Hard Drive Issue - "Reallocated Sectors Count"

jamiedolan · 06 Jan 2011

I was going through the list of handy free programs ( https://www.sevenforums.com/software/92-free-great-programs-windows-7-a.html ) here on the forum. I downloaded and installed a program called crystal disk. It is showing a "Caution" message due to "Reallocated Sectors Count" being at 199.

How much of a problem is this, and what do I need to do about it?

Hard Drive Issue - "Reallocated Sectors Count"-fullscreen-capture-162011-84327-pm.jpg

Thank You,

Jamie

thefabe · 07 Jan 2011

Check out the section down on this page S.M.A.R.T. - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For the definition of Reallocated Sectors Count. It should give you some insight as to what your looking at.
Fabe

jamiedolan · 07 Jan 2011

Thanks. I read that among other things, which seem to offer a variety of opinions that range from, it isn't a problem to replace your hard drive now. I am trying to get a full back up done just to be safe, but keep getting a blue screen.

Thank You

James Colbert · 07 Jan 2011

jamiedolan said:

Thanks. I read that among other things, which seem to offer a variety of opinions that range from, it isn't a problem to replace your hard drive now. I am trying to get a full back up done just to be safe, but keep getting a blue screen.

Thank You

Hi Jamie, Welcome to the forums. The limited details you give make it somewhat difficult to draw any conclusions.

1) Were you having issues before you installed Crystal Disk? If so, what are they?
2) What BSOD error are you getting?
3) What imaging program are you using for your full backup?
4) When the blue screens occur, are you attempting to backup from within windows?
5) Have you tried downloading WD's HD util to diagnose your drive (if not, complete your backup first)?

Give as much detail as possible about your issue and any related info.

James

jamiedolan · 07 Jan 2011

James Colbert said:

1) Were you having issues before you installed Crystal Disk? If so, what are they?

No; the system is just under a year old (Dell Studio XPS) with a factory install of Win7. Overall the system has been quite stable and I have had very few problems of any significance. I don't recall getting any BSOD errors in the past year.

James Colbert said:

2) What BSOD error are you getting?

Sorry I didn't post more details with my response here, I made a full post along with the BSOD files in the Crashes-Debugging forum:

https://www.sevenforums.com/crashes-d...ml#post1170551

The error I see is in the BlueScreen View Program is:

IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

This is an image of the BlueScreen View program:

(Left side of screen)

Hard Drive Issue - "Reallocated Sectors Count"-fullscreen-capture-172011-83632-pm.jpg

(Screen scrolled to the Right)

Hard Drive Issue - "Reallocated Sectors Count"-fullscreen-capture-172011-83640-pm.jpg

I've attached the dump file for you also here (same dump as what is in the post I made in the Crashes-Debugging forum), in case that is helpful, you can download it here:
Attachment 130100

James Colbert said:

3) What imaging program are you using for your full backup?

I was using the "Backup and Restore" program that was built into Windows 7 in the Control Panel. I was planning on setting up a program like goodsync for every day backups, but though I would grab an entire system backup image with the built in backup program to start with.

I have a new WD Elements 2TB hooked up to a new D-Link N+ 300 router. It appears to be working perfectly, I can read / write to the drive and have not had any errors.

James Colbert said:

4) When the blue screens occur, are you attempting to backup from within windows?

Yes, I have just gone to the Control Panel and clicked on the Back Up Now button and let it run. I have about 585GB on the internal drive.

I started it last night about a hour before I went to bed, it was running just fine when I left it, but in the morning, the machine had rebooted due to a BSOD error.

I tried the backup again this early this afternoon, while I was at the computer, again it ran for a while, then got the BSOD again, same error as before.

James Colbert said:

5) Have you tried downloading WD's HD util to diagnose your drive (if not, complete your backup first)?
Give as much detail as possible about your issue and any related info.
James

Yes, I did download it earlier today. I have not been able to compete the backup because of the BSOD error. I am manually coping my Photos / Videos / Documents folders over to the external hard drive, just in case.

This is the screen from the WD Utility, It reports the same value for the Reallocated Sectors Count, as Crystal Disk did:

WD Utility Screen: (top)

Hard Drive Issue - "Reallocated Sectors Count"-fullscreen-capture-172011-84727-pm.jpg

(Bottom - Scrolled down)

Hard Drive Issue - "Reallocated Sectors Count"-fullscreen-capture-172011-84730-pm.jpg

Thanks very much for your help;

Jamie

James Colbert · 07 Jan 2011

I doubt I'll do a better job than Carl at debugging, and device drivers can this error. Here is a link that will tell you more (apologies if you have this info already):

IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL Windows 7 | Technology News

As for your backup, I would recommend downloading a 3rd party imaging program that runs in a rescue environment, such as Acronis True Image (I've been using this since 2004 and am running the latest version). It's around $60.

If you're looking for a free program (limited feature set, but will accomplish what you want), many here tout Macrium reflect, which you can find here:

Macrium Reflect FREE Edition - Information and download

Your immediate priority should be to backup your data. Either of the two softwares mentioned should allow you to do that (you should first create the rescue disk and use that to image the drive through the R.D.'s Linux environment, which should successfully complete the image).

Back to your bsod, as you may have read, this error can be a bit tedious to track down, as there can be diverse causes, but Windows updates have sometimes been known to cause it. Here is a relevant thread:

IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL 0x0000000A after installing Windows Updates

as can hard drives. Here's a link that outlines some of the causes:

IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL Windows 7 | Technology News

Finally, you don't mention how long ago this started occurring, but after you successfully image the partition (or drive), I would try a System Restore, choosing a restore point that predates the issue and the installation of Crystal Disk. In case you're not familiar with the System Restore process:

System Restore

So, to reiterate:

1) complete a successful drive image
2) Attempt a System Restore to a point pre-dating the issue and Crystal Disk install
3) Use WD's utility to check your drive again (Do not reinstall Crystal Disk, at least until you have resolved your issues).

After these steps, you can try to run Windows backup again to see if the error occurs. If it does, it's likely that the HD could be causing the problem (or its driver). You could verify by running Win Backup on a different drive and see what happens.

Always create a restore point before installing new software, unless you keep current drive/partition images.

Let us know how it goes.

James

mjf · 08 Jan 2011

I'm not sure what uninstalling Crystal Disk Info will achieve?
It appears to be reporting accurately and I've used it for a while now without problem.

In Crystal Disk Info if you go to: Function>Health Status settings
You will see 3 thresholds of caution can be set by the user

Reallocated sector count
Current pending sector count
Uncorrectable sector count

These thresholds default to 1 and can be set by the user. The actual values (in hex) for reallocated, I understand are the Raw values shown.

Is 1 a sensible threshold for caution when it comes to reallocated sectors?
I don't know. Maybe not. The WD diagnostics suggest no as well.

Also, note the other sector counts are 0.

James Colbert · 08 Jan 2011

mjf said:

I'm not sure what uninstalling Crystal Disk Info will achieve?
It appears to be reporting accurately and I've used it for a while now without problem.

It's not about 'uninstalling Crystal Disk', but about an attempt to restore to a date pre-dating his bsod's, which began after installing C.D. This is not to say that his bsod's are related to the install of C.D., but why muddy the waters by reinstallation of a heretofore unused program that coincided with the bsod's, preventing him from completing a successful partition image (as is revealed in post #5)?

James

mjf · 08 Jan 2011

jamiedolan
take my response in post #7 as a response to your original question in post#1.
It's meant to assist you with your original question.

CarlTR6 · 08 Jan 2011

Jamie, based on what I have read in this thread, I have added some recommendations in the BSOD thread. One of your dumps is bugcheck 24, NTFS file system. This error can be caused by device drivers and can be caused by a messed up file system or a faulty hard drive among other things.

https://www.sevenforums.com/crashes-d...ml#post1171710