Bad Sector Hard Drive Type
As previously mentioned, there are two types of bad sectors on the hard disk which are often also called hard bad sectors and soft bad sectors.
A hard bad sector is a portion of the storage space on the hard disk that is physically damaged. The cause could be the tip of the needle from the hard drive touching the part and then causing damage, dust that enters the disk and makes blisters, damaged flash memory cells on the SSD, or other defects that cause sectors on the hard drive to become problematic.
While the soft bad sector is a portion of storage space on the hard drive that is not working properly. In general, the operating system will try to read the data stored on the hard drive in certain sectors but it turns out that there is a problem that makes the data unreadable. This can be fixed by overwriting the sector or it can be called a low-level format. In addition, you can also fix it using the Disk Check application on Windows.
How to Fix Bad Sector Hard Drive
Luckily, Windows has included an application called Disk Check to repair bad sectors on a hard drive. This application is a default application so you do not need to install it manually. You can use Disk Check to repair soft bad sectors so you can use the existing storage space as usual.
The basic function of Disk Check is to scan the integrity of the file system and file system metadata on a disk volume and fix any errors found. The error also includes bad sectors and can identify whether the bad sector is included in the hard or soft type.
You can use this application very easily. To start how to repair hard disk bad sectors, first go to Disk Check by opening File Explorer then right-click on the drive you want to check, then select the Properties option.
In the Properties window, switch the tab to Tools and then click the Check button. On Windows 7, the button says Check now.
On Windows 8 and 10, Windows will tell you that there are no errors on the hard drive. However, you can still run the scan manually by pressing the Scan drive button. This process will run the scan without immediately fixing the problem if any, so it won't restart the laptop.
In Windows 7, when you click the Check now button, you will immediately see a new window asking you to select some additional options whether you want to automatically fix file system errors and also perform a bad sector scan. If you want to run a full disk scan, then select both options and then click Start. The scanning process will take some time.
Bad sectors are one thing that is very common on the hard drive that you use on your laptop or PC. You also don't need to panic if it turns out that there are bad sectors on the hard drive. In addition to carrying out how to repair hard disk bad sectors as described above, you also need to take preventive measures such as backing up all important files in case something unexpected happens. And you need to know also if the increase in bad sectors is high enough, then it is a symptom that the hard drive's lifespan will end soon. So save all important data while you can.