Not wise but at least do a Windows repair then AFTER the cloning on the new drive before using it at all.

Yeah, I will likely be doing a windows repair install as well at some point, if I feel it's needed(still running chkdsk and such atm).

GSmartControl always shows misleading results. All entries on brand-new drives will be either "old age" or "pre-failure", so you can safely ignore them.)

You should pay attention only to numerical values instead.
I think, it's too much, to clone this drive.

It's actually around 2.2k(read the wrong number earlier).....also if I do replace the drive(more likely than not in the near future) I will do a repair install to fix any bad OS files and take care of other files as well as needed.

Woa, 2.2k reallocated sectors are a lot..
Not a good sign for the HDD, but as long as there are no uncorrectable sectors, the data on it should be fine (at leas for now).

I use Clonezilla to copy my system disk every now and then. However, I've only restored it one time, a long time ago.
And to check the HDD status and temps, I use CrystalDisk too.

It's still a lot and likely to degrade fast.
I recommend to backup user profile and all important data elsewhere ( external HDD, USB flash, DVDs, cloud storage ). In case of cloud storage, it is a good idea to pack files into password-protected archive for privacy reasons.

You can use some old HDD as temporary solution, until you purchase a new drive. Even 10-years old HDD can be suitable for the task.

I would advise against using a defective OS even though you can repair files. Rather you install a fresh copy of Win 10 or now that it is available Win11, make a complete backup of it after configuring it to your needs. After that's done create a plan in the software of your choice to create incremental backups.

Just try to create a backup copy of your defective drive, move it to your new drive once you get it, mustn't be same size, and as your next step try to retrieve important files you wish to keep or still need, if they are damaged try to repair them with a software tool and dump the rest.

It's actually 3-5k reallocated, and 2.2k uncorrectable.

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That's fine, as long as it holds out long enough for me to replace it(which should be sooner rather than later).

Already done most of the files I need to save, so all is good on that end.

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To save hassle(busy irl right now to a high degree and don't need more stress/hassle), I will try the repair install first when I get to that point.

As for Win11, eh no thanks(after all the crap shoved into win10, I don't want to bother with win11, and even if I did my PC won't run it). I do have win10 install media ready to go, though.

Quite bad, but if your sectors are 512 bytes it means you lost just ~1Mb (and ~9Mb with 4k ones).
But yeah, time to replace the drive.

Hey, seems things are under control :)

I join the suggestion already given by the gogers: Once a HDD has bad sectors you must replace it.

The cheapest & smallest unknown brand new HDD is gonna be much more reliable than that defective one.
Just bite the bullet and buy a -temporary one- until the money thing gets better
Bonus: In the future if you face another situation like this, this -temporary- HDD could come to the rescue again :)

P.S: Have you considered to use temporary a spare External-HDD / USB-memory(64Gb+)? It's doable

Yeah, it seems the drive bits(motor, arm, etc) might be going...causing the slowdowns. Most of the bad sectors were for non important data or the data could be moved to "ok" sectors, so it's ok-ish for now....still gonna replace it via clone & swap, though.

I have the software recommendations, and will be looking into drives and docking stations/cables today.

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Not fully as of yet....that will be once the drive is cloned and swapped.....but yeah, i'm doing a bit better for now(as I have a better idea of things to do and etc).

That's the plan :)

I am low on money, hence whey I tried everything else first.....but I am going to buy a cheap(yet good) HDD, clone it, then swap it....this should work well enough(the OS files seem to be ok now, I just need a new drive to house everything).

I have some stuff like game installers/dependencies/etc saved away on media, actually.

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To All: Update

Two questions for now: drive manager says I have 500 MB system reserved partition, the c: drive(930ish GB), and a restore partition of around 543 MB. When I clone the drive the software should clone it exactly as the current drive is, correct?

Also, my current drive is a toshiba 5400 RPM drive.....should I stick with another one of those(they are cheap), or go for another brand/speed, like say a WD 1tb 7200RPM HDD(if I can find one)?

Might ask more questions later, re: the choices for drive and docking station I pick. Will post them to this thread later, when I have possible selections in mind.

Important Update (Might use reflect or another program, and also wonder if the free versions will clone the entire drive......which is the OS drive)

Aren't WD Blacks very noisy? I usually just take the Blues.
Dunno for the main OS disk tho, since I use SSDs at this point.

A 1TB SSD isn't that more expensive (and I highly recommend it as a boot/OS drive). But I understand, if every penny counts for you.