# Fixing a Current Pending Sector Count



## Capt

So I used CrystalDisk to check one of my hard drives and it says that my Current Pending Sector Count has 67 sectors that are messed up. I then did a long format (zero fill) and it changed from 67 sectors to 1D sector which I have no idea what it actually means. I was wondering what this means and if I'm still able to use this hdd and also does anyone know how to fix it?

*EDIT:* I ran chkdsk and it changed from 1D to 2A. What does all this mean?


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## Kramy

That's the number of bad sectors detected. CrystalDiskInfo displays them in hexadecimal, which is why I always recommend using HDTune or Defraggler to read SMART stats instead - they convert the numbers to human readable form.

67 - *103* in decimal
1D - *29* in decimal
2A - *42* in decimal

It seems that zeroing the drive convinced it temporarily that as many as 74 bad sectors were okay - but then it started to discover that some of them were in fact not okay, and has since marked 13 bad again.

In my opinion, once a drive gets past perhaps a few dozen bad sectors, it becomes "dangerous" to use if you value your data. I say "dangerous" because it might take months to degrade to the point where files start getting corrupted... but it also might not. Keep in mind that for some files only 1 bit of data needs to be corrupted to make them unopenable.

I only use drives with under 5-10 reallocated sectors in my own PCs. After that I RMA them or replace them.


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## Capt

So I guess I should just throw it in the garbage since there's nothing I can do it.


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## Kramy

Well, if it's empty, you can zero-fill it a few times to see if that changes anything. I'm rather curious how it'd react.

http://support.wdc.com/product/download.asp?groupid=612&sid=3

You have a WD drive, so you can use WD DLG to zero the drive. Run that a few times in the background and then run a Long/Extended SMART test to see what the drive reports. (Pass/Fail) If it fails, junk it. But I'm very curious how the bad sector count changes, regardless.


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## Capt

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Kramy*
> 
> Well, if it's empty, you can zero-fill it a few times to see if that changes anything. I'm rather curious how it'd react.
> http://support.wdc.com/product/download.asp?groupid=612&sid=3
> You have a WD drive, so you can use WD DLG to zero the drive. Run that a few times in the background and then run a Long/Extended SMART test to see what the drive reports. (Pass/Fail) If it fails, junk it. But I'm very curious how the bad sector count changes, regardless.


Thanks for your help. Actually the HDD in my sig is a different HDD than the one that has the bad sectors. The one in my sig which is a WD doesn't have any problems. It's the Samsung one that is giving me the problems which is not listed in my sig. If you look at the pictures that I posted it says Samsung so will this work on a Samsung HDD?


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## Kramy

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Capt*
> 
> Thanks for your help. Actually the HDD in my sig is a different HDD than the one that has the bad sectors. The one in my sig which is a WD doesn't have any problems. It's the Samsung one that is giving me the problems which is not listed in my sig. If you look at the pictures that I posted it says Samsung so will this work on a Samsung HDD?


As long as you have at least one WD drive in your system, it will work for any connected drive.


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## Capt

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Kramy*
> 
> As long as you have at least one WD drive in your system, it will work for any connected drive.


Thanks. Should I do a full erase (zero fill) or quick erase?


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## Kramy

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Capt*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *Kramy*
> 
> As long as you have at least one WD drive in your system, it will work for any connected drive.
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks. Should I do a full erase (zero fill) or quick erase?
Click to expand...

Full Erase. It'll take several hours, but you can use your computer for other stuff while doing it.

You'll probably want to do at least two, checking the SMART values in between (for curiosity's sake), and doing one Long/Extended SMART test afterwards.


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## Capt

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Kramy*
> 
> Full Erase. It'll take several hours, but you can use your computer for other stuff while doing it.
> You'll probably want to do at least two, checking the SMART values in between (for curiosity's sake), and doing one Long/Extended SMART test afterwards.


Holy crap dude. I think it fixed my Samsung HDD. The full erase is still going on and I decided to open CrystalDisk just see if it did anything to it and it looks like it fixed it. No more bad sectors! You are my hero!


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## shinji2k

Like Kramy I start to get nervous after just a few bad sectors even if you successfully map them to the many spare sectors hdds come with. I'd use it for now but if any more pop up I'd toss it or use it for target practice. I'd also be wary of putting anything irreplaceable on it. With my luck more sectors will go bad right where important things are stored.


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## Capt

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *shinji2k*
> 
> Like Kramy I start to get nervous after just a few bad sectors even if you successfully map them to the many spare sectors hdds come with. I'd use it for now but if any more pop up I'd toss it or use it for target practice. I'd also be wary of putting anything irreplaceable on it. With my luck more sectors will go bad right where important things are stored.


I just installed a game on that HDD and I checked again with CrystalDisk and there seems to be one bad sector now. I guess there's no hope for this hdd after all.

*EDIT:* When I go back and do another full erase (zero fill), it goes back to 'Good' condition and there's no bad sectors.

*EDIT 2:* So now that I did my second Full Erase (zero fill), there doesn't seem to be any bad sectors even if I install stuff on that hdd. I installed some games and programs on the HDD and it still says 'Good' condtion in CrystalDisk and there's no bad sectors. It seems to be good now, don't you think?


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## Kramy

Hmm... I'm not sure how long it'll be good. I'd run the Extended SMART test to see what it says. If it passes, then you can at least experiment with it.

You'll have to keep an eye on the drive for a while if you start using it for anything. Check its SMART stats daily to see how it's doing.


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## shinji2k

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Kramy*
> 
> Hmm... I'm not sure how long it'll be good. I'd run the Extended SMART test to see what it says. If it passes, then you can at least experiment with it.
> You'll have to keep an eye on the drive for a while if you start using it for anything. Check its SMART stats daily to see how it's doing.


Ditto. I don't really trust consumer drives so at the first sign of trouble I usually set it aside. I tend to have spares so swapping out drives isn't a big deal, but if you don't have the money to replace it I would keep a very close eye on it.


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## Capt

The extended test just finished and it said 'Pass' but crystal disk says that there are 8 bad sectors.


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## Capt

The drive finally died.


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## Kramy

Yeah... once they start going downhill that fast, it's not a good sign. I'm rather surprised it limped along as well as it did, with that many bad sectors showing up daily.

Less than two weeks for it to go from really unhealthy to totally dead - noted for the future.


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## bmbj

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Kramy*
> 
> Yeah... once they start going downhill that fast, it's not a good sign. I'm rather surprised it limped along as well as it did, with that many bad sectors showing up daily.
> 
> Less than two weeks for it to go from really unhealthy to totally dead - noted for the future.


Hi there,

I'm new to forum actually i joined today cuz of i have same problem like 'Capt'. My WD Black 1 TB hdd is gone 2-3 days ago. I did hdtune error scan and health test. There is results.

http://img.donanimhaber.com/upfiles/910492/487063fa-78a0-4727-8a91-cb3bf79db20b.JPG

http://img.donanimhaber.com/upfiles/910492/210464d4-6202-4714-8f68-6123631de806.JPG

What do you suggest me to fix that hdd ?

Also sorry for my english its not my native language.

Thanks a lot already


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## Kramy

*1457* - I don't think you can fix that HDD. You should connect it to another computer using a USB hard drive dock, pull off any important files, and then RMA it to Western Digital or throw it in the trash.

If you want to attempt to revive it, you can zero out the drive with WD DLG:
http://support.wdc.com/product/download.asp?groupid=612&sid=3

But on a drive with so many bad sectors, there's probably something really wrong with it, so I don't expect it to permanently fix anything. At best you'd be able to use it for another few weeks before more bad sectors show up and files start getting corrupted again. Eventually it just won't be accessible anymore, and then you won't be able to get anything off the drive.


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## bmbj

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Kramy*
> 
> *1457* - I don't think you can fix that HDD. You should connect it to another computer using a USB hard drive dock, pull off any important files, and then RMA it to Western Digital or throw it in the trash.
> 
> If you want to attempt to revive it, you can zero out the drive with WD DLG:
> http://support.wdc.com/product/download.asp?groupid=612&sid=3
> 
> But on a drive with so many bad sectors, there's probably something really wrong with it, so I don't expect it to permanently fix anything. At best you'd be able to use it for another few weeks before more bad sectors show up and files start getting corrupted again. Eventually it just won't be accessible anymore, and then you won't be able to get anything off the drive.


Actually i already got my backups. I got another hdd from my old computer. I make that hdd to my system hdd and copy that stuff to another external hdd. But there is only 1 red block on the error scan ? Is it really at bad shape ? Also i dont know what is the means of RMA ?


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## Kramy

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *bmbj*
> 
> Actually i already got my backups. I got another hdd from my old computer. I make that hdd to my system hdd and copy that stuff to another external hdd. But there is only 1 red block on the error scan ? Is it really at bad shape ? Also i dont know what is the means of RMA ?


Ok, good.









One error block visible, out of 2500 (50x50 graph in HDTune) - but they represent far more sectors. If you divide 1,000,000,000,000 bytes by the size of a sector (4KiB - 4096 bytes) then you end up with at least 244,140,625 sectors represented by 2500 blocks on HDTune.

There's at least 1457 bad sectors (and growing) - however, they _are_ towards the end of the drive, so I suppose you could format only part of the drive and use only that part. If it never accesses the bad part of the drive... maybe it'll stop? If you zero the drive out and only use the first 50-80%, _maybe_ it'll stop going bad?









I tried that once on a WD Green - my drive died totally a few months later.


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## bmbj

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Kramy*
> 
> Ok, good.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> One error block visible, out of 2500 (50x50 graph in HDTune) - but they represent far more sectors. If you divide 1,000,000,000,000 bytes by the size of a sector (4KiB - 4096 bytes) then you end up with at least 244,140,625 sectors represented by 2500 blocks on HDTune.
> 
> There's at least 1457 bad sectors (and growing) - however, they _are_ towards the end of the drive, so I suppose you could format only part of the drive and use only that part. If it never accesses the bad part of the drive... maybe it'll stop? If you zero the drive out and only use the first 50-80%, _maybe_ it'll stop going bad?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I tried that once on a WD Green - my drive died totally a few months later.


I deleted all of files on that hdd and merged partions and new status is here. What do you think ?


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## Kramy

It's still got bad sectors - they just moved to Offline Uncorrectable.

Well, go ahead and give it a try - make sure you only partition/format part of the drive, and then you can experiment and report back on how long the drive survives.


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## Nel Miranda

Sorry, be posting in a old threat.

My mobile computer started making some noise in the HD.
I searched some sites and found the Crytaldiskinfo and tried it.
It showed the yellow caution warning.
Since that i take it to where i bought it, because my computer is only 1 year of age.
The guy said that need do some tests, and it said my HD is fine, just some correctable sectors got bad, format your computer and install all again it get fixed.

The problem is, i full reinstalled a new windows, and installed my stuff all again. then just to check, i used the Crytaldiskinfo, and i got 3032 current-pending-sector-count, then it increased to 3040.
Now i deleted some stuff and it come back to 3032.

I dont use allot the disk, its a 500gb and i never pass the 150gb.
Im doing my thesis now, im afraid of this stuff. i keep backup dropbox, but if it fails me when im defending my thesis?

If i change the disk on my own i lose guaranty, already passed 1 week and didn't died yet.

Can a 3032 current-pending-sector-count, be fixed?

I tried a windows stuff an week ago to fix bad sectores, my computes stooped at 11% and stayed there all day and night.

thank you.


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## TechpumpkinWD

Hello Nel Miranda.

I'm sorry to be the bearer of the bad news but this HDD is close to completely failing and there is nothing you can do to fix that apart from replacing the drive. You should ask for a warranty replacement HDD. The amount of pending sectors is too big and is a strong indicator of the poor health of the drive. A full format of the drive will force the HDD to reallocate the bad sectors but this won't really fix the problem. Good luck.


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## Nel Miranda

Thank you!
Going try ask for a warranty replacement HDD again.


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## t0tum

Since this thread comes up second in google search, ill ask it here.
I was preparing my PC for sale and ran Recuva, to see whether it was worth wiping it clean, and it borked my drive

Crystal disk now shows 0A as current pending sector count. How bad is it (guess i cant sell it anymore)?
Zero filling it with Lifeguard tool still viable option?

Thanks in advance.



UPDATE:
HDD appeared to be fine, something went wrong with SMART data. Each session of Win Dlg test tool created new bad blocks and it went from 10 bad blocks to 48 in seconds. Doing only full zero write fixed the problem until i ran next SMART test, which resulted in more bad blocks.
I was able to fix it buy zeroing it with Win Dlg and then doing full format in Windows, followed by third party partition wipe (not entire drive wipe!) Now it passes every test including Hd tune.
Nice work, WD, in tricking me buying another drive


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## TechpumpkinWD

Hi t0tum,

SMART data isn't usually confused. What you are observing here is most probably a result of a problem with the power supply or problem with the HDD heads. I would suggest you test the HDD with WD DLG extended test in a different system if possible. Pending sectors are sectors that cannot be read properly and are marked so the drive can reallocate them the next time they are written to or after the HDD succeeds in reading the data. In this case when the sectors are successfully overwritten when you run the full write zeros. However when you run the SMART check they cannot be read and are again marked as pending. This makes me believe it can be related to a problem with the power supply. If that's the case it's a thing worth checking since the PSU can damage other components in the system .


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## t0tum

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *TechpumpkinWD*
> 
> Pending sectors are sectors that cannot be read properly and are marked so the drive can reallocate them the next time they are written to or after the HDD succeeds in reading the data. In this case when the sectors are successfully overwritten when you run the full write zeros.


Could be HDD heads! My point being, i was only able to pass quick, or extended WD test after i partitioned my drive in windows. After two full zero writes WD tests kept failing, producing pending sectors and populating my event viewer with disk errors: The device, \Device\Harddisk1\DR1, has a bad block.

So, in my case, pending sectors were never relocated? Smart now shows 0 pending and 0 relocated.
The only evidence i can find is perhaps this block at the end of disk:


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## TechpumpkinWD

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *t0tum*
> 
> So, in my case, pending sectors were never relocated? Smart now shows 0 pending and 0 relocated.


If they were reallocated that should be listed in the SMART data, and it's not. This could happen if the bad sectors are not bad due to degraded media/platter damage, but instead because they weren't written to properly. I would still test the HDD in a different system to confirm the conclusion.


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## Ichirou

Hi, sorry to invade this thread, but I have a question regarding one of my hard drives:










I have a Current Pending Sector Count of 1, but I'm not sure how long that's been there for since I've never actually checked my hard drives until today.

Should I be concerned? This HDD is fairly old, but it's been reliable since I first had it.

I've already run chkdsk on both partitions associated with the drive, and the checks didn't detect anything out of the ordinary.

Thanks a bunch!


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## Zeraschan

Hello everyone, sorry to drag up this thread once again!









I'm having simlar problems to everyone else here. I have three HDDs two of which are "Caution" on CrystalDiskInfo (shown in the pictures below) just wondering if its worth trying to fix or should I just replace the HDDs?

I have been having BSOD for the past few weeks and suffered simlar issues with my HDDs a year ago but managed to make them behave until now. I use my G: drive to record 1080p game footage to for my YouTube. I'm normally running the game I'm recording off the G: drive also. But sometimes my H: drive.

I've tried switching up which HDD I record to/ record a game from and still get a BSOD normally when I hit "Record" on my recording program (Action Mirillis) or once I've been recording for an hour or so then hit "End recording". Then I get a BSOD a second or two after. So I imagine its when the file is being finished up and wrote to my HDD?

When playing games on my C: G: or H: drive I sometimes hear a beep then my PC freezes for a little bit before returning to normal. The System Event logs is telling me its a DCOM error.

I've ran Norton Disk Doctor scans on all three drives as well as a /f CHKDSK on my C drive last night and when I came back it was at the desktop so I imagine everything went okay?

Not sure what to do, can someone take a look at these pictures and give me your opinion.

Thanks guys!


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## bobowyc

Hi guys. I have a problem with my hard disk just yesterday.



Do i need to get a new hard disk asap? Its not that important, but I keep all my movies in there. So yea.. xD haa.

Once it dies, I am gone. Will need to redownload 1.7TB of movies and series. At the moment I am not using it, leaving it at idle, and most probably going to upgrade to a 4TB drive.. haha.. Please advise, I have not much space left in the rest of my hard disks to store that 1.7TB of movies for a full erase like I read on this thread.. haha.


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## Blameless

Bad sectors are usually representative of physical damage, and are usually progressive.

Since you can't even check this for certain without being able to zero write the entire drive, you should find some way of backing up everything asap.


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## bobowyc

Okay. But what if I leave it at idle? haha. Cos yesterday I was downloading an anime series and then it appeared System Disk Error. lol. Is the other way to buy a new drive and transfer it all into the new one and scrap this old one? Will any bad sector from the old drive be transferred along?


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## Blameless

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *bobowyc*
> 
> But what if I leave it at idle?


Leaving it powered down entirely might prolong it's life, but if those pending/reallocated sectors are representative of damage to the media, just keeping the drive spun up can exacerbate the damage.

It probably shouldn't even be plugged in until you are ready to try to move data off of it.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *bobowyc*
> 
> Will any bad sector from the old drive be transferred along?


No.


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## ACleverName

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Zeraschan*
> 
> Hello everyone, sorry to drag up this thread once again!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I'm having simlar problems to everyone else here. I have three HDDs two of which are "Caution" on CrystalDiskInfo (shown in the pictures below) just wondering if its worth trying to fix or should I just replace the HDDs?
> 
> I have been having BSOD for the past few weeks and suffered simlar issues with my HDDs a year ago but managed to make them behave until now. I use my G: drive to record 1080p game footage to for my YouTube. I'm normally running the game I'm recording off the G: drive also. But sometimes my H: drive.
> 
> I've tried switching up which HDD I record to/ record a game from and still get a BSOD normally when I hit "Record" on my recording program (Action Mirillis) or once I've been recording for an hour or so then hit "End recording". Then I get a BSOD a second or two after. So I imagine its when the file is being finished up and wrote to my HDD?
> 
> When playing games on my C: G: or H: drive I sometimes hear a beep then my PC freezes for a little bit before returning to normal. The System Event logs is telling me its a DCOM error.
> 
> I've ran Norton Disk Doctor scans on all three drives as well as a /f CHKDSK on my C drive last night and when I came back it was at the desktop so I imagine everything went okay?
> 
> Not sure what to do, can someone take a look at these pictures and give me your opinion.
> 
> Thanks guys!


I wont lie your drives are running hot sir 42C? Ouch. Heat degrades drives faster


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## Blameless

42C is perfectly fine for a HDD.

Temps are only a concern if they are excessively hot (over 50C) or excessively cold (below 30C) 35-40C is nearly ideal for mechanical drives.


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## gigafloppy

I think my 7 year old WD Green 1TB (WD10EADS) is dying. Two weeks ago it had strange long pauses before it showed any files in windows explorer, and now CrystalDiskInfo says it has 897 Current Pending Sectors and 611 Uncorrectable Sectors. I'm backing up the data, but what should I do with it afterwards? With that many bad sectors this thing is unsalvagable right?


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## DavidLim

Okay. So my laptop took ages to boot some time last year. Plugged it into my desk top.... 4,520 bad sectors.... Any ideas? Sorry to drag this thread up... again... again


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## Lord Xeb

Back up your data and replace the hard drive. It is failing and failing badly.


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## ocyt

had 16 pending sector counts after installing crystal disk around last nov.. after formating it went away
came back and was only 8 a couple months ago
then a couple days ago i installed aida64
went to 16 right away
had to check disk my next boot (took longer than ever before, at least 4 hours to complete)
now i have 176 errors
little over 3 years old now (and just at the end of the warranty how ironic -.-)
hopefully it survives a nice long while and another format is all i need to clear things up again... if it dies i'll probably end up trying to sell my whole system as i can't afford another one. (what's the point in buying some $80 tb hdd which wont hold all of my music, pics, games, let alone allow my collection to grow). pity SSD prices are still stupidly overpriced.


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## Lord Xeb

Once a drive starts getting bad sectors it will only get worse. Back up your data and replace the drive. End of story. 1TB hard drives are not that expensive now. Selling a system just because a bad hard drive is a silly idea. Waste of a system. Probably one of the easiest fixes.


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## ocyt

meh, too much money to waste on every three years. living cheque to cheque is a pain. sure i could get something small and cheap, just constantly download and delete everything i want to do with it
but if i do that i may as well just stream things to my phone and connect it to a monitor/t.v. meh, maybe i'm just too cynical atm and should revisit this while in a better mood


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## Lord Xeb

I don't want to pick a fight but I am going to challenge your logic and have a civilized discussion.

Buying a new machine every three years is a waste of money too. I don't think you are using logic correctly. What is 50-60 bucks for a drive vs several hundred for a computer every 3-5 years? Better yet, why not use that same mentality with your car. Need knew tires? Just ditch your car and get a new one. Replacing a failing drive (one of the cheapest parts of your machine) just makes sense. If you have a computer that you use and does everything you need. Then the drive fails, replace the drive. Tires go bad, replace them.

My older systems I have either reused for another purpose or sold/donated them with a new drive after that time. This way they one: 1) Don't end up in a landfill someplace. 2) Be put to better use by myself or someone else. 3) If you donate something you can write it off on your taxes. Win-win in my book.


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## ocyt

your logic is solid, but you're arguing under false pretenses. as i'm not looking to buy a new system at all, rather sell my current one as the wear and tear is too much for me to sink my money in annually. maybe if i was making some money off the system, but the energy bill ontop of upfront cost while also spending free time, is just too much for a peasant like myself.

i was simply saying i'll probably be better off using my phone for most of the things i do without missing meals lol


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## Lord Xeb

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *ocyt*
> 
> your logic is solid, but you're arguing under false pretenses. as i'm not looking to buy a new system at all, rather sell my current one as the wear and tear is too much for me to sink my money in annually. maybe if i was making some money off the system, but the energy bill ontop of upfront cost while also spending free time, is just too much for a peasant like myself.
> 
> i was simply saying i'll probably be better off using my phone for most of the things i do without missing meals lol


Ah fair enough. Didn't know where your comment was directed. Either way, I know very well where you are coming from.


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## ocpls

I have a problem with 1 HDD (it's a backup drive of a backup drive):
I had "Current Pending Sector"=F and "Uncorrectable Sector Count"=A, and since then I didn't used it at all (altough still connected; it's internal). After some weeks I watch again the stats and I see those 2 warnings as 10 and 8. Since both are now decreased, shouldn't this be a software error? If so, how can I reset it (I'm on Windows; I also don't want to erase by error the main drive with the OS)?
Thank you.


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## Lord Xeb

It is not a software issue. The drive has resolved the error on its own and reallocated the bad sectors. Either that or it became "unstuck" which i doubt. Possible software issue but doubt it. Run a full surface scan of the drive and check it to see if any errors show up. This will also update SMART. Please bare in mind that this could also worsen the state of the drive too.


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## Davidxu

Kramy said:


> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *Capt*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *Kramy*
> 
> As long as you have at least one WD drive in your system, it will work for any connected drive.
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks. Should I do a full erase (zero fill) or quick erase?
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Full Erase. It'll take several hours, but you can use your computer for other stuff while doing it.
> 
> You'll probably want to do at least two, checking the SMART values in between (for curiosity's sake), and doing one Long/Extended SMART test afterwards.
Click to expand...

You are my lifesaver! I did what you told and all the yellow alerts from my software are gone and the disk is healthy again(hope so). Just wondering how long will this "good" condition last.


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## Davidxu

{erased cause of duplicated}


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