stevenmm wrote:I am happy to just let that PC sit and work.
As
labtech highlighted, you're taking a risk as your drive could deteriorate during that time. Perhaps it's just a "network speed problem" (we don't know your exact recovery equipment configuration, so cannot comment on your hypothesis), or perhaps this long anticipated recovery time is due to the failing drive killing itself performing lots of retries in the difficult-to-read areas, and a different approach would be less risky / more successful. In general, recovering data directly from a drive which has read problems (like yours), is not recommended. Just because recovery software allows that approach, does not mean that it is optimal / low risk.
stevenmm wrote:In situations like this, is a thorough formatting enough to avoid problems in the future?
Not necessarily. Insufficient info from the "problem drive" to give a detailed opinion, and without having the drive on the bench in front of someone, all anyone can give "remotely" via the forum, would be an opinion.
stevenmm wrote:As I said there are other volumes on the drive that are still OK.
Just because the other volumes are readable now (at least enough for whatever testing you've done), does not mean that the drive isn't deteriorating.
stevenmm wrote:If there's ANY risk of this drive failing again in the future, I am happy to ditch it.
Drive failure (in any of its variations) is
always a possibility with ANY drive (as are other data-loss scenarios) - that's why having backups (even multiple & distributed backups for vital data) are essential for coping with drive-related problems. Good luck with your plan!