Hmm? NTFS or GPT?
NTFS is a Filesystem, while GPT (GUID partition table) is a form of partitionioning a disk (in contrast to MBR (master boot record)).
Did you mean MBR vs. GPT?
Why would partitioning a disk using GPT make a difference when it comes to bad sectors?

 

#1 you have already backed up your system
#2 buy a new hard drive and restore it.
#3 done

#4 go to the website of your hard drive and type in the serial number. MANY hard drives have 3+ year warranties. You can get a same-day replacement IF they have a depot near you (Im lucky enuf to live 1 hr from the Western Digital DEPOT - so thats who I stick with and I had to use them more than once)

OPTIONAL: Get your hard drive from places that allow returns just in case the problem was motherboard and not the alleged bad sectors that your software could not find.

 

I'm sure they don't do it for warranty reasons, and to avoid discussions with customer support.

BTW, MacOSX does it, although it only shows a very reduced summary like
"S.M.A.R.T. Status: Verified" or
"S.M.A.R.T. Status: Failing".

 

Sorry, the missus was talking to me when i was typing that, yes I did mean that, it wouldn't make any difference to bad sectors, but I was responding to @Herr Durr's problem that time.

As above, I meant MBR as opposed to NTFS, or GPT with regard to your problem, because drives over 2 TB have a problem being recognised using MBR.

in which case go and have a look here:-

http://www.thewindowsclub.com/convert-mbr-to-gpt-disk

By converting there wont be any data loss.

 

I've used Spinrite on my/other's drives for years. Can't recommend it highly enough for testing/rejuvenating/recovering data from drives. It's fun watching it's Dynastat mode rebuild your data (it's a geek thing).Difficult to navigate at first, but you quickly get the hang of it. BUT, it has problems with some large drives and Bios....better to try it out first. I've tried all the low level fix programs and Spinrite is in a world of it's own. I just wish Gibson would update it!!

 

@savadious, I like the idea of replacing the HDD under warranty.

I'm grateful for all replies and suggestions so far. BTW, I haven't lost any data, everything runs well until the moment I don't do anything for a few mins, then every window says 'Not Responding', sometimes for just 1 min or 5 minutes, then it's all back to normal. I would love to know why this only happens when the PC is idle. I could be working in software, browsing around, for hours and it won't hang, but if I get into a conversation or the phone rings, it's soon hung, basoically if I stop using the PC for a few minutes, it's hang-man. Why would it only hang when it's idle?

 

will do...

has anyone used DMDE with good results? I can't seem to find much as to how it compares to Spinrite.. but apparently
it can just do a raw copy.. without all the time trying to recover as Spinrite would do.

 

You should really try HDDscan on your isolated hard drive after a fresh power-on of the drive. If the scan ends with a curve without low-drops, you can be sure it's not the HDD. Measuring sector read speed is the only way I know to find such issues; in such cases S.M.A.R.T values have not been really helpful for me, as they usually only show a problem when it's already too late.
I have successfully isolated areas with bad blocks using HDDscan by creating partitions "around them", not using the bad area anymore.
Sure, it's a bad hack, but I've been able to use different drives for quite a while after that, although I wouldn't do this if the data on the drive is important. When a drive has started to fail once, it will usually fail again soon.

 

When a system is freezing after waking up from standby, that usually means there's problem with hardware, but it could be driver related, too and I don't think it's the HDD. When you have a bad sector you could get crashes, blue screens, or freezing while working on something HD intensive - when the program or OS hits the bad sector.

It could also be just a faulty driver. Windows 10 is still freshly baked. I would first try updating the BIOS, then updating drivers for everything from the motherboard manufacturer website. Those usually work 100%. Make sure you update the VGA driver, whatever VGA you have, then see what happens.

 

Not something I have used buddy. sorry! Closest thing to recovery software I have used is Tune-up Utilities. that had a file recovery service that worked about 20% of the time, providing you restored to a different drive to the one you wanted to restore from!

 

ONLY if its idle for awhile... you can try turning off the sleep modes like this. You can also change some technical stuff in bios S1/S3 states etc. but this pic is nice n ez to follow

 

@SineWave, exactly why I'm doubting HDD for bad sectors. If the idle time is enough to cause the drive to spin down, and there's an issue with the drive waking back up, that's when I'd start doubting the drive. Disable the HDD spin down and see if the problem persists.

 

How do I disable the HDD spin down? Read on..

Maybe my use of the word idle is wrong. The settings are never go to sleep etc., it doesn't go into standby or anything like that, when it's on it stays on. When I say idle I mean I am not doing anything on it so to me it's idle. But the mystery for me remains: when I am not doing anything on it, it hangs, then returns to normal. I can work on it continously for three, four hours or more, heavy CPU work in audio software, Photoshop open at the same time and no slowdowns or hanging; why does it hang when all activity stops? Logically if I'm working for hours on end you would expect it to run into bad sectors, but no, it works normally, except when I stop. Who can figure that one out?

 

Configurable for each drive:

http://www.thewindowsclub.com/prevent-hard-drive-going-sleep-windows

Also, it could be related to the clock in the CPU stepping down during non-use, then not stepping back up when you return to using the PC.
Which would really point me back to BIOS/Chipset type configuration or drivers. Or AHCPI stuff. Don't know enough about your system to really point you in a good direction on that one.
For troubleshooting/testing, I'd try to locate those settings either in Windows or the Bios and see about disabling things to test and see if there's any change. When testing things like this, change one thing at a time and test, then change it back if testing is inconclusive. You go changing too many things at once, it's easy to get lost.
It just seems to me to be an idle/wake issue of some kind. Some component/driver not coming back fully awake when it should. Are you running any kind of CPU governing utility? Some motherboards come with one that you can configure.

 

Good idea, now as you mentioned it, I remember, I've had a Fujitsu Tablet with an error in Intels Speedstep (leading to degradation in computing power). It was solved by a BIOS update. In the meantime I had to disable speedstep. I think AMD will have a similar technology.

 

sorry, fired twice ;)

 

Hello.
Let's leave aside for a moment the opinion of your "tech friend".
If the system hangs, it can be from the OS. It can be faulty, deteriorated, the registry bloated, etc. Was it recently installed, constantly cared for, the registry cleaned, etc?
I would recommend fully reinstalling Windows in boot mode. Or, try to clean it with Advanced System Care Pro, first. ASCP is a good tool, scan your system once a month with it, even when not having visible problems.
Test the HDD with HD Tune Pro (Error Scan with "quick scan" unchecked, it takes around 143 minutes per 1TB) and also check the Health (S.M.A.R.T.) tab for bad or pending sectors (If the CRC error count increases constantly, replace the hdd's data cable - also check the power sata conector, If it is intact and fully inserted). Use HDD Regenerator If necessary. Test the Ram with Memtest 86.
Good luck solving the problem... and let us know what caused it !

 

Last edited: Jun 10, 2017

as others have mentioned, it doesn't sound like a hdd problem. various software (hdd sentinel pro - highly recommended) can read SMART data and precisely detect bad sectors or other issues.

the obvious step would be a clean system os reinstall, if the problem persists then it surely is hardware.

but before that try to reset BIOS settings to default with removal of motherboard battery aswell. you said you checked RAM for errors, do you use 1 or more sticks? dual-channel? are they fitted in the corresponding slots (usually 1-3,2-4) if yes try to use just one stick at a time and note if the problem appears. even if the memory sticks are alright they could be incompatibile with the motherboard, keep this in mind also when checking RAM latency settings in BIOS.

eventually if all else fails just throw the fucker out the window and buy something else.