There are no indications yet that a v9 is on it's way, not even an alpha version. Past practice when a new version is released has been that the new Free version was not released until at least 6 months after the paid for version. This was the case for v7 and v8 Free.
I'm assuming that even if Free is gone completely there will still be the 30-day Trial version. The question is what will then happen when the trial expires? At present it will revert to Free.
I second the advice given by zbook above. I would pursue that diagnostic approach first.
Whenever I get bad test results I like to check the drive with at least one other testing utility, just to get a 'second opinion' (or 2!).
I have long been wary of drive encryption in terms of what it can affect in testing software. I have no real evidence to support this 'gut feeling' however. But I would be interested to see what happens after the encryption is cleared.
Definitely be sure to make a disk image before running chkdsk in this case, particularly if you run it with the repair ( /r ) switch (Note: zbook's instruction does not contain the /r switch). I've had suspect disks with errors not boot after repair with chkdsk.
Thanks @Try3,
That is not the problem. I had downloaded the Quick Setup Guide and Service Manual even before the AIO was delivered on 25 Dec 2019.
Attachment 379930
The problem is my age and dimmed vision. The Optholmogist I consulted said there is only a small cataract that has just started and I can go for Intraocular lense when it matures and till that time get going. Only a small inconvenience.
@zbook Thanks for chipping in. The problem has already been diagnosed.
Initially, a full disk scan showed a disk error-one bad block- at the fag end of the disk and I had assumed that was in the last 10MB unallocated volume, which Intel Optane Memory uses.
Subsequently when I ran a surface check on just the 10MB volume it didn't show any bad block.
The preceding volume - DELL Support- showed a bad block. It contains the 76 bad sectors remapped.
No bad block/s in any of the other volumes.
Since the bad sectors have been mapped to reserve sectors, there is no data loss. The remapped sectors only cause a slight delay in boot time. More remapped sectors, the more the boot time delay. One can live with it.
Of course I am monitoring on a daily basis. Tomorrow I will be cloning the HDD to the SDD, but I am not going to change it immediately. I shall let the machine run. When the reserved sectors are exhausted and bad sectors show up, the boot will call for a checkdisk. And that can happen any day, may be tomorrow, the day after, or a year after - not predictable . (Most people wake up only at this time) At that time, I shall replace the HDD. I am not doing any serious work on the computer
A liitle blah , blah now.
My System Disk:
The start and end sectors of the volumes as derived from Partition Recovery Wizard:
I have the 512byte sector backup as well as the Sector Maps of all important sectors:
Sector 0 - The Protective MBR
Sector 1 - the GPT Header,
Sector 2 GPT Partition table - four partitions ESP(FAT32), System C: , and Data1 D: ,Data2 E:
Sector 3 GPT Partition Table - Three Partitions Audio F: ,Photos G: and Video H:
All Start and End Sector Volume Boot Records and their backups (ESP,MSR,C: D: , E: ,F: , G: , H: , Volumes WinRETools, Image,
Dell Support and Unallocated(10MB)
Backup sectors and Sector Maps of GPT Header and Partition tables at the end of the disk
These will be compared with the SSD clone. to assess its bootability
With all these if the SSD does not boot when replaced, I shall cry for help here.
I do have a Licensed version of Macrium Reflect 8.
Last edited by jumanji; 26 Nov 2022 at 20:33.
If you're trend following and have backup images then you're set.
The Sea Tools long generic test can display fail when HD Sentinel displays SMART results greater than 90%.
The chkdsk with the b switch is one method to follow the bad sector trends.
At the same time it gives the deepest check and fix of the drive.
Code:/b Use with NTFS only. Clears the list of bad clusters on the volume and rescans all allocated and free clusters for errors. /b includes the functionality of /r. Use this parameter after imaging a volume to a new hard disk drive.
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/wi...s=event-viewer
"second the advice given by zbook above." You will find my answer to it in my reply to zbook below.
[I]"Definitely be sure to make a disk image before running chkdsk in this case, particularly if you run it with the repair ( /r ) switch (Note: zbook's instruction does not contain the /r switch). I've had suspect disks with errors not boot after repair with chkdsk"
Well, Checkdisk with the repair option will correct file system corruption except in one situation. And that is MFT corruption. If the MFT is corrupted - which means the file index in it is corrupted - and one runs checkdisk with the repair option tagged, it will vigorously and ceremonially delete all files and folders not properly indexed in MFT. All data will be lost.
That is why in the data recovery projects, I advise the OPs "If TestDisk says "Both MFT and MFT mirror are OK" close TestDisk. You will run check disk on that volume to correct the file system corruption.
Caution: You will run checkDisk only and if only TestDisk confirms that your MFT Mirror/MFT is OK. Be patient and allow checkdisk to complete even if it takes hours and hours. Checkdisk is checking all filesystem parameters and correcting where necessary. Interrupting checkdisk halfway through will leave your data in shambles)
Run check disk from an elevated command prompt.
Type CHKDSK K: /f /v /r /x Press Enter. Note: 1. There is a space before every / 2.Replace K: with the actual drive letter of the partition to be checked."
You perhaps missed the Surface Test screenshots I posted in my previous posts. The full disk surface test screenshot in my post#1 shows a bad block at the fag end of the disk.
Post #13 the surface Test screenshot of the last 10MB "Unallocated" volume shows no badblocks in it. The surface test screenshot on the preceding "DELL SUPPORT"volume shows one single bad block.
So the bad block is located only in the "DELL SUPPORT" volume.. There is/are no bad block/s anywhere in the rest of the disk starting from the ESP volume to the "Īmage" volume. I find no merit in running "chkdsk /b /v X: in any of these volumes.
Screenshot below showing checkdisk run in read only mode on C::
What about the "DELLSUPPORT" volume in which the bad block is situated? It will also return "no bad sectors"" reportCheckdisk only reads the data in the sector. If it is not readable then it will mark it as a bad sector,Here when it reaches the bad sector it will be routed to the remapped sector where it reads the data. So as far as checkdisk is concerned the file system is OK - no bad sector.
Seagate5 ????
My system with Intel Optane is one of its kind which many wouldn't even know. ( I also don't know or didn't know till I got it)
Self Test On the HDD aborted by itself.
Self test on the Optane+ Toshiba HDD - not supported. I wouldn't venture any further now.
Anyway, I will be disabling Optane (breaking the unholy alliance with the HDD) in order to clone the HDD to the SSD ( I am supposed to disable Optane before imaging the system which I have done after the last Windows Cumulative Update a few days ago.)
Bad sectors in any case cannot be repaired-Seagate or even God. In Data recovery we always say Data in bad sectors is already lost. You can only recover data in good sectors
Last edited by jumanji; 27 Nov 2022 at 14:30.
An opinion you share with Intel.....
Intel Winding Down Its Optane Memory BusinessIntel stated that “in Q2 2022, we initiated the winding down of our Intel Optane memory business.”
When Sea Tools for Windows cannot run it may be useful to run Gsmartcontrol
GSmartControl . Hard disk drive and SSD health inspection tool
Had you ran the Dell HD diagnostics to see if they can test using long DST?
https://www.dell.com/support/home/en-us/quicktest
Yes, I know that Intel has finally nailed the coffin with Optane inside. If Bree gives a link to it, I will also give a much more sensational clip "Intel kills off Optane Memory, writes off $559 million inventory"
With almost three years with Optane inside, I had vowed that I will never again buy a PC with Optane inside. .And Intel killed it for good.
It is a real PITA. If I have to image the system, I have to disable Optane. When it disables and restarts it takes 25 minutes to get back to Desktop again and the PC becomes dead slow running with only 4GB RAM. I image with the Macrium Recovery media Imaging takes only about 15 minutes at the maximum. Then reboot, another 25 minutes to the desktop.I then enable Optane.The whole process takes about one and a half to two hours.. For this reason I image the system only once in a month, usually after the midmonth Windows update.
Now what? The Crucial 1TB SSD is only a SATA and will replace the 1TB Toshiba HDD. When I replace it, I will also put in 16GB RAM. (The Crucial memory 16GB kit (8GB*2) will arrive iin another 4 days). I will still keep Optane running until it dies.With 16GB RAM, I expect the PC to run fast even with Optane disabled. If and when the Optane dies, I intend to fill up the slot with an M2 NMVe SSD. That is my plan. How it works out only time will tell.
@Bree, one of the forum members who replaced the Optane with NVMe SSD had some problem and asked for help. Can you give the link to that thread?
It is 03:17 now. I am off to to sleep now..
I don't recall that particular thread, but I've found these.....
Disabling Optane and Installing NMVe SSD
M.2 Socket (Optane memory) Question.
optane and HDD
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