NTFS Bad Sectors Resolution: The $BadClus metafile

UPDATE (20-May-2012): This post is now out of date as there are numerous better and automated solutions available. The article is presented here for historical and academic interest.

UPDATE (16-Apr-2007): If you are using Windows Vista, there is a new option in chkdsk – chkdsk x: /b – which will re-evaluate all the bad sectors on your drive and remove non-faulty sectors from the list. Please use this instead of the methods below if you have access to Vista!

UPDATE (14-Apr-2007): An anonymous contributor has pointed out a simpler way to fix the $BadClus cloning issue using a tool called ntfsprogs, which also takes into account a wider variety of scenarios than the exercise below. Check out the steps at Linux NTFS Project’s ntfsclone Wiki page and try this method before spending time on the solution below. After you’ve followed the steps on the Wiki page, boot into Windows and type chkdsk x: /f at the command prompt (where x: is the drive to repair). If you’re interested in learning about NTFS for educational purposes, read on! 🙂

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I’d like to talk a little about the internals of NTFS (the filesystem used by all NT-based versions of Windows), particular regarding the management of bad sectors.

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