up vote 0 down vote favorite
share [g+] share [fb]

Can Truecrypt encrypt a full hard disk/drive , when/if incase it contains some 1) read/write errors ? 2) bad sectors ? Before or even if after , they are fixed and recovered by windows chkdsk etc...

Details : I’ve an all Empty Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB HDD , which I m trying to encrypt by Truecrypt, I m using it as an external HDD via USB 2.0 connection , ( by USB to ATA/ATAPI bridge , as it says in windows taskbar notification area..as it’s USB to SATA connection) The problem I m facing is HDD is detectable by my windows 7 normally for hours like , and when I start encrypting it by Truecrypt , It encrypts it for a while like 41%-50% till around , and then suddenly Truecrypt Volume creation wizard says – “The Device is not ready “ , and then HDD isn’t detectable by windows 7 after that , ( as it ejects ) , which otherwise performs normally and is detectable…

I thought might be there can be an error on drive or bad sector…

So Then I ran a couple of Diagonistic tests too to check…

1) Windows Chkdsk reports - No errors and 0 bad sectors

2) Seagate Seatools “PASSES” it in all tests , from Short generic to Long generic test…

3) Ariolic disk scanner , at one scan , reported 62 read errors in one red dot block while scanning In its GUI interface rest all were green , and then stops the scan any further…

4) I’ve not given Spinrite yet a try…

Now I can’t make out What cud be the problem , and as though Why I can’t encrypt it… (Note : Also the disk is supposingly New and for it has been Replaced by Seagate in exchange of my earlier Seagate hard disk which was making noise , so they made a replacement under warranty ) This one works normally, but doesn’t lets me encrypt !

enter image description here

enter image description here

enter image description here

link|improve this question
If it's got bad sectors, throw it out. In Windows, make sure you run chkdsk with the /R switch (e.g. chkdsk A: /R). – Breakthrough Oct 15 '11 at 1:43
@Kaustubh It should still encrypt the good part of, like a normal drive., Here are the potential "gotchas": NO3. The full encryption option will not work, just do 'part of', your drive is unlikely to be 50% bad sectors-maybe just in the middle, try 2 volumes. – mic84 Oct 15 '11 at 6:48
@Breakthough ran chkdsk! before FDE nothing no improvement with encryption , no bad sectors are reported also by chkdsk /f/r .. already did it couple of times before running FDE – kaustubh Oct 15 '11 at 6:58
@mic84 i've reuploaded the images to different imagehost , now u can see...what it's like.. i.imgur.com/HAMQe.jpg i.imgur.com/1ZSXO.jpg i.imgur.com/82Ak9.jpg – kaustubh Oct 15 '11 at 7:20
Are you able to try plugging it directly into your computer to rule out the USB interface? – Dracs Nov 23 '11 at 8:26
feedback

1 Answer

up vote 1 down vote

It treats the drive the same way as a non-encrypted disk with or without ‘bad sectors’
Forum answer here
It should still encrypt part of:
Here are the potential "gotchas":NO3.
sorry,posted in wrong part,
It works like a normal drive, as if a folder or program could not write to a bad sector,
so they stop full encrypt as this would be a possible security risk/ try 2 or 3 smaller ones if can.
Your drive is unlikely to be 50% bad sectors-maybe just in the middle.

link|improve this answer
Naaah !!! Not to worry , might be some imagevenue shit , might be some pop ups opening ur side trying to take u to that chat thing , u can close it , at my side nothing , Adblock Plus blocks all pop up n kaspersky is there ! – kaustubh Oct 15 '11 at 6:24
@Kaustubh-it's from the site,(image name and addvertising ) just don't like them jumping in, as i'm sure is the same with you. Did the link solve your question?. – mic84 Oct 15 '11 at 6:28
u said - It treats the drive the same way as a non-encrypted disk with or without ‘bad sectors’...means truecrypt treats drive with or without bad sectors same as non-encrypted disk with or without bad sectors.. – kaustubh Oct 15 '11 at 6:32
@kaustubh, yes that was my understanding of it. – mic84 Oct 15 '11 at 6:37
IN THAT LINK given by u - At very bottom it says - "if you have a drive which already has bad sectors on it, whole disk encryption will NOT encrypt those bad sectors, nor will you be able to erase them " ...Now What i m facing is when i m doing Full disk encryption everytime Encryption stops at 42% to 50%...it' not letting me encrypt....Does it means , Truecrypt doesn lets u encrypt Whole drive if it "Already" contains "some read/write errors or small bad sectors" already in non encrypted state...i mean why it everytime stops my encryption.. – kaustubh Oct 15 '11 at 6:38
show 5 more comments
feedback

Your Answer

 
or
required, but never shown
discard

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.