How to Fix a Disk Error Bad Block on Your HDD

Check disk to fix a bad block

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Published onNovember 9, 2024

published onNovember 9, 2024

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A disk error indicating a bad block points out to disk failure. It can happen to HDDs and SSDs and the damage could be hardware or software-related. You’ll notice your PC has significantly slowed down and freezes frequently.

Unfortunately, a bad block restricts you from retrieving or storing any data on the affected drive so if you don’t have a backup of your files, they could be lost.

If you’re lucky the bad block disk error could be software-related which means it’s acorrupted file systemor malware infestation that can be fixed with disk repair tools. If the issue is physical and affects the hardware, you may fix it temporarily but the drive now has a shorter lifespan.

How do I fix a disk error bad block?

1. Defragment your hard disk drive

2. Check your drive’s health

2.1 Scan your drive

2.1 Run the SMART diagnostic tool

Even though Windows’ built-in tools do a great job, they may miss some errors. If you’d like a comprehensive scan, there aremany toolsavailable on the internet that can help you check the health of your SD card.

3. Run the CHKDSK command

Additional tips to prevent bad block disk errors

While you may get a reprieve by fixing the bad block disk error, the solution is only temporary. This is an indication ofimpending drive failure. The thing about a bad block is that it affects the hardware and no amount of disk checks can restore it back to health.

Further.disk errorsare quite common but we’ve curated a cheat sheet to help you bypass the most common ones.

In the worst-case scenario, you may have to replace your HDD. Unfortunately, they don’t come cheap and the affordable ones either don’t have enough storage capacity or aren’t reliable.

You can consider buying asecond-hand HDDbut first, check out what you’re getting yourself into in our detailed article.

That’s a wrap from us but let us know if you’ve managed to fix this issue. Also, if you have any other solutions that worked for you, drop them in the comment section below.

How to Fix a Disk Error Bad Block on Your HDD#

How do I fix a disk error bad block?#

1. Defragment your hard disk drive#

2. Check your drive’s health#

3. Run the CHKDSK command#

Additional tips to prevent bad block disk errors#