Before anyone starts giving me links I have read many threads about harddrives and bad sectors. I was just curious about anyway to prolong a read-only drive from death.
For months now one of my older harddrives (almost three years now) has been dying. The first harddrive to die on me and it has been a pretty slow process Nowadays, due to its age, I have had it hold movie and show backups. With 3 terabytes in size, it does this kind of well. It has 555gb left of space.
However, every few minutes to a few hours several more bad sectors are reallocated. Putting the drive into a friend's computer who owns HDSentinel for a few days (while he moved all the files on it onto his server) we can see this in the log
11/24/2014 3:20:56 PM,#5 Reallocated Sectors Count 34744 -> 34760
11/24/2014 3:15:51 PM,#5 Reallocated Sectors Count 34736 -> 34744
11/24/2014 2:50:09 PM,#5 Reallocated Sectors Count 34728 -> 34736
11/24/2014 2:40:01 PM,#5 Reallocated Sectors Count 34720 -> 34728
11/24/2014 4:33:52 AM,#5 Reallocated Sectors Count 34712 -> 34720
11/24/2014 3:22:53 AM,#5 Reallocated Sectors Count 34704 -> 34712
11/23/2014 2:17:02 PM,#5 Reallocated Sectors Count 34696 -> 34704
11/23/2014 11:24:39 AM,#5 Reallocated Sectors Count 34680 -> 34696
11/23/2014 11:19:35 AM,#5 Reallocated Sectors Count 34656 -> 34680
11/23/2014 11:14:31 AM,#5 Reallocated Sectors Count 34648 -> 34656
11/23/2014 11:09:27 AM,#5 Reallocated Sectors Count 34640 -> 34648
11/23/2014 10:59:18 AM,#5 Reallocated Sectors Count 34592 -> 34640
11/23/2014 10:49:10 AM,#5 Reallocated Sectors Count 34576 -> 34592
11/23/2014 10:23:49 AM,#5 Reallocated Sectors Count 34568 -> 34576
11/23/2014 10:08:36 AM,#5 Reallocated Sectors Count 34560 -> 34568
11/23/2014 9:48:19 AM,#5 Reallocated Sectors Count 34552 -> 34560
11/23/2014 9:07:46 AM,#5 Reallocated Sectors Count 34544 -> 34552
11/23/2014 8:27:12 AM,#5 Reallocated Sectors Count 34536 -> 34544
11/23/2014 8:01:51 AM,#5 Reallocated Sectors Count 34528 -> 34536
11/23/2014 7:26:22 AM,#5 Reallocated Sectors Count 34520 -> 34528
11/23/2014 7:21:17 AM,#5 Reallocated Sectors Count 34512 -> 34520
11/23/2014 7:06:05 AM,#5 Reallocated Sectors Count 34504 -> 34512
11/23/2014 6:25:31 AM,#5 Reallocated Sectors Count 34496 -> 34504
11/23/2014 6:20:27 AM,#5 Reallocated Sectors Count 34488 -> 34496
11/23/2014 6:00:10 AM,#5 Reallocated Sectors Count 34480 -> 34488
11/23/2014 5:39:52 AM,#5 Reallocated Sectors Count 34472 -> 34480
11/23/2014 5:09:27 AM,#5 Reallocated Sectors Count 34464 -> 34472
11/23/2014 4:59:19 AM,#5 Reallocated Sectors Count 34456 -> 34464
11/23/2014 4:54:15 AM,#5 Reallocated Sectors Count 34448 -> 34456
11/23/2014 4:18:45 AM,#5 Reallocated Sectors Count 34440 -> 34448
11/23/2014 4:08:36 AM,#5 Reallocated Sectors Count 34432 -> 34440
11/23/2014 3:38:10 AM,#5 Reallocated Sectors Count 34424 -> 34432
11/23/2014 2:11:50 AM,#5 Reallocated Sectors Count 34416 -> 34424
11/23/2014 2:06:46 AM,#5 Reallocated Sectors Count 34392 -> 34416
11/23/2014 1:36:21 AM,#5 Reallocated Sectors Count 34384 -> 34392
11/23/2014 1:31:16 AM,#5 Reallocated Sectors Count 34368 -> 34384
11/23/2014 1:26:12 AM,#5 Reallocated Sectors Count 34360 -> 34368
11/23/2014 1:11:00 AM,#5 Reallocated Sectors Count 34352 -> 34360
11/22/2014 11:09:55 PM,#5 Reallocated Sectors Count 34344 -> 34352
11/22/2014 10:54:43 PM,#5 Reallocated Sectors Count 34328 -> 34344
11/22/2014 10:19:10 PM,#5 Reallocated Sectors Count 34320 -> 34328
11/22/2014 6:46:12 PM,#5 Reallocated Sectors Count 34312 -> 34320
11/22/2014 5:09:52 PM,#5 Reallocated Sectors Count 34304 -> 34312
11/22/2014 4:19:10 PM,#5 Reallocated Sectors Count 34296 -> 34304
11/22/2014 3:58:53 PM,#5 Reallocated Sectors Count 34288 -> 34296
11/22/2014 3:18:19 PM,#5 Reallocated Sectors Count 34280 -> 34288
11/22/2014 2:52:58 PM,#5 Reallocated Sectors Count 34272 -> 34280
11/22/2014 1:41:33 PM,#5 Reallocated Sectors Count 34256 -> 34272
11/22/2014 1:36:29 PM,#5 Reallocated Sectors Count 34248 -> 34256
11/22/2014 1:21:16 PM,#5 Reallocated Sectors Count 34240 -> 34248
I ran fsutil on the drive just to give you a better idea of the drive.
F:\Users\Ethan>fsutil fsinfo ntfsinfo d:
NTFS Volume Serial Number : 0x5e4a13d64a13a9b3
Version : 3.1
Number Sectors : 0x000000015d4c97ff
Total Clusters : 0x000000002ba992ff
Free Clusters : 0x0000000008ac24ab
Total Reserved : 0x0000000000000780
Bytes Per Sector : 512
Bytes Per Physical Sector : 4096
Bytes Per Cluster : 4096
Bytes Per FileRecord Segment : 1024
Clusters Per FileRecord Segment : 0
Mft Valid Data Length : 0x000000004b540000
Mft Start Lcn : 0x00000000000c0000
Mft2 Start Lcn : 0x0000000000000002
Mft Zone Start : 0x0000000005c93fa0
Mft Zone End : 0x0000000005ca07c0
RM Identifier: 7730EB65-6112-11E2-BBDC-3085A9EE10D4
As I said early in my post, is there a "good" way to prolong a drive from dying? Black Friday and Cyber Monday are just around the corner but I'd prefer to use this drive a little bit longer. I'm a poor college student with very little to no money in my name so I have to make due with what I got. The only thing the drive really has to do is read information for playback if I decide to watch a movie or show. Is there anything I can do or is a cross the fingers situation?
Any help (even verification that I'm SoL) would be lovely
