Windows 7 Hard Drive Regenerator

[seekermeister]

I've got an out of warranty drive that has a bunch of bad sectors, which I'm going to replace with a new drive. The fact that the drive still works (after doing chkdsk) raises a question in my mind about a program called Hard Drive Regenerator.

I understand that there is more than one reason that a drive can develop bad sectors, some of which obviously can't be fixed with some kind of software, but according to the FAQ page on this program's website, some bad sectors are caused by hysteresis, which if I understand is an anomaly where the material on the platters become magnetized in a fashion outside of the control of the drive, and the program uses what they call a hysteresis loop to remove the bad magnetization, leaving the good.

I've Googled some returns where some "pundits" discussed this topic, which were not encouraging, but I got the impression that what was said was nothing more than gut reactions based on first impressions of what they read, rather than first hand experience with the program, or true expertise with the subject. The program is too expensive to buy without some expectation of a real success, but I would if I felt that it was based on a technologically sound principle.

I got the impression that this function is available in MHDD, which is a free program that is available, which gives me the idea that there must be something to it, since it is free, but past experience with MHDD wasn't too good, not because a fault with the program itself, but with my lack of understanding, and it's lack of comprehensive instructions.

Does anyone here have an insight into this question that would help me decide whether this is worth bothering with? I hate the idea of retiring a drive that could possibly have life left in it.

 

[Roger Triton]

What does youtube have to say about the program?

 

[seekermeister]

Hadn't thought about using YouTube to research my question, but I just tried it. From what I could see from a quick scan, the videos available were only for tutorial purposes to show how to use it. They may come in handy, but still don't provide the answer I'm looking for now. The urgency to the question has lessened, because I found the cause for the bad sectors appearing, a bad cable. I replaced it, which hopefully will keep the bad sector count at bay, but obviously that doesn't fix what I already have. I haven't read enough to really know, but I got the impression that to really make them go away would also require a low level format, which I won't do unless forced to, because that would require purchasing another HDD of equal size to transfer the data off of it first, which is a cost I would prefer to avoid, if possible.

EDIT: I'm a little surprised that the cables were a problem, because eSATA cables are not very flimsy, and they had no visible damage, nor had I put any kinks in them. It makes me wonder if these cables have a normal life expectancy?

 

[bobbyj]

Hadn't thought about using YouTube to research my question, but I just tried it. From what I could see from a quick scan, the videos available were only for tutorial purposes to show how to use it. They may come in handy, but still don't provide the answer I'm looking for now. The urgency to the question has lessened, because I found the cause for the bad sectors appearing, a bad cable. I replaced it, which hopefully will keep the bad sector count at bay, but obviously that doesn't fix what I already have. I haven't read enough to really know, but I got the impression that to really make them go away would also require a low level format, which I won't do unless forced to, because that would require purchasing another HDD of equal size to transfer the data off of it first, which is a cost I would prefer to avoid, if possible.

EDIT: I'm a little surprised that the cables were a problem, because eSATA cables are not very flimsy, and they had no visible damage, nor had I put any kinks in them. It makes me wonder if these cables have a normal life expectancy?

Go to grc.com and buy Spinrite and let it run. It is PRICEY($90.00). You will have it for a lifetime.

 

[Joe S]

Sometimes reformatting the drive by writing zeroes fixes bad sectors. I wouldn't trust one that was going bad for anything important. drives are quite cheap now.
Joe