Fix Bad Sectors on Hard Drive

You have been using your computer hard disk for a while now, and it has started to show some problems. What do you think can be done?

Be it any kind of computer part, it is obvious that after using it for a while, it would tend to give some problems. So is true with computer hard drives which are the most essential means of data storage today. The problems that can arise out of hard drives can be as simple as an hard disk error on the computer screen or as serious as a strange sound coming from the device.

If there is a sound coming from the hard disk, you need to understand that it is a hardware problem which can only be diagnosed by a professional computer repair technician. On the other hand, if there is a hard disk related error popping up on your computer monitor, chances are that it is a problem of bad sectors.

A bad sector on the hard drive is created when that particular sector goes defunct. Bad sectors may be created because of using the hard disk for a considerable amount of time. Other reasons include physical damage. It is also believed that excessive heat in the computer cabinet leads to bad sector creation. If you do not check hard drive for errors with few bad sectors present; these bad units can multiply over time. If a sector turns bad, the data that was stored on it is lost or gets corrupted. If your hard disk consists of a group of bad sectors, you may notice that its overall storage capacity of the disk has decreased.

Fixing Bad Sectors on Hard Drive

When we say repair or fix bad sectors, it generally means to set the bad sectors aside from the rest. The actual repairing of the bad sectors is not possible. For computer users who have Windows or Mac computer operating systems installed on their systems, the marking of such sectors can be done using a default application. On a system with Windows OS; right click on the drive that you think has bad sectors, click on the 'Properties' option, select 'Tools', and finally click on the 'Check Now' option. A window will be displayed asking for confirmation of automatically fixing file system errors and scanning for and recovering bad sectors. You can then begin the process by clicking on the 'Start' option. On Mac OS; select Applications, then double click on the 'Utility' option, and find the 'Disk Utility' and start it. Now, the next step is to select the hard disk icon which is located on the left side of the application's interface. Then, click on 'First Aid' and 'Show details' options on the interface. Clicking on 'Verify Disk' will start the operation of checking bad sectors.

If you are searching for other ways to fix bad sectors, software that are available in the market may be the best option. When dealing with a hard drive with bad sectors, always make sure you create a backup of your data to prevent any kind of data loss.