How To Remove Bad Sector From Hard Disk Permanently (4 Ways)

Check out this post and learn how to remove bad sector from hard disk permanently with 4 best methods.

Bad sectors are the segments of internal or external hard drives that have been damaged & have lost the capability to save the data on them. This issue is most often encountered by external drive users while trying to save new data on it.

However, it is not a big deal to tackle the hard disk bad sectors. Therefore, today in this article, I am going to cover each and everything that you need to know about bad sectors in hard disks and how to remove them easily.

You can remove bad sector from hard disk permanently using CMD, running SFC scan or Error Checking utility. While using these methods, if all your drive data gets deleted, use the best USB Drive Recovery Tool to bring them back.

So, let’s get started…

Quick Navigation:

What Is Bad Sector In Hard Disk?

Types Of Bad Sectors

What Causes Of Bad Sectors On Hard Drive?

Symptoms Of The Hard Disk Bad Sectors

How To Remove Bad Sector From Hard Disk Permanently?

• Using Error Checking
• Run CMD Command
• Run System File Checker (SFC)
• Remove Bad Sectors From External Hard Disk By Formatting

How To Recover Data From Hard Disk With Bad Sectors?

How Can Bad Sectors Be Prevented?

Part 1: What Is Bad Sector In Hard Disk?

Before knowing how to remove bad sectors from external hard disks, it is important to understand what a bad sector is? Actually, bad sectors are unwritable or inaccessible sectors on the USB drive or hard drive that lost the ability to save new data in it.

Apart from that, it won’t even allow you to access the data stored within the drive.

However, if you want to know what actually develops bad sectors on the drive and how to clear them from the hard disk, scroll down this page & get your answer in one of the below sections of this post.

Part 2: Types Of Bad Sectors

There are two types of bad sectors:

1. Physical Bad Sectors (Hard)

Physical bad sectors are usually triggered by the physical destruction on a hard disk which can’t be fixed using the CHKDSK utility or by any other tools.

But, if you need to continue using the hard drive with a physical bad sector, you should try any third-party tools to block the bad sectors present on a hard disk.

2. Logical Bad Sectors (Soft)

Logical bad sectors are totally different from physical bad sectors, as it is triggered by software errors such as the sudden shutdown of the PC while file transferring process or virus attacks.

Luckily, logical bad sectors could be easily repaired by using the CHKDSK command.

Part 3: What Causes Of Bad Sectors On Hard Drive?

Below you can find some of the major factors that can result in both Physical & Logical Sectors issue, they are as follows:

1. Using the data storage media for a long time can cause bad sectors in it.
2. Virus or malware infection could also develop the bad sectors on the drive.
3. Using the hard disk drive on multiple devices.
4. Improper removal of the USB drive or hard drive while the data transferring process.
5. Manufacturing error.
6. When dust gets into the media.

Part 4: Symptoms Of The Hard Disk Bad Sectors

Below, I’ve mentioned some signs that indicate your hard disk is corrupted or has bad sectors:

• Freezing
• Corrupt or inaccessible files/folders
• Hanging
• Cryptic errors
• Abrupt shutdown
• Won’t allow accessing the data stored within the disk

Part 5: How To Remove Bad Sector From Hard Disk Permanently?

Check out the below methods one by one to solve how to remove bad sector from hard disk without losing data.

Way 1: Check & Repair HDD Bad Sector Using Error Checking

As we all know, Windows has a built-in tool known as “Error Checking” which allows checking and repairing the hard drive bad sectors. No matter whether the disk has soft or hard bad sectors it is enough capable to scan and repair bad sectors Windows 10/8 without any trouble.

Here is how you can use this utility for fixing bad sectors on external hard drive:

• At first, go to the My Computer/ This PC/ Computer.
• Next, right-tap on a hard drive that you need to scan for the errors & click “Properties“.
• After this, tap on “Tools” tab >> tap “Check” option below the section “Error-Checking“.

• Lastly, click on “OK.” Now, the disk scanning and repairing process will start.

Way 2: How To Remove Bad Sector From Hard Disk Permanently Using CMD

Another effective utility that can assist you to scan USB drive for bad sectors is the CHKDKS command. CMD is a free & built-in tool present in Windows systems which is generally used in order to check disk bad sectors along with the integrity of the file system.

Follow the beneath easy steps to remove bad sectors from hard disk CMD:

• Firstly, press the “Windows + R” keys together to open a Run box
• Type “cmd” in that box >> press “Enter”.

• Enter the command- “chkdsk g: /f /r /x” >> press the “Enter” key. (Here, the alphabet “g” is a drive letter of your disk that you need to check.)

Now, you will see the complete information of your external hard drive like disk space parameters, number of the bad sectors, file size, etc.

This way you can repair the corrupted flash drive using CMD along with bad sectors.

Way 3: Run System File Checker (SFC) To Scan Hard Drive

SFC is the command-line utility which scans for the corrupted files & resources on a system. If you want to know how to remove bad sector from hard disk without losing data running SFC scan, follow the below steps:

• In a search box, you have to type the Command Prompt and open a search result.
• Under a Command Prompt window, you have to type the command- SFC/scannow >> hit Enter.

If this method doesn’t help you to tackle this situation, try the next one.

Way 4: Remove Bad Sectors From External Hard Disk By Formatting

Well, if none of the above-specified solutions help you solve how to remove bad sector from hard disk permanently then one and only option left for you is to format the memory card or hard disk.

In order to format the drive, try these steps:

• Insert your data storage media into the PC.
• To open your connected media, you have to go to ‘This PC‘.
• Then, find your connected drive and right-click on it.
• Choose the ‘Format‘ option among the various options.

• But remember, you don’t have to select the option ‘QUICK FORMAT’.
• Finally, tap on the OK option to repair the potential bad blocks of your data storage drive.

Part 6: How To Recover Data From Hard Disk With Bad Sectors?

If you want to recover data from hard disk with bad sectors then you must try the best Hard Drive Recovery Tool.

It will completely scan your data storage device & extract the data from the hard drive without losing the quality of the original files.

This data recovery tool helps to restore stuff from write-protected, locked, or read-only SD cards, USB drives, or external hard drives.

Besides, it is 100% safe & secure to use and shows a preview of the recovered file within the software before saving it.

You can download & install this tool as per your requirement from the below-given buttons.

* Free version of the program only scans and previews recoverable objects.

Here, you can go through the step-by-step guide to recover data from external hard drive that has bad sectors in just three simple steps.

Part 7: How Can Bad Sectors Be Prevented?

As we all know that precaution is better than cure, right? So, let’s check out some of the essential prevention tips to protect USB drives, memory cards, and other external hard drives from bad sectors in the near future.

Here’re some tips:

1. Create a backup of your data saved within the drive on 2-3 locations.
2. Carry out a hard disk health test every six months.
3. Avoid unexpected power outrage.
4. Run a good antivirus cleaner on PC to remove viruses & malware.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is It Safe To Use A Hard Drive With Bad Sectors?

The answer to this question is No. It is not at all safe to use a hard drive with bad sectors as you can’t even save data safely on your hard drive. However, if you will store the data on a hard disk with bad sectors then your drive will show up your stored media files as corrupt/unreadable.

Are Bad Sectors Permanent?

Actually, bad sector denotes the disk sector on the drive storage part which is permanently gets damaged. Once our internal or external hard drives are affected with bad sectors then these sectors won’t respond to read/write request.

Can Data Be Recovered From A Bad Sector Drive?

Yes, the data can be easily recovered from a bad sector drive by using the powerful hard drive data recovery tool that mentioned in this post. It has ability to retrieve all sorts of media files from corrupted, damaged, formatted, inaccessible hard drive including bad sectors.

Does Chkdsk Fix Bad Sectors?

It is really difficult to answer this question. Actually, there are two types of bad sectors one is soft bad sectors which can happen when stuff is written badly, and another is hard bad sectors which can occur due to physical damage on a disk. Thus, chkdsk has only ability to fix soft bad sectors not hard bad sectors.

Is It Possible To Remove Bad Sectors From External Hard Drive?

Yes, of course, it is possible to remove bad sectors from external hard drive by using the Windows in-built utility known as ‘Error checking’. Apart from that you can run check disk and SFC scan to fix this problem.

What Do I Do If My Drive Reports Bad Sectors?

When your drive reports bad sectors, no matter whether it is an internal or external disk you should stop saving new data on it to avoid further data loss. After doing so, try the below tricks to get rid of bad sectors on hard drive:

• Run Chkdsk
• Try Windows Error Checking Utility
• Run SFC Scan
• Format The Drive.

Time To Conclude

Well, it’s a common issue that your hard drive or other external data storage media reports bad sectors. But from now onwards, you don’t have to worry, as you have got complete info regarding how to remove bad sector from hard disk permanently.

Yes, you can apply the solutions mentioned in this post to check and fix bad sectors on external hard drive with ease.

However, while removing bad sectors from hard disk if your disk drive data gets deleted, you can try Hard Drive Data Recovery Tool to perform bad sector hard disk recovery without even backup.

I hope, you liked this post…!