For the bad clusters or physical bad tracks that appear on the hard drive and cannot be repaired, we can use some disk software to separate them into a single zone and hide them, so that the read/write head will no longer read it. This can extend the service life of your hard drive to a certain extent. It needs to be specially emphasized that when using a hard drive with bad sectors, you must always back up your data because once a bad sector appears on the hard drive, more bad sectors will follow, leaving you helpless against the loss of your data.
The simplest tool for repairing this kind of error is the Fdisk that comes with the Windows system. If there are physical bad sectors on the hard drive, through the previously introduced Scandisk and NDD, we can estimate the approximate location of the bad sectors. Then, we can use Fdisk to logically partition these bad sectors separately. After all partitioning steps are completed, delete the logical partition containing the bad sectors, and the remaining part will be a good hard drive without bad sectors. Disk software like PartitionMagic and DiskManager can also accomplish such tasks. For example, PartitionMagic partitioning software. First, select the hard drive partition and use the "Check Errors" command in the [Operation] menu to scan the disk and calculate the position of the bad clusters on the hard drive. Then, under the [Operation] menu, select [Advanced] | [Bad Sector Retest]: divide the area with bad clusters into multiple partitions, then use the [Advanced] | [Hide Partition] command under the [Operation] menu to hide the partition containing the bad clusters. This ensures the normal use of a hard drive with serious bad sectors and prevents the system from frequently reading/writing the bad sectors, thus preventing the expansion of the bad sector area.
Below, I will introduce the detailed operation steps to you:
1. Return to the desktop, click [Start] | [Programs] | PowerQuest PartitionMagic 8.0 | PartitionMagic 8.0 command, enter the main interface of PowerQuest PartitionMagic 8.0, select the disk (such as E drive), highlight it after selecting, then click the [Partition] | [Check Faults] menu command.
2. PartitonMagic starts scanning the disk, showing the progress of the scan and describing the work situation in a dialog box. The list shows contents such as "Severity", "Repaired", "Number", and "Description". If partition errors appear, you can also click buttons like [Repair], [Skip], [Skip All].
3. After PartitionMagic finishes scanning the disk, if the bad sectors still cannot be repaired, then select the disk and click the [Partition] | [Advanced] | [Bad Sector Retest] menu command in the main menu to reconfigure the bad sectors for current isolation.
4. Through detection, calculate the position of the bad clusters on the hard drive. Now assume that the bad sectors roughly appear at the 900MB starting point of the E drive. Select the E drive, then click the [Adjust a Partition's Capacity] command in the left [Select a Task] list to adjust the E drive partition.
5. The [Adjust Partition Capacity] dialog box appears. This wizard will adjust the capacity of a partition and let you specify how the adjustment affects other partitions on the same disk. If you want to increase the partition size, the wizard can automatically get free space from other partitions on the disk; if you decrease the partition size, the wizard can automatically allocate the free space to other partitions on the disk.
6. The [Select Partition] wizard appears, choose the partition whose size you want to adjust. First, determine which partition you want to resize. You can click to select it either in the icon or in the list, for example, select the E partition, then click the [Next] button.
7. The original size of the E partition was 10000MB. Since the bad sectors appeared at the 9000MB mark at the start of the E partition, change the new partition size to less than 9000MB, such as about 8600MB. Then click the [Next] button.
8. Enter the [Which Partition Gets the Space?] wizard. The space obtained from resizing the partition can be allocated to other partitions on the hard drive. Since we have reduced the capacity of the E partition, we can allocate the released space to other partitions, but due to the presence of bad sectors, do not allocate it to any other partition, i.e., do not check any checkboxes before the partitions. Then click the [Next] button.
9. Enter the [Confirm Partition Size Adjustment] wizard. Review the changes you intend to make on the disk. This includes the status of each partition on the disk before and after the operation. Once we confirm that the partition size adjustment is correct, click the [Finish] button.
10. Return to the main interface, select the unallocated disk space on the right, where the type is displayed as [Unallocated]. Then click the [Copy a Partition] command in the [Select a Task] section on the left, which will create a new partition on your hard drive.
11. The [Create New Partition] wizard appears, assisting you in creating a new partition on your hard drive. The new partition gets space by reducing the size of other partitions on the disk to obtain free space. Click the [Next] button to continue our task.
12. Enter the [Create Location] wizard, select a location on the disk to create the new partition. In the list shown, indicate where you want to create the partition. If necessary, the wizard will move or resize other partitions to create space for the new partition. Here, we use the recommended settings, which place the new partition after the E partition, then click the [Next] button.
13. Enter the [Reduce Which Partition's Space?] wizard, which can reduce the size of other partitions on the hard drive to save space for the new partition. In the list shown, select the partition that can provide space for the partition being created. Since our goal is to isolate the bad sectors, do not check any checkboxes before any partitions here. Then click the [Next] button.
14. Enter the [Partition Properties] wizard, select the capacity, volume label, and other properties of the new partition. The recommended settings displayed here are based on your current operating system and the location of the new partition. Before making changes, you can click the [Hint] button to ensure you understand the issue. Set the new partition size to about 1400MB, choose FAT32 as the file system type, then click the [Next] button.
15. Enter the [Confirm Selections] wizard, which contains the status of each partition on the disk before and after the operation. If these selections are correct, click the [Finish] button; to make changes, click the [Back] button.
16. Return to the main interface, we can see that the newly created partition is the I partition. Since bad sectors appear on the I partition, select the I partition for further processing, click the [Partition] | [Advanced] | [Hide Partition] menu command to hide the partition.
17. A [Hide Partition] confirmation box pops up. Hiding the partition may result in changes to the drive letter of the drive. We are sure to hide the partition, click the [OK] button, and return to the main interface. We find that the area with bad sectors has been separated into a single partition and hidden, and the status of the I partition is hidden.
18. After all operations and settings are completed, be sure to click the [Apply] button at the bottom left. Only in this way will the operations we performed take effect.
After repairing the hard drive, never use DOS-based tools like Fdisk to re-partition it, otherwise, it may change the starting sector of the hard drive, wasting your efforts.
Original article from Hefei Data Recovery Center: http://www.cndr.cn/wenda/14921.html