Replacing Hard Drive with Bad Blocks 1

[FXP]

I had a hard drive crash which I fixed and later after running Windows diags discovered I have 5 bad blocks/clusters and S.M.A.R.T. test results that says "back up data immediately". I guess it's time to chuck out the drive and get a new one. My question is that with the bad blocks, will I have a problem copying the old drive to a new one? If I do, does anyone recommend how I should proceed?

All respones are welcomed.


Thanks,
Frank

 

[Sival]

I always preferred doing a clean install of Windows on a new drive. I'd back up my important data off of the old drive right away to a CD/DVD/or some other type of storage device. I would then run the HD manufacturer's diagnostic program (free), or a purchased program like Spinrite (

http://www.grc.com/sr/spinrite.htm)

on the old drive just to see if any of the bad sectors can be repaired. Then, you could try to copy the contents of the drive to a new one. But, like I said earlier, I think you'd be better off doing a fresh Windows install on the new drive, then putting your saved data back on. Just my two cents. Good luck.

 

[FXP]

Good advice. I ran CHKDSK on the old drive, but it didn't fix the problem. I will look into Spinrite -- heard good things about it.

If the blocks can't be fixed, will I have a problem copying the old drive to a new one? Do you know if the bad blocks will crash the transfer when I do the drive copy?

Thanks again,
Frank

 

[Sival]

If the drive is still up and running, it should copy over OK. I can't say for sure, but even if the old drive won't boot into Windows, it may very well still copy over without issue. I doubt whether the bad blocks would crash the tranfer, may just end up with a program, or Windows, that needs some repairing on the new drive. If you try Spinrite, it may very well fix all of the bad blocks, as I've read where it has fixed some fairly severe problems. Even if it does repair them, I'd still invest in a new drive at that point just to be safe.

 

[FXP]

Thanks.

Best,
Frank