Some partitions remain unseen even after a physical HDD cleanup.
Some partitions remain unseen even after a physical HDD cleanup.
I chose to tidy up my PC today using a fan, swapped out the thermal paste, wiped the HDD with a dry cloth, then applied another fan to remove more dust. After reassembly, the disk checking at startup showed one partition missing and appeared on CrystaldiskInfo. A few minutes later it updated to indicate I had cleaned that section of the HDD with a soft dry cloth and added a fan to clear any remaining debris.
You might be able to restore the partition if you have access to its original files or backup. Otherwise, recovery depends on the extent of data loss and available tools.
Uncertain unless you take out the drive; send it to the maker and check if something was lost that can be fixed. In that case, the partition might show up again if it hasn’t been erased or changed. Still, I wouldn’t count on it. It’s one of those rare chances.
Typically you need to take it to a data recovery service, which might cost more than $1,000. It’s better to purchase a fresh controller board with the same firmware. CrystalDiskInfo can confirm this.
RAWR! ... Keep it quiet! The pending sectors aren’t related to the HDD’s circuit board—it indicates physical damage on the drive platters, which are split into sectors. A HDD includes spare sectors to transfer data from faulty ones. If CDM lists pending sectors and they persist after a few minutes of operation, the disk has exhausted its spare sectors and is heading straight for the data storage area. Sorry for being so blunt in my message, but replacing the drive or using a different board won’t resolve the issue here—it would just be a waste of money.