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Sorry about the name, I have no idea how to describe this in a short phrase. So I had windows crash and it wouldn't boot from the disk, it is a 500gb hitachi 5200rpm drive on an acer aspire 7560. I booted from my linux hard drive, used the "disks" or whatever program, and it said that I had 1000 or so "bad blocks" I checked an hour later and it said it had "3800" bad blocks, I am running badblocks on it right now with the non-destructive read/write test and it shows only read errors, no write or compare errors. Does this mean that there are only data corruption errors on the disk from an abrupt shutdown, or is the disk surface genuinely damaged? The number of bad blocks has not increased since I checked two hours ago, in fact it seems to have decreased from what I recall. EDIT: I got some compare errors, actually, here is a log of what it has given me so far:

sawyer@sawyer-Vostro-1720:/home-ext/home/sawyer$ sudo badblocks -v -n -s /dev/sdb
[sudo] password for sawyer:           
Checking for bad blocks in non-destructive read-write mode
From block 0 to 488386583
Checking for bad blocks (non-destructive read-write test)
Testing with random pattern:   0.00% done, 0:37 elapsed. (0/0/0 errors)


217784% done, 19:14 elapsed. (0/0/0 errors)
217785% done, 19:20 elapsed. (1/0/0 errors)
217786% done, 19:27 elapsed. (2/0/0 errors)
217787% done, 19:33 elapsed. (3/0/0 errors)
217792% done, 19:49 elapsed. (4/0/0 errors)
217793% done, 19:56 elapsed. (5/0/0 errors)
217794% done, 20:02 elapsed. (6/0/0 errors)
217795% done, 20:09 elapsed. (7/0/0 errors)
217800% done, 20:15 elapsed. (8/0/0 errors)
217801% done, 20:22 elapsed. (9/0/0 errors)
217802% done, 20:28 elapsed. (10/0/0 errors)
217803% done, 20:38 elapsed. (11/0/0 errors)
217816% done, 20:44 elapsed. (12/0/0 errors)
217817% done, 20:51 elapsed. (13/0/0 errors)
217818% done, 21:00 elapsed. (14/0/0 errors)
217819% done, 21:07 elapsed. (15/0/0 errors)
217828% done, 21:14 elapsed. (16/0/0 errors)
217829% done, 21:23 elapsed. (17/0/0 errors)
217830% done, 21:30 elapsed. (18/0/0 errors)
217831% done, 21:36 elapsed. (19/0/0 errors)
217832% done, 21:43 elapsed. (20/0/0 errors)
217833% done, 21:49 elapsed. (21/0/0 errors)
217834% done, 21:56 elapsed. (22/0/0 errors)
217835% done, 22:02 elapsed. (23/0/0 errors)
217836% done, 22:09 elapsed. (24/0/0 errors)
217837% done, 22:15 elapsed. (25/0/0 errors)
217838% done, 22:22 elapsed. (26/0/0 errors)                                                                
217839% done, 22:29 elapsed. (27/0/0 errors)                                                                
217840% done, 22:35 elapsed. (28/0/0 errors)                                                                
217841% done, 22:42 elapsed. (29/0/0 errors)                                                                
217842% done, 22:48 elapsed. (30/0/0 errors)                                                                
217843% done, 22:55 elapsed. (31/0/0 errors)                                                                
217844% done, 23:01 elapsed. (32/0/0 errors)                                                                
217845% done, 23:08 elapsed. (33/0/0 errors)                                                                
217846% done, 23:14 elapsed. (34/0/0 errors)                                                                
217847% done, 23:21 elapsed. (35/0/0 errors)                                                                
217848% done, 23:30 elapsed. (36/0/0 errors)                                                                
217856% done, 24:02 elapsed. (37/0/0 errors)                                                                                                                                                                                     
217857% done, 24:09 elapsed. (38/0/0 errors)
217864% done, 24:20 elapsed. (39/0/0 errors)
217865% done, 24:27 elapsed. (40/0/0 errors)
217866% done, 24:33 elapsed. (41/0/0 errors)
217867% done, 24:40 elapsed. (42/0/0 errors)
217868% done, 24:46 elapsed. (43/0/0 errors)
217869% done, 24:52 elapsed. (44/0/0 errors)
217870% done, 24:59 elapsed. (45/0/0 errors)
217871% done, 25:05 elapsed. (46/0/0 errors)
217876% done, 25:18 elapsed. (47/0/0 errors)
217877% done, 25:24 elapsed. (48/0/0 errors)
217878% done, 25:31 elapsed. (49/0/0 errors)
217879% done, 25:37 elapsed. (50/0/0 errors)
217908% done, 25:57 elapsed. (51/0/0 errors)
217909% done, 26:06 elapsed. (52/0/0 errors)
217912% done, 26:19 elapsed. (53/0/0 errors)
217916% done, 26:29 elapsed. (54/0/0 errors)
217917% done, 26:32 elapsed. (55/0/0 errors)
217918% done, 26:45 elapsed. (56/0/0 errors)
217919% done, 26:51 elapsed. (57/0/0 errors)
218040% done, 27:57 elapsed. (58/0/0 errors)
218041% done, 28:01 elapsed. (59/0/0 errors)
218049% done, 28:42 elapsed. (60/0/0 errors)
218052% done, 28:55 elapsed. (61/0/0 errors)
218053% done, 28:59 elapsed. (62/0/0 errors)
218054% done, 29:12 elapsed. (63/0/0 errors)
218055% done, 29:21 elapsed. (64/0/0 errors)
218056% done, 29:25 elapsed. (65/0/0 errors)
218057% done, 29:31 elapsed. (66/0/0 errors)
218080% done, 30:22 elapsed. (67/0/0 errors)
218084% done, 30:39 elapsed. (68/0/0 errors)
218085% done, 30:52 elapsed. (69/0/0 errors)
218086% done, 30:56 elapsed. (70/0/0 errors)
218113% done, 31:19 elapsed. (71/0/0 errors)
218148% done, 31:29 elapsed. (72/0/0 errors)
218149% done, 31:37 elapsed. (73/0/0 errors)
218150% done, 31:47 elapsed. (74/0/0 errors)
218151
218152
218153% done, 32:06 elapsed. (75/0/2 errors)
218155% done, 32:16 elapsed. (76/0/2 errors)
218156
218157% done, 32:36 elapsed. (77/0/3 errors)
218160% done, 32:52 elapsed. (78/0/3 errors)
218164
218165% done, 33:15 elapsed. (79/0/4 errors)
218166% done, 33:27 elapsed. (80/0/4 errors)
218167% done, 33:40 elapsed. (81/0/4 errors)
218168% done, 33:53 elapsed. (82/0/4 errors)
218169% done, 34:00 elapsed. (83/0/4 errors)
218170% done, 34:10 elapsed. (84/0/4 errors)
218171% done, 34:16 elapsed. (85/0/4 errors)
218172% done, 34:23 elapsed. (86/0/4 errors)
218173% done, 34:39 elapsed. (87/0/4 errors)
218174% done, 34:45 elapsed. (88/0/4 errors)
218175% done, 34:52 elapsed. (89/0/4 errors)
218244% done, 35:06 elapsed. (90/0/4 errors)
218245% done, 35:09 elapsed. (91/0/4 errors)
218246% done, 35:16 elapsed. (92/0/4 errors)
218247% done, 35:22 elapsed. (93/0/4 errors)
218248% done, 35:25 elapsed. (94/0/4 errors)
218249% done, 35:29 elapsed. (95/0/4 errors)
218250% done, 35:32 elapsed. (96/0/4 errors)
218251% done, 35:35 elapsed. (97/0/4 errors)
218252% done, 35:42 elapsed. (98/0/4 errors)
218253% done, 35:48 elapsed. (99/0/4 errors)
218254% done, 35:54 elapsed. (100/0/4 errors)
218255% done, 36:01 elapsed. (101/0/4 errors)
218256% done, 36:07 elapsed. (102/0/4 errors)
218257% done, 36:14 elapsed. (103/0/4 errors)
218258% done, 36:20 elapsed. (104/0/4 errors)
218259% done, 36:27 elapsed. (105/0/4 errors)
218260% done, 36:33 elapsed. (106/0/4 errors)
218261% done, 36:40 elapsed. (107/0/4 errors)
218262% done, 36:46 elapsed. (108/0/4 errors)
218263% done, 36:53 elapsed. (109/0/4 errors)
218264% done, 36:59 elapsed. (110/0/4 errors)
218265% done, 37:06 elapsed. (111/0/4 errors)
218266% done, 37:09 elapsed. (112/0/4 errors)
218267% done, 37:15 elapsed. (113/0/4 errors)
218268% done, 37:22 elapsed. (114/0/4 errors)
218269% done, 37:28 elapsed. (115/0/4 errors)
218270% done, 37:35 elapsed. (116/0/4 errors)
218271% done, 37:41 elapsed. (117/0/4 errors)
218272% done, 37:48 elapsed. (118/0/4 errors)
218273% done, 37:57 elapsed. (119/0/4 errors)
218274% done, 38:01 elapsed. (120/0/4 errors)
218275% done, 38:07 elapsed. (121/0/4 errors)
218276% done, 38:14 elapsed. (122/0/4 errors)
218277% done, 38:20 elapsed. (123/0/4 errors)
218278% done, 38:26 elapsed. (124/0/4 errors)
218279% done, 38:33 elapsed. (125/0/4 errors)
218280% done, 38:39 elapsed. (126/0/4 errors)
218281% done, 38:46 elapsed. (127/0/4 errors)
218282% done, 38:56 elapsed. (128/0/4 errors)
218283% done, 39:03 elapsed. (129/0/4 errors)
218284% done, 39:09 elapsed. (130/0/4 errors)
218285% done, 39:16 elapsed. (131/0/4 errors)
218286% done, 39:22 elapsed. (132/0/4 errors)
218287% done, 39:28 elapsed. (133/0/4 errors)
218288% done, 39:35 elapsed. (134/0/4 errors)
218289% done, 39:41 elapsed. (135/0/4 errors)
218290% done, 39:48 elapsed. (136/0/4 errors)
218291% done, 39:58 elapsed. (137/0/4 errors)
218292% done, 40:04 elapsed. (138/0/4 errors)
218293% done, 40:11 elapsed. (139/0/4 errors)
218294% done, 40:14 elapsed. (140/0/4 errors)
218295% done, 40:20 elapsed. (141/0/4 errors)
218296% done, 40:27 elapsed. (142/0/4 errors)
218297% done, 40:33 elapsed. (143/0/4 errors)
218298% done, 40:40 elapsed. (144/0/4 errors)
218299% done, 40:43 elapsed. (145/0/4 errors)
218300% done, 40:49 elapsed. (146/0/4 errors)
218301% done, 40:59 elapsed. (147/0/4 errors)
218302% done, 41:05 elapsed. (148/0/4 errors)
218303% done, 41:12 elapsed. (149/0/4 errors)
218304% done, 41:15 elapsed. (150/0/4 errors)
218434% done, 43:37 elapsed. (151/0/4 errors)
218436% done, 43:47 elapsed. (152/0/4 errors)
218437% done, 44:00 elapsed. (153/0/4 errors)
218438% done, 44:13 elapsed. (154/0/4 errors)
218439% done, 44:26 elapsed. (155/0/4 errors)

I know it is disorganized, but the count of currently pending sectors is what I was talking about, not the reallocation or reallocated sector counts

0.05% done, 1:39:16 elapsed. (444/0/124 errors)

is the latest output

hmayag
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sbergeron
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  • This seems to be about Windows. If not could you edit it? – No Time Jun 17 '14 at 21:36
  • General answer, applies to any OS: Get your data off that disk, *then* try to check it up. The best option: get a new disk. – Hannu Jun 17 '14 at 21:38
  • I have the windows install disk, I reinstalled and got the computer actually running about a week ago, there is no data on the disk I need to save, it's just that if I can keep the on-board windows ultimate reinstall partition that would be great – sbergeron Jun 17 '14 at 21:42
  • in other words if it gets corrupted i'm not going to cry, so long as I can save the disk itself – sbergeron Jun 17 '14 at 21:42
  • here is the latest report from the terminal: 218741% done, 1:02:23 elapsed. (254/0/49 errors) – sbergeron Jun 17 '14 at 21:57
  • There is no way to repair bad blocks. – Panther Jun 17 '14 at 23:48
  • but many times I know that it is possible to either repair how the system perceives them, or to make the hard drive ignore them and just write data somewhere else – sbergeron Jun 18 '14 at 21:06

1 Answers1

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It looks like a failing disk (but no guarantee). Whenever you encounter things like this, back up your data (if necessary) AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, before further checks!

Then I would first look at the SMART indications to see if there's anything failing. If so, chuck it out and replace disk. If not, repairing bad blocks generally speaking leaves a few corrupt files and to repair such situation costs a lot of time. Just restart your install with a full format and (if necessary) restore data from backup. Keep your SMART tools handy to keep monitoring the disk. This might just be an indication of bad things to come... or you might just have been unlucky, had a power-cut, power-fluctuations, virus activity or something else that messed with your disk. I've seen things like this happen because of a bad power supply too.

If you suspect an issue with a PSU, you can always test it if you have the necessary tools, or you can obtain a PSU-tester for a few $'s (http://pcsupport.about.com/od/toolsofthetrade/f/powersupplytest.htm). If it is your PSU, you should replace it before it does damage to your more expensive parts like mobo, cpu, gpu, ssd, ram, ...

Jakke
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  • I was at my computer when it went into updates, I don't know why I didn't say this sooner, but while it was updating the battery ran very low before I plugged it in, and I don't have a low/critical battery action set, so it probably just had a period of extremely low power where the hard drive was not recieving enough power. Maybe it just got a bunch of bad writes before it lost power – sbergeron Jun 18 '14 at 00:08
  • that would explain why the errors are in exactly the same place, almost consecutively following each other, in a scan I found them to be within the same few megabytes, close enough to be within just a file or two, I mean the disk reads and writes almost perfectly from ubuntu, it's just that mounting it is just a little flaky and windows wont boot. Thanks for the help, I'll try and dig up my repair disk and run SFC /SCANNOW from that on the disk. – sbergeron Jun 18 '14 at 00:09
  • Yup, that could explain a lot, power issues are a b**** Good luck with the repair. – Jakke Jun 18 '14 at 21:11
  • Maybe I just have to use hbcd to do a "secure" (all zeros) wipe and then format back to ntfs. Not exactly what I was hoping, but I can live with it. I tried making a copy of the recovery partition, but it said I/O error, any ideas of how I could at least retrieve that? That could save me a lot of time searching for an install disk and a way to legally get past the *ehem* bull**** *ehem* antipiracy measures that microsoft implements to keep us from installing anything more than once. – sbergeron Jun 18 '14 at 21:48
  • The only legal way I see is if you request your supplier to provide you with a copy of the installation medium. They may charge you a couple $$$ for administration and postage. The other method is returning the disk to your supplier and they will re-image it. Whether or not this is included in your support contract / warranty depends on the cost of that. Even though it may technically not be legal (I can't confirm), you should be able to find OEM installation disks on torrent sites. – Jakke Jun 18 '14 at 21:54
  • I've never known Microsoft complain when someone pays for a license and runs another license for the same product. They just care that you've paid for A license on your computer, meaning the same product that is currently installed. – Jakke Jun 18 '14 at 21:59
  • I have the disk somewhere, but it's the key that I don't think would be valid – sbergeron Jun 18 '14 at 22:09
  • any ideas about how I could get the recovery partition running? Maybe just do a reinstall from that? – sbergeron Jun 18 '14 at 22:09
  • If the recovery partition is broken, you either need to repair it and if that fails, you need to re-image it. For that, you need the original disk and necessary software. I wouldn't know what software your supplier used to create the recovery partition. This is why it's always handy if you ask for the installation disk when you buy a computer ;) I know that HP and Dell OEM installation disks are easy to find online, Acer may require a little more effort but I'm sure they're out there. If the serial is wrong, there's SW that can help you change it. – Jakke Jun 18 '14 at 22:14
  • Thanks. I'll try using the code on the bottom of the computer, though, as it is the same version of windows as the install disk. I'm trying to save this disk as it is less than 2 years old, it sat unused for about a year out of that, and has sat on a desk for the rest of its actual use. I really think it is just a corruption issue and not an issue with the disk surface. – sbergeron Jun 20 '14 at 11:04