Targeted Read Test - Failed (WHD20-2EX)

[Anonymous]

Hi,
Whenever I try running DELL PC-Check-up tool on my Windows 7 machine it shows Targeted Read Test Failed (WHD20-2EX) message. I tried Running CHKDSK command in command prompt and also tried scanning the entire hard disk on PC start-up. It didn't show any error. Is the only solution is to change the Hard Disk or I do have any other alternative?

Please Help.

[Kris_PCD]

Hello Anonymous,

The targeted read test is designed to scan areas of the Hard Drive surrounding known bad sectors, and it will register as a failure if any errors are detected.

This doesn't automatically mean your drive is bad (this is why drives remap bad sectors), but it does mean that there are bad sectors that can cause you problems going forward. It seems likely that CHKDSK ignored the bad sectors because they had been remapped by the drive, and most software will also ignore bad sectors in the same way.

My personal recommendation is that you should be careful to keep your data backed up, and start looking at replacing the drive. It may be some time before the drive fails, but sooner or later it will fail.

Please let me know if you have any questions or require additional assistance.

Thanks,
Kris