Failing HDD

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Joined
30 Jun 2011
Posts
304
Location
Manchester
A friend gave me his Samsung HD502HJ 500GB HDD to have a look at after it failed to format on his new PC. I suspect it's dead but asked if I could have a look at it.

First, I tried formatting it on my machine. No luck.

So, I brought up the S.M.A.R.T data, which showed a communication error and a lot of bad sectors. I then tried to error scan but that froze the PC.
jbb3YqUT1mqV3b.PNG


So using Western Digital Data Lifeguard, I wrote zeros to the disk in an attempt to re-allocated the bad sectors.

Re-checking the SMART data showed an improvement.
jGtisBcYidfUh.png


I then error scanned the disk, which partly worked this time.
jrKRyzOAmRPj3.png


Tried to format the disk again, but this froze the window. Since then, I haven't been able to access the disk at all without it freeze the window/application trying to access it.

Disk management reports 'access denied' when trying to delete the RAW partition. It report 'Format Failed' when attempting to format.

Anyone got an suggestions to save it? Or now that disk prices have dropped, shall I just suggest a good alternative for him?
 
Hi, I'm a bit puzzled how the 'current pending sector' dropped to zero without the 'reallocated event count' increasing :confused:, but it doesn't look very well.
If it was mine I wouldn't trust it - perhaps try running the Samsung/Seagate diagnostic on it but expect it to fail.
 
Hi, I'm a bit puzzled how the 'current pending sector' dropped to zero without the 'reallocated event count' increasing :confused:, but it doesn't look very well.
If it was mine I wouldn't trust it - perhaps try running the Samsung/Seagate diagnostic on it but expect it to fail.

Yes, that's a strange one.

Currently the disk wont respond to any program trying to access it, but I will give it a go with a samsung/seagate tool.
 
Sounds like it's toast TBH. If it does magically seem to spring back to life, I'd start practicing data recovery ready for your friend's next call ;)
 
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