Laptop unable to use BitLocker on drive with current pending sector count limit

4.5

The drive is struggling to read multiple sectors, blocking the encryption scan.

Symptoms
  • Encryption hangs
  • Disk usage 100%
  • Error message
Possible Causes
  • Weak sectors
  • Surface damage

Step-by-Step Fix

1

Check SMART Attribute 197

Monitor "Current Pending Sector Count".

2

Run Full Format

Forces the drive to either read or remap these sectors.

3

Replace Drive

Pending sectors often lead to permanent bad sectors.

When to See a Technician

Pending sectors are "unstable" data; BitLocker cannot safely encrypt data it can't reliably read.

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