What do I do if my drive reports bad sectors?

Bad sectors can often be corrected by using a spare sector built into the drive. However, any information written to a bad sector is usually lost.

There are several methods for finding and correcting bad sectors.

1. Use the Error Checking utility built in to Microsoft Windows.
   1. Double Click (My) Computer/This PC, and right-click the hard disk.
   2. Click Properties, and on the Tools tab in the Properties dialog box.
   3. Click Check in the Error-Checking area.
   4. In the Check Disk dialog box, select the Automatically Fix File System Errors check box, select the Scan For And Attempt Recovery Of Bad Sectors check box, and then click Start.
   View Windows help on detecting and repairing disk errors for more information.
2. Use SeaTools diagnostics and run:
   • Long Generic test
   • Fix All Quick
   • Fix All Long
3. Erase the drive:
   • For internal drives: Use SeaTools Bootable to perform a full zero fill.
      This option will erase ALL data on the partitions on the drive.
     For more information on performing a zero-fill, please see Document ID: 203931.
   • For external drives: SeaTools 5 on Windows or Linux to zero-fill your external drive.