Hello!

I have used HUTIL v2.10 and and it found many ECC errors. It reassigned most of them to Grown Defect List (Auto Reassign List) and it seems to be full (214 entries). There is still 3 stubborn hard ECC errors which I can't get rid of even using low level format or anything else for that matter, but my guess is that those no longer can "fit" to Auto Reassign List.

So my question is, can I move all those entries or atleast the remaining 3 to Factory Defect List (Slist) using any freeware software?

HDD doesn't contain any important data, but it would be nice if I could still use it somehow "properly". Right now the HDD is pretty much useless and if there is no sensible way to get it going then I might aswell open it and get the magnets to my fridgedoor.

Best regards RobertGB

not worth trying to fix it for use.

Fridge magnet sounds like the best way to go

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Death is nothing, but to live defeated and inglorious is to die daily.
Data Recovery Cape Town

I can fix it 100percent. The problem is that you have to send the drive in ...

I don't think the OP wants to spend money from what I understand, he's interested in a free DIY fix for interest's sake more than anything.

_________________
Death is nothing, but to live defeated and inglorious is to die daily.
Data Recovery Cape Town

There's no 'free' DIY fix in fact. What are totally wrong are the assumptions in 1st post, anyway.

I wouldn't trust a drive with that many bad sectors. In any case, nobody can fix bad media.

I'd use the platters as geeky beer coasters.

Also, instead of attaching the magnet to your fridge, you could attach it to the end of a broom handle and use it to locate those annoying little springs and screws that drop to the floor when you are struggling to disassemble something.

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A backup a day keeps DR away.

What a waste...
If surface is not physically damaged,I mean ENGRAVED (very unlike in Samsung) it is possible to fix EVERYTHING (yes, EVERYTHING).
This is NOT "bad media" and many of ... uh... "BAD MEDIA" can be perfectly fixed. But not by average joe.

If the drive has suffered a head slap, then its continued demise is inevitable. OTOH, if it has a weak head, then the only economic solution, if indeed there is one, is to disable that particular head and recertify the drive at a reduced capacity. In any case, no person who is aware of the history of such a drive would be silly enough to buy it.

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A backup a day keeps DR away.

These things don't work this way. If it had suffered from head slap the problems would have been MORE AND MORE serious (and these drives are VERY resilient).
AND recertified drives whatever their original problem was, are shipped everyday without users knowing little or even ZERO about it (it's the manufacturer/SC that assume risks and warranty). Everything depends on who and how recertify the drive and test it.
Period.