Reallocated sector count warning.

[zakyr]

I bought this laptop HDD two months ago and, naturally, installed HD Tune just to make sure it was working fine. HD Tune started giving this warning from the get go. I consulted with my tech expert and according to him it's nothing to worry about, as long as the count stays the same. (It's been 1 since the start).

 

Anywho, my intuition keeps nudging me. Should I bee concerned? The 'Data' readings have been the same since the beginning however. (Refer to the screen shot)

Edited October 9, 2016 by zakyr

[adrynalyne]

2 minutes ago, zakyr said:

I bought this laptop HDD two months ago and, naturally, installed HD Tune just to make sure it was working fine. HD Tune started giving this warning from the get go. I consulted with my tech expert and according to him it's nothing to worry about, as long as the count stays the same. (It's been 1 since the start).

 

Anywho, my intuition keeps nudging me. Should I bee concerned? The 'Data' reading has been the since the beginning however. (Refer to the screen shot)

It's a little concerning. What does SMART show?

[zakyr]

3 minutes ago, adrynalyne said:

It's a little concerning. What does SMART show?

Original post updated with another screenshot.

 

[adrynalyne]

It looks like you also have hardware read errors. I'd have it serviced under warranty. 

[zakyr]

2 minutes ago, adrynalyne said:

It looks like you also have hardware read errors. I'd have it serviced under warranty. 

Where does it say that?

[adrynalyne]

1 minute ago, zakyr said:

Where does it say that?

In both screenshots. I didn't notice it until the SMART one was uploaded. Look at the first test result. 

[zakyr]

2 minutes ago, adrynalyne said:

In both screenshots. I didn't notice it until the SMART one was uploaded. Look at the first test result. 

But why isn't it ID'd yellow?

[adrynalyne]

Just now, zakyr said:

But why isn't it ID'd yellow?

I'm sorry, I don't know. 

[Jim K Global Moderator]

I wouldn't necessarily worry about it ... like your tech friend said ... the number isn't growing.  It could be as simple as a manufacturing defect preventing reading/writing to that particular sector ... and it may just be an isolated problem that will not "spread."

 

You could run a program like hddscan and use it to read/write every sector and see if the SMART values change (maybe HDTune has that option...haven't used that program in awhile).  If they climb ... then you may have a bigger issue pending.

 

Or....If it is still under warranty (that is a Scorpio Black(?) ... so 5 year warranty) ... and you can wait for the process of exchanging drives ... might as well get it replaced.    

[zakyr]

3 minutes ago, jjkusaf said:

You could run a program like hddscan (hddscan.com) and use it to read/write every sector and see if the SMART values change.  If they climb ... then you may have a bigger issue pending.

Do I need to move the data before running HDDScan?

[Jim K Global Moderator]

I haven't done this in years ... but I do not think you need to move data as it should be a non-destructive process.  The program should warn you beforehand if data loss could occur.  

[zakyr]

Splendid. Thank you, gents.

[CougarDan]

Run chkdsk, 'tis what it's for.  After that check the count again.

 

https://hddguardian.codeplex.com/

 

^ Try that utility as well.  May provide more information or verification.

[adrynalyne]

3 minutes ago, CougarDan said:

Run chkdsk, 'tis what it's for.  After that check the count again.

 

https://hddguardian.codeplex.com/

 

^ Try that utility as well.  May provide more information or verification.

Chkdsk isn't for hardware errors. It will move bad sectors to the end of the disk and mark them unusable and that's about it for hardware issues. From the screenshots, that has already happened. 

[T3X4S]

Look at it this way - 

Are you putting anything of value on it ?  Yes ?  RMA it.
No ?  Then who cares

Do you have backup in place?  hopefully the answer is yes.

If it were me, I would RMA it just because.  Dont want to take a chance and have it come back to bite me and be sitting @ my computer thinking "why didnt I just RMA it ?"

It could very well be nothing, and you may not ever see problems from it for a long time - but - I wouldnt want to take that chance.

To be honest, I dont remember what WD's RMA policy & customer service is like - its been a while since Ive bought a spin drive.

But if you are looking @ a 1 week turnaround, or even 10 days - I think I would do it.  If they are saying "2-3 weeks" - I would buy another drive - an SSD.

500GB 850 EVO for $160...  
 

[CougarDan]

6 hours ago, adrynalyne said:

Chkdsk isn't for hardware errors. It will move bad sectors to the end of the disk and mark them unusable and that's about it for hardware issues. From the screenshots, that has already happened. 

It's happened for 1 sector, yes.  However, running a chkdsk will also increment the "Current Pending Sector" should there be any detected.  Also, what software is for hardware errors?  Perhaps I oversimplified when I said that's what it's for.  It's useful diagnostically.

 

As long as the count doesn't increment the drive is fine.  ALL HDDs come with bad sectors inherently.  We just have error checking and redundancy so that if a sector goes bad the drive has 'spare' sectors available.  In this instance it's just not hidden from the User's view.  As long as more don't develop (which, after two months they don't seem to be) you're fine.

 

Some info:

http://superuser.com/questions/384095/how-to-force-a-remap-of-sectors-reported-in-s-m-a-r-t-c5-current-pending-sector

[adrynalyne]

4 hours ago, CougarDan said:

It's happened for 1 sector, yes.  However, running a chkdsk will also increment the "Current Pending Sector" should there be any detected.  Also, what software is for hardware errors?  Perhaps I oversimplified when I said that's what it's for.  It's useful diagnostically.

 

As long as the count doesn't increment the drive is fine.  ALL HDDs come with bad sectors inherently.  We just have error checking and redundancy so that if a sector goes bad the drive has 'spare' sectors available.  In this instance it's just not hidden from the User's view.  As long as more don't develop (which, after two months they don't seem to be) you're fine.

 

Some info:

http://superuser.com/questions/384095/how-to-force-a-remap-of-sectors-reported-in-s-m-a-r-t-c5-current-pending-sector

I've yet to pick up a single drive that contains detectable unreadable sectors. If it is detectable as above, the failure happened after production. I know every drive ships with some unreadable sectors. 

[+Warwagon MVC]

I would RMA that drive so fast your head would spin.

 

If the only attribute in Yellow was / is Current pending sector.. that means that, yes there is currently a bad sector (s). Fix the bad sector(s) and all things usually go back to normal, smart data included.  On the other hand, if / when the Relocated sector count goes yellow, that means it's relocating more sectors than it should have to. 

[UnclePritchard]

had a much worse issue on an HP laptop 7 months ago and the number was huge compared to yours.. started with yellow and then exponentially worse to a big fat red X. maybe it was too much happening in just 2 or 3 days cus i didn't even have a chance of saving a single bit from it. even attaching an external HDD would hang the laptop. so careful what you do there.

[T3X4S]

On 10/10/2016 at 9:15 AM, warwagon said:

I would RMA that drive so fast your head would spin.

 

If the only attribute in Yellow was / is Current pending sector.. that means that, yes there is currently a bad sector (s). Fix the bad sector(s) and all things usually go back to normal, smart data included.  On the other hand, if / when the Relocated sector count goes yellow, that means it's relocating more sectors than it should have to. 

Yeah - I dont waste time - toss it, swap it, RMA it - but something.
 

On 10/10/2016 at 9:30 AM, UnclePritchard said:

had a much worse issue on an HP laptop 7 months ago and the number was huge compared to yours.. started with yellow and then exponentially worse to a big fat red X. maybe it was too much happening in just 2 or 3 days cus i didn't even have a chance of saving a single bit from it. even attaching an external HDD would hang the laptop. so careful what you do there.

Ouch!  I started to make a smart ass comment about it being an HP laptop and you should know better - but - by the end of your post, I felt sorry for you.  I know what its like to have something crash so bad it takes a forensics lab to recover the pictures of your dog before she died... cost me $1100 - ever since then, multiple backup methods.  (in my own defense it was years ago)