Bad sector in the hard disk

neouser · 18 Mar 2013

Hi All,
I am having Dell Inspiron 1510 with Windows 7 64bit. For the last few months I am having issues with my OS like:
1. I find "The driver detected a controller error on \Device\Ide\IdePort0" error logged into the Event Viewer almost everyday
2. Almost once in a month my system goes to the "Startup Repair" mode and after some diagnostics it says it was unable to fix the error automatically. I tried to restore it to a previous point but I found a error that No OS found.

In the last 4 months, I had to re-install OS 4 - 5 times. Yesterday I ran HD Tune on my hard disk which shows a bad sector (screen shot attached).

Is it the bad sector which is causing above mentioned 2 problems? If so how can I get rid of it?

Saurabh A · 18 Mar 2013

Hi neouser,

Please run the on-board 'Hardware Diagnostics' to verify 'Hardware Functionality'. You may refer to the following 'web article': Run Built-In Diagnostics for Your System

If no 'hardware issue' is detected, you may check the disk and repair an attempt using option 2 in the the following tutorial: Disk Check
Hope this helps. Do reply with the findings; would be glad to assist.

neouser · 18 Mar 2013

Hi Saurabh,

Thanks for your reply. I will try the on-borad "Hardware Diagnostics" and let you know the result.
I have already ran Disc Check for all of the logical partitions using drive's property page but could not find any problem.

Bad sector shown in the image attached is at the very beginning of the hard disk. Can it cause any problem to MBR or the area where the system files are stored because I have read somewhere that MBR and system files are usually located at the beginning of the hdd.

Also, can you please suggest if the first error mentioned in my first post has anything to do with the bad sector?

Thanks

neouser · 18 Mar 2013

I ran the Pre Boot System Assessment (PSA) test through BIOS as suggested by Saurabh above. All devices passed the test except the Hard drive. Error is below:

Hard Drive - DST short test

Test Result - Fail

Error Code - 0146

Msg - Error Code 2000-0146

Msg - Hard drive 0 - self test log contains previous error(s).

Could anyone please let me know what exactly the problem here?

Saurabh A · 18 Mar 2013

Hi neouser,

The 'error code' 2000-0146 may occur either due to 'software corruption' or due to a 'bad hard drive'. Basic diagnostics (Pre-Boot System Assessment) does not test the 'hard drive' if this error is indicated. I recommend you to run the DST-Short / Long test for more accurate diagnosis. DST-Short (or DST-Long) from '32bit Dell Diagnostics' may help us to determine if the previous error has been corrected.

You may also run the 'hardware diagnostics' again and continue testing even after you reach the 2000-0146 error message. You may get prompted with the following options:
- Select 'Test System'
- Select 'Custom Test'
- Drill down to the hard drive in question, select 'SMART Short Self Test'
- Click 'Run Tests'

Please refer to the following web article for detailed information on '32 bit Dell Diagnostics utility': How to Run the Dell 32-bit Diagnostics Utility

If the 'advanced diagnostics' indicate a 'hard drive' failure, you may want to get the 'drive replaced'; if still in warranty, you may be entitled for free 'part replacement'. However, if no 'hardware failure' is detected, you may try a fresh 'operating system re installation' to see if that works. I strongly recommend you to backup the data immediately; this status may lead to 'data loss'.

I realize that you've already re-installed 'Windows' a few times; would like to know if you used any special tool/utility that you used for formatting. Was it the default 'Windows formatting? Is there anything else (debugging script, etc) that you've tried to fix the 'bad sectors'? You referred to the possibility of 'Boot MBR files' at a location with 'bad sectors' on the drive. Not sure, but it sounds possible.

Do reply with the findings. I would be glad to assist.

neouser · 19 Mar 2013

Hi Saurabh,

I will surely try "32bit Dell Diagnostics" and share you the result.

Before installing Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit, I had installed Windows 7 Ultimate 32bit SP1 but could not found compatible graphics driver for 32bit OS on dell website, so I have downloaded compatible drvier from intel's website and installed it. After few days of fine working, my system started freezing. I checked the event viewer and found the error "The driver detected a controller error on \Device\Ide\IdePort0".
To fix this I have re-installed the OS, this time Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit and downloaded the compatible graphics driver from dell website. Since then I am facing the OS crash issue.

Also I have not used any tool/utility for formatting. It was default windows formatting.
I have not tried any tool/script to fix the bad sectors.

Thanks

Saurabh A · 19 Mar 2013

Hi neouser,

Thank you for the response.

The default 'Windows re-installation' performs a basic level format; other tools may prove beneficial to mask the bad sectors.
Let us wait for the 32 bit Diagnostic test results. It takes the 'bad sectors' into consideration due the analysis; may produce some useful information.

Do reply with the findings; will take it forward from there.

neouser · 19 Mar 2013

Hi Saurabh,

Yesterday when I ran the PSA, I didn't find the option to run "32bit Dell Diagnostic" tool. Right now I was searching on the internet "how to run 32bit dell diagnostic" tool, I found out that to run this diagnostic test it needs utility partition on my hard drive created by dell when I purchased my computer.

Could you please confirm whether this is correct? Because I don't have that utility partition on my hard drive and in that case how would I run the diagnostic?

Thanks

jimbo45 · 19 Mar 2013

neouser said:

Hi All,
I am having Dell Inspiron 1510 with Windows 7 64bit. For the last few months I am having issues with my OS like:
1. I find "The driver detected a controller error on \Device\Ide\IdePort0" error logged into the Event Viewer almost everyday
2. Almost once in a month my system goes to the "Startup Repair" mode and after some diagnostics it says it was unable to fix the error automatically. I tried to restore it to a previous point but I found a error that No OS found.

In the last 4 months, I had to re-install OS 4 - 5 times. Yesterday I ran HD Tune on my hard disk which shows a bad sector (screen shot attached).

Is it the bad sector which is causing above mentioned 2 problems? If so how can I get rid of it?

Hi there
Look at the problem another way.

How much TIME and EFFORT has this cost you in the last few months with OS re-installs etc.

HDD's are CHEAP these days -- just Bin the old one, install the new one and carry on.
If you have any user data on the old HDD copy as much as you can on to another device or keep both disks in the system until you've completed the copy and then remove the old one.

You can get even several TB capacity HDD's cheaply now as people are switching in droves to SSD's - and changing disks is really easy anyway. If you have access to places where people are sending computers in to upgrade HDD's then it won't even cost you anything - just use one of the old HDD's.

Once you start getting defective sectors on an HDD it really isn't worth messing about with it any more -- just junk it. It WILL fail a lot more catastrophically sooner or later and you might then lose completely valuable data.

I certainly wouldn't for example want to re-rip 3,000 CD's etc.

Cheers
jimbo

neouser · 19 Mar 2013

Hi jimbo,

Thanks for the suggestion.
I would certainly change the HDD if I need to. But before doing that I just want to make sure that this problem is related to HDD only and not some other hardware issue.

And as far as valuable data is concerned, on the first day my laptop displayed a glitch, I had back up all my data in another external hdd.