[hookem2oo7]

I didn't know whether this should go in this forum or another, but here it is... What are the usual causes for sectors to go bad on a disk? I've had this external for a few years--a 200gb Maxtor 7200rpm drive in an Emprex FW800 enclosure--and i'm currently watching drive genius do a scan and it's on the 2nd bad block. I suspected it was the HD going out, and I didn't lose any data, so there's no real loss. I was just curious as to what causes problems like this? Time for a TB drive

[Ted L. Nancy]

To understand how a bad sector occurs it is best to know what a bad sector is: physical damage to the disk that prevents that portion of the disk from storing any data.

Probably the most common cause of bad sectors is too much heat. It could also be caused by "scratches" on the disk from normal wear and tear (including sudden shutdowns, sudden movement, etc.). (Better built drives implement standards that do better at preventing this.) Defects in the manufacturing process are also a cause. I suppose moisture or dust could get into the disk as well, but this is probably less likely in this day in age.

Your options:

1- Sometimes a reformat can help. Try a zero-out data.

2- Although I've personally noticed that Maxtors have a tendency to get bad sectors, you may not be out of luck. Few people are aware that most hard drive companies offer very good warranties (which is probably why the warranties are good). You should contact Maxtor and see what they can/will do for you, if anything.

Many argue that bad sectors can be caused by your OS improperly arranging files or something. I'm not certain this is true. Although, bad sectors can "spread" when an OS tries to overcome the bad sector by some type of remapping, this does not cause physical damage to the disk that cannot be overcome (at least I can't see how it could).

The best preventative measure would be to treat your hard disks as you would a newborn.

[turtle777]

I have a external Seagate HD that developed dozens of bad sectors, to a point where reformatting (and mapping them out) doesn't work.

I'm glad Seagate's come with a 5 year warranty. My HD was never carried around, just sat steadily on the desk, so it's not that I abused it.

I'm gonna contact Seagate CS soon and see how that exchange goes. And if they give me a fit, I always have my precious Amex extended warranty that would kick in.

-t