Using HDD Regenerator

[shamrin]

My general practice has been to recommend a new hard drive whenever I get a drive with even a single bad sector on it. My reasoning is that drives don't get better and often fail spontaneously, why take the risk? With hard drive prices now doubling, and it looks like they might stay there for a while, I'm thinking about re-thinking that advice.

I've been using HDD Regenerator for a while now on some of the failing drives I get with very good results. It fairly consistently will get a failing drive to the point where I can image it which is exactly what I needed. I'm wondering if anyone has long-term experience with drives that have been "regenerated". Do they stay fixed normally or fail again? It seems that if a drive has maybe just one or two bad sectors, and they can actually be fixed "permanently", some customers might appreciate the option of hanging on to the existing drive.

 

[Encrypted Existence]

My reasoning is that drives don't get better and often fail spontaneously

I would still suggest to the customer that they get a new drive. Prices being as they are at the moment it is likely that many of them will opt for the "quick (and cheaper) fix" but the truth is that HDD Regenerator is not a permanent fix. It looks to me like you answered your own question.

 

[dipper]

I only use HDD Regenerator for data recovery. Once I get the data off I ditch the hard drive.

BTW I currently have a hdd thats been scanning for over 4 days with HDD Regenerator. It hasn't frozen as the bad sector count keeps rising!

 

[MobileTechie]

I think if it's just one bad sector you might very well be OK. Certainly I've fixed a few drives like this and they've been fine for a long time. E.g. one I did over a year ago has never developed another bad sector since.

I don't think a small number of bad sectors means the drive will fail. Bad sectors are a fact of life with hard drives. If drives are cheap and data security is paramount then a new drive is in order. If drives are expensive and your data is well backed up then I don't think it's automatically time for a new drive.

Bear in mind that new drives can have bad sectors before they've even left the factory. They're just remapped to the P list so you cannot see or detect them using common software.

 

[johnrobert]

If it has a very few bad sectors I would not change the drive unless
The information was very important, as opposed to a kid’s older computer
Actually what HDD Regenerator does is demagnetize the bad sectors it’s not necessarily a mechanical fault. But your right it will only get worse.