# Sudden Reallocated sector count warning



## FreedomEclipse (May 13, 2015)

So uh... yeah... this just suddenly happened...







Im not quite sure what to make of it. All i know is i was surfin the web and i suddenly got the windows warning that one of my drives might be failing.

Im definitely gonna start backing shit up incase it gets worse.


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## 95Viper (May 13, 2015)

back-up
run chkdsk with fix option
check cabling and/or try different cables


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## FreedomEclipse (May 14, 2015)

I changed the cable, i currently dont have a spare hard drive to back upto at the moment but i couldnt get past P. O. S. T without disabling smart checks in the bios. Last time i had a situation like this it was with an old samsung F3 drive. It kept dropping offline and i dont want to wait for it to get to that position so i might just order a replacement right now


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## R-T-B (May 14, 2015)

Can't say I'm terribly surprised, you are using a Toshiba disk that is essentially a rebranded Deskstar from Hitachi.  Toshiba bought their lineup hook line and sinker.  I wouldn't have paid a penny for that line as it's pretty crappy and I've had terrible luck with Hitachi's consumer drives.

If you do order a replacement, I'd say WD/seagate are far better in quality control.  Also, HGST Ultrastars are crazy good and big, but they are helluva lot of money.


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## qubit (May 14, 2015)

I'm sorry to say that this HDD is heading for the great crapola in the sky Real Soon Now. Could be the very next time you power it up, perhaps.

As you don't have a spare HDD to back up onto, I can't stress enough to *not use that drive at all* (unplug the power connector) until you get a replacement. Once you do, back up your data and don't use this one again for anything serious.

In fact, you should have two copies of your data at all times, which you don't have, or disaster is certain to strike. I'm not being overdramatic here, it happens and you'll be up shit creek without a paddle when it does. Can you put a price on how much your data is worth to you?

I use Karen's Replicator, a really handy free little backup utility that even works over a network. The original website has been down for years now, but you can still get it from lots of places, such as this one:

www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/karens_replicator.html

I make ad-hoc backups over the network with it whenever something significant changes, which can even be every few minutes sometimes. Create a backup job and it's as easy as a couple of mouse clicks to do that backup. It's a no-brainer.


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## FreedomEclipse (May 14, 2015)

R-T-B said:


> Can't say I'm terribly surprised, you are using a Toshiba disk that is essentially a rebranded Deskstar from Hitachi.  Toshiba bought their lineup hook line and sinker.  I wouldn't have paid a penny for that line as it's pretty crappy and I've had terrible luck with Hitachi's consumer drives.
> 
> If you do order a replacement, I'd say WD/seagate are far better in quality control.  Also, HGST Ultrastars are crazy good and big, but they are helluva lot of money.



This is strange because I have used the same 3TB rebranded Hitachi HDD models in my NAS, 2 other in external caddies and the 2 in my PC one of which is now is slowly giving up the ghost. I purchased it back in 2013 - Its had a short life but at least it didnt end in complete catastrophic failure. For the moment its 'OK' I can still back stuff transfer files without much of an issue but i can tell its on its last legs as the transfer rate is rather slower than normal.

Ive purchased another Toshiba drive but this i'll stick to WDs after i think. the only problem with going WD is they dont have a standard 3TB 7200RPM drive Its either a WD Red which is an enterprise drive or a WD Black which is fast but loud.


Im considering going with the WD Reds just for the extra milage & warranty that they come with.




qubit said:


> I'm sorry to say that this HDD is heading for the great crapola in the sky Real Soon Now. Could be the very next time you power it up, perhaps.
> 
> As you don't have a spare HDD to back up onto, I can't stress enough to *not use that drive at all* (unplug the power connector) until you get a replacement. Once you do, back up your data and don't use this one again for anything serious.
> 
> ...




Yeah Ive unplugged it. ebuyer were doing free next day delivery so i bought from them Should be here on friday unless parcel force or Yodel <insert which ever courier scum company that ebuyer use> suddenly decide they cant be arsed to do deliveries anymore.


Id like to grab a load of 3TB hard drives and clone and keep spares of everything but £80 for a 3TB isnt cheap sadly. I still think theres room for improvement when it comes to pricing. £75 for a standard 3TB 7200RPM drive would be a little more acceptable if not £70


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## MrGenius (May 14, 2015)

WD Black is loud? Who told you that? Mine's the quietest HDD I've ever owned. My HGST(Hitachi) Deskstar is easily 2x as loud(probably 3x or more, it's HELLA loud).


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## xvi (May 14, 2015)

I strongly recommend not stressing the drive until you have everything you need backed up, but once you do, it might be interesting to run the error scan in HD Tune. Should give a nice graphical representation of where the dead spot is. Nearly 2000 reallocated sectors is no bueno though. =/


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## R-T-B (May 14, 2015)

> This is strange because I have used the same 3TB rebranded Hitachi HDD models in my NAS, 2 other in external caddies and the 2 in my PC one of which is now is slowly giving up the ghost. I purchased it back in 2013 - Its had a short life but at least it didnt end in complete catastrophic failure. For the moment its 'OK' I can still back stuff transfer files without much of an issue but i can tell its on its last legs as the transfer rate is rather slower than normal.



Well, to be fair, it's the ratio of early returns/warranty claims that I have seen as being pretty high.  If they run more than 6 months, they usually are rock solid.  It seems they don't have good initial quality control however.

Oh, and Deskstar performance is actually pretty good, if they live past that 6 month window.

Just my experience.  YMMV, as always.


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## MrGenius (May 14, 2015)

Good...but loud. And yes. The first(and ONLY) brand new HDD I ever bought, took home, installed, and didn't work right from the word go, was the Deskstar I returned to the place of purchase(TOTAL failure 0 days later) in exchange for the one I currently have. Which has run flawlessly for over 2 years now. They do seem to either work great...or not at all.


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## Steevo (May 14, 2015)

I have two Hitachi drives running just fine. 


But you should backup important stuff to another disk or DVD or something, and then run a full checkdisk with free space checks and surface check. If it is starting to report bad sectors it means its already out of the allocated replacement sectors the drive controller hides from the OS, its a 70/30 chance, 70% it will fail, and 30% it can be corrected with a bit of work.


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## kn00tcn (May 14, 2015)

why 3TB, why not 4 or 2 (x2 or 1.5 x2)?

also, if using for OS/apps, i would aim for fewer platters (less heat & noise, potentially higher speed due to being more dense compared to same size drive with more platters, potentially fewer parts to fail)

i recently got an ST1000DM003, quite quiet & quite fast (up to like 190mbytes/s on the edge & even the slowest point was 100mbytes/s), it's even unexpectedly thin, should be 1 platter or 2 at most



MrGenius said:


> WD Black is loud? Who told you that? Mine's the quietest HDD I've ever owned. My HGST(Hitachi) Deskstar is easily 2x as loud(probably 3x or more, it's HELLA loud).


WD is generally louder than seagate that's for sure, in my personal experience & online reports


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## Jetster (May 14, 2015)

Double check with Crystal Disk then replace. That sucks though


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## FreedomEclipse (May 14, 2015)

MrGenius said:


> WD Black is loud? Who told you that? Mine's the quietest HDD I've ever owned. My HGST(Hitachi) Deskstar is easily 2x as loud(probably 3x or more, it's HELLA loud).



I had 2 1.5TB WD Black drives and they were loud - I could hear them clicking away and the clicks would resonate with the entire case and thats saying something as i had anti-vibration rubber grommets under them (the HDD mounting trays that come with the fractal define XL and other fractal cases) These Toshiba drives i have now have been the quietest hard drives i have ever had yet. every once in a while i hear them spin up or do a little clicking but rarely





xvi said:


> I strongly recommend not stressing the drive until you have everything you need backed up, but once you do, it might be interesting to run the error scan in HD Tune. Should give a nice graphical representation of where the dead spot is. Nearly 2000 reallocated sectors is no bueno though. =/



a full scan/repair will be done once everything has been backed up to the new drive





kn00tcn said:


> why 3TB, why not 4 or 2 (x2 or 1.5 x2)?
> 
> also, if using for OS/apps, i would aim for fewer platters (less heat & noise, potentially higher speed due to being more dense compared to same size drive with more platters, potentially fewer parts to fail)
> 
> ...



Price really. I dont need anything more either as this drive was 1 of 2 3TB drives i run on my PC. OS is on an SSD. the cheapest 4TB is a WD Green. I dont see the point of spending more as i'll get another 3TB back once ive RMA'd it.


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## 95Viper (May 14, 2015)

If you want to save your data now (as long as it is legal)...
Get some cloud service (there are free ones with the space you need) and drop them on it 'til you get your new drive.

A Comparison of Free Cloud Storage Services

12 free cloud storage options

Goodluck!


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## FreedomEclipse (May 14, 2015)

95Viper said:


> If you want to save your data now (as long as it is legal)...
> Get some cloud service (there are free ones with the space you need) and drop them on it 'til you get your new drive.
> 
> A Comparison of Free Cloud Storage Services
> ...



No rush - new drive will be here in 12-14hrs anyway It would probably take me that long to upload about 2TB to a cloud service anyway


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## Aquinus (May 14, 2015)

1875 reallocated sectors is a lot. I would back up your stuff ASAP and replace the drive, but I see you're already doing that. 

Anything more than 20 on reallocated sectors is a cause for concern in my book. The sure fire sign that the driving is failing is if that number continues to increase. It's always possible some blocks can't be utilized for one reason or another, but north of 1000 is a lot.


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## FreedomEclipse (May 15, 2015)

well Ive just plugged the hard drive in via a docking station - everything is still the same as it is in HD tune so at least it hasnt got worse

Going to back up and do a format or CHK disk and see what happens tomorrow evening when i get home from work


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## Aquinus (May 15, 2015)

FreedomEclipse said:


> well Ive just plugged the hard drive in via a docking station - everything is still the same as it is in HD tune so at least it hasnt got worse
> 
> Going to back up and do a format or CHK disk and see what happens tomorrow evening when i get home from work


The number won't go up from just being on. It needs to try to read or write a bad sector for it to go up. Do a full format, because that will catch most of the bad sectors. If the number doesn't go up after a full format, it *might* be okay to use, but not outside of redundancy and it should be monitored religiously.


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## FreedomEclipse (May 15, 2015)

Cloning in progress


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## FreedomEclipse (May 15, 2015)

Yessireeeeee this is going to take a while....

I actually started the cloning process before i posted on this thread and its only at 18% Im predicting that this will take a few hours......


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## xvi (May 16, 2015)

If it quits on you, depending on why it failed, you might be able to put your hard drive in the fridge for a bit. I hear it helps with tolerances.


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## qubit (May 16, 2015)

It's probably taking longer because it's having to do retries. How far along is it now?

What replacement drive did you get.

And finally, don't forget to get that second replacement driver for those backups.


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## FreedomEclipse (May 16, 2015)

qubit said:


> It's probably taking longer because it's having to do retries. How far along is it now?
> 
> What replacement drive did you get.
> 
> And finally, don't forget to get that second replacement driver for those backups.



20% but it is around 2.5TBs worth of data and the 'source disk' is in a USB 3.0 dock. A lot of the files store were smaller files. so i guess thats why its taking it so long.

I replaced it with the exact same toshiba drive/model. Honestly not a lot of choice for generic 7200rpm 3TB drives - Either Toshiba/Hitachi or Seagate


:ninja edit:

21% now!


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## qubit (May 16, 2015)

Oh yeah, a USB dock figures for that kind of performance. A USB 3.0 one should be a lot better, but if I remember the numbers correctly, it's still some way from a SATA interface.


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## MrGenius (May 16, 2015)

USB 3.0 is faster(625 MB/s) than SATA 3.0(600 MB/s).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_device_bit_rates


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## FreedomEclipse (May 16, 2015)

Maybe its the drive that is almost completely fubar then if transfers are running slow.


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## R-T-B (May 16, 2015)

MrGenius said:


> USB 3.0 is faster(625 MB/s) than SATA 3.0(600 MB/s).
> 
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_device_bit_rates



Yes, technically, but the overhead associated with USB costs it a lot in a transfer like this.


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## FreedomEclipse (May 16, 2015)

well, whatever. It only managed 26% since it started so i just cancelled the cloning process and will start again when i come home from work and hook it up directly via sata to speed the process up


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## qubit (May 16, 2015)

Why don't you just do a normal file copy?


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## AsRock (May 16, 2015)

FreedomEclipse said:


> well Ive just plugged the hard drive in via a docking station - everything is still the same as it is in HD tune so at least it hasnt got worse
> 
> Going to back up and do a format or CHK disk and see what happens tomorrow evening when i get home from work



If the drives under warranty RMA if not you could try partitioning the area off.


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## Steevo (May 16, 2015)

R-T-B said:


> Yes, technically, but the overhead associated with USB costs it a lot in a transfer like this.




Yeah but the overhead is still significantly less than what a NATIVE USB3 hard drive dock is capable of, which is a few hundred MBps in reality. Unfortunately there are a LOT of "USB 3" docking stations that use a older Sata 1 or 2 interface for the drive meaning its effectively a USB 2 enclosure. I bought one from best buy a few months ago that is this way, I have a USB 3 drive that will run almost 300MBps out, but when connected to the dock it only runs 220 or so.


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## FreedomEclipse (May 20, 2015)

welp, Things did get worse after the cloning.







Buying a new hard drive wasnt a bad move at all rather than following the suggestion of partitioning off the bad sectors and see how far it could go before i ran it into the ground.


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## FreedomEclipse (May 28, 2015)

@SuperSoph_WD

Just curious.... Does WD have any intention of releasing 'standard' 3-4TB 7200RPM consumer hard drives to compete with the rest of the market? 

your WD blues dont go above 1TB which is a real shame as I dont want to buy Reds, Greens, Purples or blacks. - R, G, P arent even 7200rpm drives anyway

the blacks are the only real 3-4TB 7200rpm option but they cost a premium. All i want is a 3-4TB Blue drive.

I think youre missing out on a chunk of the market here. There are quite a lot of people out there who would rather have a WD driver rather than a Seagate, Toshiba/Hitachi. There is a huge lack of choice


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## natr0n (May 28, 2015)

Big drives are nice , but when shit happens they are a pain to backup\dump to another.


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## AsRock (May 29, 2015)

FreedomEclipse said:


> welp, Things did get worse after the cloning.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Shame some times it works can be a little tricky to get the right part(s) of the drive too.


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## FreedomEclipse (May 30, 2015)

@SuperSoph_WD

Honestly? no feedback or input at all on my comments?


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## SuperSoph_WD (Jun 1, 2015)

FreedomEclipse said:


> @SuperSoph_WD
> 
> Just curious.... Does WD have any intention of releasing 'standard' 3-4TB 7200RPM consumer hard drives to compete with the rest of the market?
> 
> ...



Hey there, @FreedomEclipse

Unfortunately, I cannot help with this one. It is Western Digital's policy not to discuss products until they are officially announced. 

P.S. Sorry for the late reply, but I usually don't lurk & work duing the weekends. 

SuperSoph_WD


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## R-T-B (Jun 1, 2015)

SuperSoph_WD said:


> Hey there, @FreedomEclipse
> 
> Unfortunately, I cannot help with this one. It is Western Digital's policy not to discuss products until they are officially announced.
> 
> ...



That's an understandable policy.  I think what he meant was is there anything in the officially announced pipeline?

And I'm guessing there's not.


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