As is known by the laws of thermodynamics, perpetual motion machines of any kind do not exist. This also applies to hard drives. So-called bad blocks appear on their surface over time. Some of them can be fixed. For this, programs for testing and diagnosing disks are intended. There are quite a number of such applications. In the framework of this article, the HDAT2 program will be considered.
File system error
With the help of a program integrated into the Windows OS, a search is made for file system errors that are associated with the fact that certain problems arise in the metadata.
So, errors in the $ Bitmap file of NTFS FS can cause Windows to incorrectly recognize the remaining free space of the hard drive. Errors in this file can provoke an incorrect definition of bad sectors, which will lead to an attempt to write some data to these sectors, which as a result will cause the computer to freeze.
In addition to these files, file system errors include problems with the main file table and problems with different metadata indices.
Bad Sectors, or Bad Sectors
Sectors on the hard drive are installed by the manufacturer. It is at this moment that magnetic properties are laid in it, which make it possible to write data to disk. If he ever fell to the floor, received even a minor blow to the body, a gradual degradation of its surface begins. These degrading parts are detected using special programs for testing and diagnostics of disks. Those sectors that are damaged cannot be repaired, although in many such programs they write that “testing and restoring the disk” is possible. In fact, the hard drive has reserve areas of sectors. If a bad section appears in a certain sector, then these programs reassign the address of the bad sector to a new sector from the backup block.
One of the programs that allow you to test and restore bad blocks or sectors is HDAT2. How to use it - we will consider in this article.
The concept of restoring bad sectors
Restoring bad blocks will not save the drive from final destruction over time, but it can help restore some information and extend the life of the hard drive. It should be remembered that incorrect actions performed in these programs can lead to final damage to the hard drive. Therefore, in order to avoid negative consequences, you must strictly adhere to the instructions that are given in this article.
Create a bootable USB flash drive
How to use HDAT2? First of all, you need to create a flash drive with the ability to download this program.
Consider how to create such a USB flash drive in Windows.
The easiest way to make such a flash drive in special applications, for example, in UltraISO. Download this application, install and run as administrator. On the toolbar, select the folder icon indicating that we want to open the file. We find the .iso file with this program stored on the computer. Go to the "Self-loading" menu and select "Burn hard disk image."
A window will appear in which you need to check the information and select the recording method “USB-HDD +”, then click on the “Write” button.
In the GNU / Linux environment, you can create a bootable HDAT2 flash drive using the dd command: dd if = / path_where_download_program_image.iso of = / dev / sdx, where sdx is the flash drive in the drive designation for this system.
Getting started
In this article, we will give instructions for HDAT2 in Russian.
First, restart the computer. At the beginning of a new boot, you need to press a key that activates the transition to the BIOS, usually DEL or F2.
We enter the BIOS and select there which device will boot first. If you made a bootable USB flash drive HDTA2, then install it as the first boot device, otherwise - a drive.
If there are several programs on the disk or flash drive, you can be offered the choice of the necessary program or manual entry.
In the menu that appears next, you are prompted to select a drive. If there is only one disk, then the choice is obvious, but if there are several of them and don’t remember which sector has bad sectors, you should at least remember the size of this disk. We select the necessary hard drive, confirm the selection by pressing the "Enter" (Enter) key.
Testing and data recovery
After the last confirmation, the “My Menu” window will appear, in which various launch modes in HDAT2 will be offered.
It will list several options for starting the program.
How to use HDTA2 in this case? First, it is better to check the disk for bad sectors without recovery. This is because the information that will be located in the bad blocks may not be available. This is due to the fact that the program for recovering a hard disk while apparently recovering damaged sectors and blocks is trying to replace them with workers from the backup area of the disk. Therefore, first you need to make sure that this disk is damaged, try to save all possible information from it. It’s better to make periodic backups, but if they weren’t done, either we reboot into the system, if it boots up and save what is possible, or we switch the hard drive to another computer with a bootable system and keep the maximum possible.
In this regard, at first it is better to select Device test menu, and in it - Detect bad sectors menu.
After confirmation, select the type of testing, it is better to select "Read" (Detect with READ).
If treatment is necessary, select the Detect and Fix bad sectors menu. Next, select a test method, for example, "Verification / Write / Verification" - Verify / Write / Verify. A hard drive recovery program may work for a sufficiently long period of time.
In addition to these modes, you can use the Powerful test READ / WRITE / READ / COMPARE mode, which tests the hard drive for errors. After that, select Fix with Verify / Write / Verify.
After the scan is completed, a result will be issued in which the non-working areas are marked in red, those operating in the operating mode are shown in blue, and those that do not respond to program actions for a long time are yellow.
The more errors there are in the disk detected by HDAT2, the less likely it is that this disk will stretch for some more considerable time.
SMART mode
This mode is a disk self-test technology. The state of the hard drive will be presented in the SMART / SCT menu. Selecting it, go to Smart Attributes.
The problems of the hard drive can be judged by the following points:
- 200 line Write Error Rate / Count (a large value of RAW indicates problems with the disk heads);
- 05 line Reallocated Sectors Count (reassigned sectors, worse situation with a large value of this value);
- 197 line Current Pending Sector Count (the number of sectors that will soon be reassigned);
- 198 line Offline Uncorrectable Sector Count (if the value is nonzero, then there are problems with the disk);
- 196 line Reallocated Event Count (shows the number of sector reassignment operations).
File modes in the program
In addition to using this program, you can test and try to recover bad sectors on hard drives, it also tests files. In this case, the operations of searching, reading and checking data in the FAT file system can be carried out. In the table of this system, verification, restoration and deletion of bad sector records can be carried out.
How to use HDAT2 if the program does not see the hard drive
Sometimes such a situation happens that after starting the program, it does not detect the hard drive. This problem may occur when checking large disks.
If HDAT2 does not see the hard drive, then in the BIOS you need to change the operation of the disk controller to which the hard drive is connected to IDE / Compatible. If the drive is connected via this controller, you should try changing it to AHCI.
Thus, you need to follow the instructions in Russian for HDAT2 in this article to prevent even more damage to your hard drive.
Finally
After downloading this program, which can help in some cases restore the integrity of the disk due to the backup sectors, a legitimate question may arise: "How to use HDAT2?". The article provides a step-by-step algorithm of actions, describes why the hard drive may not be recognized by this program, and what needs to be done in this case. In this case, you should not confuse file system errors and bad sectors. First, this program can fix, but only on the FS type FAT.