HD with no bad sectors after format

[leSLIe]

So, I have a 3TB mechanical HD that had some bad sectors, so I formatted it (regular not quick format).
Afterwards I've checked the HD with HDTune, and the error scan turns out all green, so no bad sectors.

Apparently it was a logical error, no weird clicking noises. How safe is it to use this HD again?

 

[Ocellaris]

About as safe as any other hard drive. Backups are the most important thing for data security.

 

[Dan_D]

I would. I've seen this sort of thing before. Just make sure you have a decent backup plan and your golden.

 

[drescherjm]

I have seen this on new drives a few times.

 

[drescherjm]

Afterwards I've checked the HD with HDTune, and the error scan turns out all green, so no bad sectors.

Does the smart raw data show any reallocated sectors or reallocation events?

 

[BinarySynapse]

I had a 640GB drive sit for a couple years and developed bad sectors. Zeroed it out and the bad sectors went away. No reallocated sectors either. Probably why it's a thing to fully format a new drive.

 

[leSLIe]

Does the smart raw data show any reallocated sectors or reallocation events?

I get this:

 

[Quix]

I get this:

In that case, I'd pitch it.

 

[YeuEmMaiMai]

+1 for drive replacement.

 

[bigdogchris]

If you fully zero the drive with something like Active@ KillDisk, then do a full format, if you see still SMART errors pitch it. But like the other person, I have seen SMART errors, and after zeroing and formatting the drive the errors were gone.

The only time I would pitch it without trying this method is when the drive was clicking or having trouble being detected in Windows.