Hard drive failure (SMART warning) portable Packard Bell

[fullAprendiz]

hello, I'll tell you

I have a warning of imminent hard drive failure

laptop

• packardbell easynote tj76
• OS: windows 7
• hard drive: TOSHIBA MK6465GSX
• no warranty

timeline

• I turn on the laptop
• there is only one user, so after booting up, the desktop appears, however, now the screen appears that gives you the option to select the user you want to start the session with, and only one appears, the only one there is, me. This is the first time it has happened
• I connect to the internet with firefox and after a couple of minutes it freezes, recovers, freezes again and gets a blue screen of windows (w7)
• it restarts and gives a failure warning

my actions

• I have done what the manufacturer recommended in "Hard drive unit tests": http://packard-bell-es.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/12276, with the program Data Lifeguard Diagnostic for Windows - Western Digital

and the result is as follows:

• the quick test fails because it can't complete it
• the extended test passes

I attach results and screenshots

Test Option: QUICK TEST
Model Number: TOSHIBA MK6465GSX
Unit Serial Number:
Firmware Number:
Capacity: 640.13 GB
SMART Status: FAIL
Test Result: FAIL
Test Error Code: 06-Quick Test on drive 1 did not complete! Status code = 04 (Unknown failed test element), Failure Checkpoint = 06 (Unknown Test) SMART self-test did not complete on drive 1!
Test Time: 17:05:25, August 01, 2013

Test Option: EXTENDED TEST
Model Number: TOSHIBA MK6465GSX
Unit Serial Number:
Firmware Number:
Capacity: 640.13 GB
SMART Status: FAIL
Test Result: PASS
Test Time: 17:06:08, August 01, 2013

• I have used the program HD Tune (2.55 Free) to analyze the disk and its result is that there is no failure:

HD Tune: TOSHIBA MK6465GSX Error Scan

Scanned data : 610236 MB
Damaged Blocks : 0.0 %
Elapsed Time : 187:41

questions

1_ do you need any more info??

2_ could it be some kind of infection or something giving me a false warning??

3_ is there any free and useful application to diagnose and corroborate if there is or not a physical failure of the disk??

4_ is it better that I buy a new disk and clone the OS + programs + data to the new one??

please, can someone help me?? I'm so nervous :wall::wall:

thank you

[Fassou]

If SMART fails, buy another HDD and clone it before you can no longer access it.

Salu2!

[fullAprendiz]

well, as you advise me, the best thing is a new disk, but now I have some doubts:

I have seen in several sites that a clone creates an image (ISO) and that after creating it, you have to restore it, for example the program Clonezilla does it this way, right?

the problem is that I have 525GB used (650GB total) on the old disk and I would need two new disks, one for the ISO image and another to put it in the laptop and restore the image on it

however, I have seen that this program, HDClone (free), does a cloning but without the need for an ISO image, it does something like a direct copy of everything

according to what I have read, it can do a cloned that would be a total copy of the old disk (OS + programs + data) to a new one

• my old disk of 650GB in the laptop and the new disk of 650GB in an external base
• a "copy mode –> drive-to-drive" is done
• when it finishes, the new disk is put in the laptop and it boots up and everything is fine

my source: http://genzalo.blogspot.com.es/2011/02/cambiar-disco-duro-portatil-sin.html

in this other blog (http://blog.joanfi.net/2013/03/clona…n-hdclone.html) they do it in a similar way but on a desktop PC, the only difference is that they work with a bootable CD/USB, but once cloned, they change and that's it

¿¿¿can you do it this way using the clone/direct copy option of this program and without the need for an image???

[whoololon]

First of all, welcome to the forum.
It is one thing to clone a drive, and another to make an image.
Creating an image is usually used, speaking of hard drives, in pre-installed laptops, where the image of all the software is found in a hidden partition, which can be restored using a command in the BIOS.
As our colleague Fassou rightly points out, what you need, apart from another hard drive, is to "get" that data out of there, and cloning it is the most refined way to do it; since after finishing you won't have to worry about installing any programs: just by connecting the new drive you will have your system just as it was.
Regards.

[fullAprendiz]

@whoololon:

Before anything else, welcome to the forum.

well found ;D and thanks for responding

One thing is to clone a drive, and another is to make an image

this is my doubt, if a clone copies everything and then you just have to change the disks

@whoololon:

Creating an image is usually used, speaking of hard disk drives, in pre-installed laptops, where the image of all the software is found in a hidden partition, which can be restored using a command in the BIOS.

you just killed me :ffu: (when I read BIOS something happens to me), I haven't read anything about this. Initially, from what I've read, they say that you shouldn't touch the sensitive guts (BIOS), that the programs do a clone or an image

I suppose you mean a partition that comes from the factory and is usually called "recovery", right? My laptop didn't have any when I bought it

@whoololon:

As the companion Fassou rightly indicates, what you need, apart from another hard drive, is to "get out" that data from there, and cloning it is the most refined way to do it; since after finishing you won't have to worry about installing any program: simply by connecting the new drive you will have your system just as it was.
Regards.

this is what I want to do, move everything (OS, drivers, software, my data, my installed programs; everything) to a new drive, then I take the old one out of the laptop and put the new one in with everything

my doubt is that in several places they say that when you clone you make an image that you then have to reinstall, but in the blogs I posted before they comment that with HDClone you copy (clone without image??) everything just as the old disk is and then you change them, without reinstalling anything, is this so, is it correct?

edit

this is what I would like to do, what this manual says: http://es.scribd.com/doc/22980098/Manual-de-Clonacion-con-HDClone; copy everything and boot with the new one, can you do it, is it correct?

[Fassou]

My advice is that if you have an HDD that seems to be dying, the first thing you should do if you have any appreciation for your data is to copy that data to a secure medium (another HDD, DVD …), and then if you need a copy of the original installation, as often happens with laptops, then you start to clone the HDD, which can be done directly, or by creating an image to later dump it to the new HDD.

All programs that boot from their own medium (diskettes, CD, USB...), allow both options.

Salu2!

PD: The worst thing you can do with a dying HDD is to perform long tests before extracting the data.

[fullAprendiz]

@Fassou:

My advice is that if you have an HDD that seems to be dying, the first thing you should do if you have any attachment to your data, is to copy that data to a secure medium (another HDD, DVD …), and then if you need a copy of the original installation, as often happens with laptops, then you start cloning the HDD, which can be done directly, or by creating an image to later dump it to the new HDD.

All programs that boot from their own medium (diskettes, CD, USB …), allow both options.

thanks, that's what I wanted to know, if it could be done directly

I just looked at the HDClone manual and it says it can transfer everything to another disk directly, like the manual I posted before

[fullAprendiz]

solved ;D;D

in the end it was easier than I thought, this was the process:

• faulty 640GB drive in the laptop

• new 1TB external drive connected via usb

• HD Clone Free Edition 4.3 software + HDClone_4.3_Manual (English) + Cloning Manual with HDClone 3.6 Professional Edition (Spanish), installed on the laptop

• from Windows 7, open the program and make a "disk-to-disk" copy (sector by sector). the process is slow but there were no problems

• when the process was finished, turn off and unplug the laptop and change the disks

• turn on the laptop, wait for W7 to recognize the new disk and restart

• create a new partition with the unused space and done, new disk with all data and programs

thanks to everyone for the help :love:

now I would like to know if I can analyze the bad disk and make a partition with the bad sectors to use it as an auxiliary external drive