Smart people I have a question about a failing hard drive?

Question

My computer occasionally fails to boot and I have to use the OS DVD to repair it.There is nothing wrong with the software installed.I scan the drive for errors and it has bad clusters and stuff. I restart to do the repair and after is done if I scan 2 days later the same story.Bad clusters almost every day.They told me this is a sign of a failing drive and back up my data immediately.My question is.....if I get a new drive ,connect it and clone the existing one so I don't have to re install anything,will I transfer the bad clusters and all the problems to the new drive since it will be an exact image?

Answer 1

Bad clusters are a result of physical problems, not software problems. You can't copy bad sectors, the point of bad sectors is that you can't write to them (which also means you can't read from them either). Yes, you can just clone your drive. But if you clone your drive, watch out for mixing drive sizes (if you get a bigger/smaller drive, you'll have to fix the MBR).

Answer 2

I love both the answers that have been given already. I'd suggest a combination of both. Start the New drive, fresh OS install. Create a backup point. Add the extra programs you want, like Office. Create another save point. Add the old drive too your system. Transfer the files you want to keep. Verify the files are there and functional. Backup your system. Trash the old drive. Send the old peripheral to be recycled. Buy a techie a coffee.

Answer 3

Bad clusters are bypassed by the system and are treated as though they don't exist.

If you are experiencing errors, it is because the bad spots on the drive are expanding. Best bet is to replace the drive. When you clone the drive, the bad sectors will be skipped (unless, of course, there are new ones since you last ran diagnostics).

Answer 4

It wouldnt be a very stable system considering you would be missing quite a bit of data. Save what you can and do a fresh install of the OS