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Question

Hard Drive Failure

Sep 2, 2015 7:22AM PDT

Hi

I have two internal HDD's in my computer. 1.5TB Seagate and 1TB WD

Seagate 1.5 TB HDD is divided into two partitions (using it as a data only drive)
1st Partition size - around 250 GB
2nd Partition size - 1250 GB
I could hear the drive making a slow rotation sound when I accessed it.

When I clean reinstalled Windows 7 after a Windows 10 upgrade (as I thought it had made my computer slow), the problem occured. (I clean installed it in the 1TB WD HDD which I have divided into four partitions - Windows Xp, Windows 7, Partition X, Partition Y)

After installation I was getting a message from the software that I installed Hard Disk Sentinel, that the health of the Seagate HDD was 25% which slowly decreased to 0%.

I was able to backup all data on the 1250GB partition without any problem. (even when the health was 0% according to the software and check disk showing only 8KB in bad sectors) But when I tried to access the 250GB partition, the cursor was spinning forever and was getting unreadable errors in the Check disk and saying it was deleting corrupt entries.

I also ran disk check for all partitions, where it said, it removed some corrupt entries from the 1TB WD four partitions.
Later The disk check used to get stuck on the 250GB Seagate partition and not the 1250GB partition

I finally ran SeaTools for Windows, and the SMART was tripped
I ran a basic test, it gave me an error code
I ran the long test, and it gave me an error code

I ran the acoustic test (spin the disk), and after that the Seagate HDD was not getting detected. I also tried it through USB 2.0 to Sata cable and it was not getting detected

My questions are -
1. Does partitioning the drives make it safer to not lose all data if there is only one partition?
2. If there was a mechanical problem like a crashed head or dust, how was it possible to backup all the data on the 1250GB HDD (it was completely filled)
3. Is it possible the re installation corrupted the Seagate HDD 250GB partition and maybe the installation itself is corrupt? Because (Total six partitions. When I used to check disk before re installation on all six partitions, I had to reboot my computer for only the Windows 7 and Windows Xp partitions to run the checkdisk. And for the other partitions, I could do it in Windows itself (as the drives were not in use). But now all the partitions are in use and checkdisk only works on reboot of computer and does it twice)
4. An unreadable error, does it mean it is mechanical on the disk or head? Or could it do something with the PCB? How to go about recovering the data on the 250GB HDD?

Any help is appreciated
Thank you

Discussion is locked

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Answer
1. Partitions do not save files.
Sep 2, 2015 7:32AM PDT
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Answer
We've seen a lot of Seagate HDD failures lately.
Sep 2, 2015 7:38AM PDT

I personally had to replace two 2.5 year old Seagate hard drives recently, and I've seen a lot of similar reports. Recovering the data from that 250 GB partition will be expensive if at all possible. Partitioning doesn't cause drives to wear out faster, what happens is sectors just go bad, and if they're in critical places or there's enough of them, they can render that partition unusable. Partitioning does slow things down because it causes extra seeking (read/write heads have to travel further). If you can't back up that 250 GB partition, it's likely the OS installed on it is corrupt, and given what you've told us, I'd say the sooner you replace that drive, the better because it could fail completely any day.
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Good luck.

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Yes. Looks like Seagate might not be worth
Sep 2, 2015 10:35AM PDT

I don't buy Seagate anymore.

I assembled the system six years ago with two Seagate HDD's. The first was just a 500gb HDD which showed a SMART fail in just two years. I was able to backup most of the data because of division of the HDD into partitions. Then the replacement drive (REFURBISHED) I got failed in just over a year and luckily, I learned my lesson on keeping important stuff backed up. But still it made me angry that two drives failed in a three year period. And the service center said "not in warranty and no replacement", just two months after warranty expiration and explaining to them that it was a second drive.

The second HDD was purchased later. The 1.5TB - It lasted me five years. Luckily I was able to backup the 1250gb. Even though the 250gb is not that important, I want to fix it. And I am sure the companies would not tell us if there was an easy way to fix as they just want to make more money off people (I have worked for a computer company and now how they rip money off for simple issues)

So I bought WD from then on hoping it would not fail and was angry at Seagate and did not want to purchase their product. I currently have -

WD 1TB Portable Elements - which unfortunately failed within two years but was replaced as it was within warranty but lost half the data. I was able to recover half the data as partitioning helped me recover half
WD 1TB Internal. 100% health as of now
I have Western Digital 2*2TB My Books = 4TB. Both 100% healthy
Bought a 3TB WD recently to backup my 1250GB Seagate partition which I did successfully. Now the drive does not get detected as mentioned in my earlier post. Maybe was too eager and did the acoustic test (spin the drive) which caused the problem

I have three backups of my very important data on three different pen drives

I hope this helps people in safeguarding their data

P.S. And funnily, after almost 5 years of the last Seagate purchase, recently like two months ago, I am getting a Seagate "Customer Satisfaction Survey"