How to reset a bad sector on an NTFS volume?

[Guest Bruce.]

XP SP3.

 

I had a hard drive with a few bad sectors. It never got worse so I ignored

them. Chksdsk /r /f marked them as bad and that was that.

 

Recently I did a major upgrade of my hardware. New motherboard, new drives,

just about everything except the chassis.

 

When I did the upgrade, I used True Image to clone the old PATA IDE hard

drive to the new SATA drive. Because I did an exact partition copy from the

old drive to new, those same sectors are still marked as bad, but no longer

need to be.

 

I've done a lot of googling but can find no way or utility to reset bad

sectors on an NTFS volume. I know doing an chkdsk /r /f again does not do

it. It will add new bad sectors but not retest old ones.

 

Partition Magic has a bad sector tester, but it only works on FAT16 or FAT32

volumes.

 

Anyone know of a way to reset a NTFS bad sector/cluster?

 

Bruce.

[Guest John John (MVP)]

Re: How to reset a bad sector on an NTFS volume?

 

I don't know of any utilities available to do this, as far as I know you

have to use a disk editor and edit the $BadClus metadata file to remove

bad clusters from the file, not a trivial matter and not an exercise for

the faint of hearth! If you feel up to it it's the 8th file record in

the MFT. MFT records are 1K (or 2 sectors) in length. Of course, it

goes without saying that a disk edit mistake can lead to the loss of all

data on the disk.

 

John

 

Bruce. wrote:

> XP SP3.

>

> I had a hard drive with a few bad sectors. It never got worse so I ignored

> them. Chksdsk /r /f marked them as bad and that was that.

>

> Recently I did a major upgrade of my hardware. New motherboard, new drives,

> just about everything except the chassis.

>

> When I did the upgrade, I used True Image to clone the old PATA IDE hard

> drive to the new SATA drive. Because I did an exact partition copy from the

> old drive to new, those same sectors are still marked as bad, but no longer

> need to be.

>

> I've done a lot of googling but can find no way or utility to reset bad

> sectors on an NTFS volume. I know doing an chkdsk /r /f again does not do

> it. It will add new bad sectors but not retest old ones.

>

> Partition Magic has a bad sector tester, but it only works on FAT16 or FAT32

> volumes.

>

> Anyone know of a way to reset a NTFS bad sector/cluster?

>

> Bruce.

>

>

[Guest Bruce.]

Re: How to reset a bad sector on an NTFS volume?

 

"John John (MVP)" <audetweld@nbnet.nb.ca> wrote in message

news:OoLNxYh5IHA.4776@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...

>I don't know of any utilities available to do this, as far as I know you

>have to use a disk editor and edit the $BadClus metadata file to remove bad

>clusters from the file, not a trivial matter and not an exercise for the

>faint of hearth! If you feel up to it it's the 8th file record in the MFT.

>MFT records are 1K (or 2 sectors) in length. Of course, it goes without

>saying that a disk edit mistake can lead to the loss of all data on the

>disk.

 

Ok, I very appreciate the information even if I don't yet have all the

pieces to the puzzle yet. Perhaps your information combined with others

will suggest a path.

 

I won't attempt it unless I can gain a lot more of confidence that I know

what I'm doing. I've edited the various FAT structures, but have virtually

no knowledge about NTFS.

 

Acronis makes what they call a Disk Editor. I'm going to ask them if their

program would in some way help.

 

Thanks for the information!

 

Bruce.

[Guest Guest]

Re: How to reset a bad sector on an NTFS volume?

 

See /b

 

CHKDSK [volume[[path]filename]]] [/F] [/V] [/R] [/X] [/i] [/C] [/L[:size]]

[/b]

 

 

volume Specifies the drive letter (followed by a colon),

mount point, or volume name.

filename FAT/FAT32 only: Specifies the files to check for

fragmentation

..

/F Fixes errors on the disk.

/V On FAT/FAT32: Displays the full path and name of every

file

on the disk.

On NTFS: Displays cleanup messages if any.

/R Locates bad sectors and recovers readable information

(implies /F).

/L:size NTFS only: Changes the log file size to the specified

number

of kilobytes. If size is not specified, displays current

size.

/X Forces the volume to dismount first if necessary.

All opened handles to the volume would then be invalid

(implies /F).

/I NTFS only: Performs a less vigorous check of index

entries.

/C NTFS only: Skips checking of cycles within the folder

structure.

/B NTFS only: Re-evaluates bad clusters on the volume

(implies /R)

"Bruce." <noone@example.net> wrote in message

news:uFsS3Li5IHA.1592@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...

> "John John (MVP)" <audetweld@nbnet.nb.ca> wrote in message

> news:OoLNxYh5IHA.4776@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...

>>I don't know of any utilities available to do this, as far as I know you

>>have to use a disk editor and edit the $BadClus metadata file to remove

>>bad clusters from the file, not a trivial matter and not an exercise for

>>the faint of hearth! If you feel up to it it's the 8th file record in the

>>MFT. MFT records are 1K (or 2 sectors) in length. Of course, it goes

>>without saying that a disk edit mistake can lead to the loss of all data

>>on the disk.

>

> Ok, I very appreciate the information even if I don't yet have all the

> pieces to the puzzle yet. Perhaps your information combined with others

> will suggest a path.

>

> I won't attempt it unless I can gain a lot more of confidence that I know

> what I'm doing. I've edited the various FAT structures, but have

> virtually no knowledge about NTFS.

>

> Acronis makes what they call a Disk Editor. I'm going to ask them if

> their program would in some way help.

>

> Thanks for the information!

>

> Bruce.

>

>

[Guest Bruce.]

Re: How to reset a bad sector on an NTFS volume?

 

<.> wrote in message news:ebA0fQi5IHA.2240@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...

> See /b

>

> CHKDSK [volume[[path]filename]]] [/F] [/V] [/R] [/X] [/i] [/C] [/L[:size]]

> [/b]

>

>

> volume Specifies the drive letter (followed by a colon),

> mount point, or volume name.

> filename FAT/FAT32 only: Specifies the files to check for

> fragmentation

> .

> /F Fixes errors on the disk.

> /V On FAT/FAT32: Displays the full path and name of every

> file

> on the disk.

> On NTFS: Displays cleanup messages if any.

> /R Locates bad sectors and recovers readable information

> (implies /F).

> /L:size NTFS only: Changes the log file size to the specified

> number

> of kilobytes. If size is not specified, displays current

> size.

> /X Forces the volume to dismount first if necessary.

> All opened handles to the volume would then be invalid

> (implies /F).

> /I NTFS only: Performs a less vigorous check of index

> entries.

> /C NTFS only: Skips checking of cycles within the folder

> structure.

> /B NTFS only: Re-evaluates bad clusters on the volume

> (implies /R)

 

Uh oh. My chkdsk /? doesn't show the /B option. I'm on XP SP3. Did you

get those options from Vista?

 

Bruce.

[Guest Bruce.]

Re: How to reset a bad sector on an NTFS volume?

 

<.> wrote in message news:ebA0fQi5IHA.2240@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...

> See /b

>

> CHKDSK [volume[[path]filename]]] [/F] [/V] [/R] [/X] [/i] [/C] [/L[:size]]

> [/b]

>

>

> volume Specifies the drive letter (followed by a colon),

> mount point, or volume name.

> filename FAT/FAT32 only: Specifies the files to check for

> fragmentation

> .

> /F Fixes errors on the disk.

> /V On FAT/FAT32: Displays the full path and name of every

> file

> on the disk.

> On NTFS: Displays cleanup messages if any.

> /R Locates bad sectors and recovers readable information

> (implies /F).

> /L:size NTFS only: Changes the log file size to the specified

> number

> of kilobytes. If size is not specified, displays current

> size.

> /X Forces the volume to dismount first if necessary.

> All opened handles to the volume would then be invalid

> (implies /F).

> /I NTFS only: Performs a less vigorous check of index

> entries.

> /C NTFS only: Skips checking of cycles within the folder

> structure.

> /B NTFS only: Re-evaluates bad clusters on the volume

> (implies /R)

 

Confirmed. /B is not a valid option for XP SP3.

 

Drat. That's exactly what I need.

 

Bruce.

[Guest Guest]

Re: How to reset a bad sector on an NTFS volume?

 

Ah well. Scandisk is where Win95 did it (after setting a secret registry

key).

 

"Bruce." <noone@example.net> wrote in message

news:OJRByoi5IHA.1428@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...

> <.> wrote in message news:ebA0fQi5IHA.2240@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...

>> See /b

>>

>> CHKDSK [volume[[path]filename]]] [/F] [/V] [/R] [/X] [/i] [/C]

>> [/L[:size]] [/b]

>>

>>

>> volume Specifies the drive letter (followed by a colon),

>> mount point, or volume name.

>> filename FAT/FAT32 only: Specifies the files to check for

>> fragmentation

>> .

>> /F Fixes errors on the disk.

>> /V On FAT/FAT32: Displays the full path and name of every

>> file

>> on the disk.

>> On NTFS: Displays cleanup messages if any.

>> /R Locates bad sectors and recovers readable information

>> (implies /F).

>> /L:size NTFS only: Changes the log file size to the specified

>> number

>> of kilobytes. If size is not specified, displays

>> current

>> size.

>> /X Forces the volume to dismount first if necessary.

>> All opened handles to the volume would then be invalid

>> (implies /F).

>> /I NTFS only: Performs a less vigorous check of index

>> entries.

>> /C NTFS only: Skips checking of cycles within the folder

>> structure.

>> /B NTFS only: Re-evaluates bad clusters on the volume

>> (implies /R)

>

> Confirmed. /B is not a valid option for XP SP3.

>

> Drat. That's exactly what I need.

>

> Bruce.

>

[Guest John John (MVP)]

Re: How to reset a bad sector on an NTFS volume?

 

Bruce. wrote:

> Confirmed. /B is not a valid option for XP SP3.

>

> Drat. That's exactly what I need.

 

http://www.fsys.nl/dfsee/index.php

 

I know/think that there is a way to do this with a Unix/Linux tool but I

can't find the information just right now.

 

John

[Guest Bruce.]

Re: How to reset a bad sector on an NTFS volume?

 

"John John (MVP)" <audetweld@nbnet.nb.ca> wrote in message

news:%23WDfVam5IHA.4356@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...

> http://www.fsys.nl/dfsee/index.php

>

> I know/think that there is a way to do this with a Unix/Linux tool but I

> can't find the information just right now.

 

Yes, I've seen the procedure and it seems way beyond my skill set. I know

nothing about Linux so the steps make little sense to me.

 

The good news is that due to a suggestion in the Acronis newsgroup, I was

able to use True Image to get the bad sectors reset. The trick is to

restore a True Image backup to a partition that is of *different size* that

the original. Because it has to resize the partition during the restore, it

figures the bad sector list is no longer valid so it resets it! Here's what

I did:

 

1) Use TI to make a image backup of C:

2) Use Partition Magic to make the C: drive smaller by 100GB (but still big

enough)

3) Use TI to restore the backup to the now smaller C:

4) Use Partition Magic to resize the C: back to the original size.

5) Do one last pass of chkdsk /r c: to look for *new* bad sectors.

 

And it worked perfectly! It took all night to do all those steps but I'm

down to zero bad sectors, exactly as I should be.

 

Thanks for the help!

 

Bruce.

[Guest John John (MVP)]

Re: How to reset a bad sector on an NTFS volume?

 

Bruce. wrote:

> The good news is that due to a suggestion in the Acronis newsgroup, I was

> able to use True Image to get the bad sectors reset. The trick is to

> restore a True Image backup to a partition that is of *different size* that

> the original. Because it has to resize the partition during the restore, it

> figures the bad sector list is no longer valid so it resets it! Here's what

> I did:

>

> 1) Use TI to make a image backup of C:

> 2) Use Partition Magic to make the C: drive smaller by 100GB (but still big

> enough)

> 3) Use TI to restore the backup to the now smaller C:

> 4) Use Partition Magic to resize the C: back to the original size.

> 5) Do one last pass of chkdsk /r c: to look for *new* bad sectors.

>

> And it worked perfectly! It took all night to do all those steps but I'm

> down to zero bad sectors, exactly as I should be.

>

> Thanks for the help!

 

You're welcome, thanks for telling us how you overcame the problem.

 

John