks or solid-state drives. it caused, whether by physical damage or software damage. Bad sectors due to physical damage cannot be repaired, while software damage can still be fixed.
Type of Bad Sector
Two types of bad sectors usually occur on hard disks: “physical” and “logical”. Physical types are often referred to as hard bad sectors, while logical types are referred to as soft bad sectors.
Hard bad sectors are a collection of hard disk sectors that are physically damaged. This damage can be caused by the head of the hard disk touching the sector and then damaging it. It could also be because dust is entering, the hard disk has been dropped, and other physical problems. Bad sectors of this type can no longer be repaired.
Meanwhile, soft bad sectors are a collection of hard disk sectors that are not functioning properly. The cause of this type of bad sector is usually software errors or problems in the operating system. Soft bad sectors can be repaired by performing a low-level format or by using the Windows Disk Check program.
Causes of Bad Sector
As mentioned above, the causes of these bad sectors are very diverse. It could be that the bad sectors have been around since you bought the hard disk. The reason is that every process of making hard disks is not entirely perfect because there must be some products that have been damaged since the manufacturing process.
In addition to the production process, physical bad sectors can also be caused by the hard disk being dropped so that the head touches the platter and damages some of the sectors. Dust and dirt that enters can also damage the hard disk. Of course, the age factor can also have an effect. Hard disks that are years old can be easily damaged because their components are no longer sturdy.
If bad hard sectors are related to physical problems, then soft bad sectors are usually related to software problems. For example, if your computer suddenly shuts down due to a power outage, the hard disk could be damaged while writing.
In addition, sectors on the hard disk that contain data that do not match the error-correction code can also be considered bad sectors by the OS. Various viruses and malware can also cause soft bad sectors on your hard drive.
Bad Sector Effect
The effects caused by bad sectors can be considered quite scary for computer owners. Yes, even though our hard disk can still run normally, some of its data will be corrupted and can no longer be used.
This is undoubtedly very detrimental if the lost data is critical. Therefore, never forget to back up your data because these bad sectors can happen anytime. Use various cloud storage services so your data can be safe and accessed anywhere.
At first, the presence of bad sectors is only a sign that some parts of the hard disk are having problems while your hard disk is still safe. However, if the number of bad sectors continues to grow from time to time, your hard disk may be damaged soon.
How to Fix Bad Sector
Before reviewing how to fix bad sectors hard drive, we must first check. The Windows operating system has its own program to do this check, namely the Disk Check tool or chkdsk.
Disk Check will scan your hard disk for bad sectors. If there are soft bad sectors, then Disk Check will fix it so it can be used again. Meanwhile, suppose there is a more complex bad sector problem. In that case, Windows will automatically rerun Disk Check when your computer is turned on.
Here’s how to run Disk Check :
- Open Windows Explorer, right-click on the drive you want to check, then click Properties.
- After the properties menu opens, switch to the Tools tab and click the Check now button in the Error-checking section.
- A small dialog box will appear with two options for you to choose from. Check both options if you want to check and repair bad sectors as a whole. But if you wish to check it, then just check the first option.
- If the drive you want to check is in use, the check cannot be performed. But Windows will schedule it automatically when you restart the computer.
- Click the Start button to start the checking and repair process.
One thing you should know, this checking process can take quite a while depending on the capacity of the hard disk and the amount of data in it. Even this check can take hours, so make sure you do it when you’re not using the computer.
Choose to schedule this checking process. Windows will start it automatically when you turn on or restart your computer. However, if you want to cancel the scheduling, please follow these steps:
- Open the command prompt in administrator mode by right-clicking and selecting “Run as Administrator”.
- Type without the quotes “chkntfs /xc:”. Replace the letter “c” with the letter of the hard disk you are scheduled to check.
- Press enter to cancel the scheduling.
Using EaseUS Partition Master
In addition to the methods above, there is an easier and more practical way how to fix bad sectors on your hard drive, namely by using the EaseUS Partition Master software.
EaseUS Partition Master is software that can help you check bad sectors directly on the hard disk for Windows 10, 11, and even Windows 7. The method is pretty simple because it only takes a few clicks.
First, right-click on the disk you want to check, then click “Surface Test”. After that, the software will work and display the results of bad sectors, marked in red. After completing the process, you can know exactly how many bad sectors are in your hard disk device.
For more information about this software, please visit https://www.easeus.com/partition-manager/epm-free.html.
That’s how to fix bad sectors that you can do on external and internal hard disks. But remember, before the bad sector occurs on your hard disk, back up all essential data, so you won’t regret it when you lose it. you can use Cloud Storage as your second backup In addition, if the bad sectors are increasing, replace the hard disk before it is completely damaged.