Unfortunately, the “sector not found” error often indicates that the drive or diskette is bad and needs to be replaced.

Hard drive users

If you are experiencing this issue with a hard drive (e.g., error at boot), it is likely the drive itself is bad. You can resolve this issue by running ScanDisk or other disk drive utility capable of marking the sector as bad so that it’s ignored.

However, if running ScanDisk does fix the problem, we recommend you back up the drive and consider replacing it as soon as possible. A sector not found error is often an early indication that the drive is close to failing. In the near future, it may not be able to be recovered and data could be lost.

If a disk drive utility does not help solve the problem, you’ll need to replace the hard drive and reinstall your software. Anything not backed up would be lost.

  • Computer hard drive buying tips.
  • How to upgrade a hard drive or SSD.

Floppy disk drive users

If you are experiencing this issue with a floppy diskette, the diskette is likely bad, to determine this try another diskette. If another diskette works, the disk causing this error is bad. However, if all diskettes are experiencing the same issue, the floppy drive may be bad or not set up properly. See the basic floppy disk drive troubleshooting page for more information.

  • How to troubleshoot floppy disk drive issues.
  • Hard drive help and support.
  • See the sector definition for additional information and related links.