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Free Image Format ConversionError: "Invalid media or Track 0 bad - Disk unusable"
"Hey, I have a problem with my SanDisk flash drive. While trying to format the card, Windows prompted the first error message saying the formatting did not complete successfully. When I proceeded with the process, another error message popped up saying 'Invalid media or Track 0 bad - disk unusable.' What should I do?"
In fact, if you receive the “Invalid media or 0 track damaged – disk not usable” error after formatting SD card, USB drive, HDD, and so on, it indicates that the 0 track position is damaged. If there are bad sectors, you cannot open the SD card, USB drive, or other drives.
"Track 0" generally refers to an informal diplomatic or negotiation channel, involving representatives of governments and/or civil society communicating and discussing issues without official status. The term derives from the traditional multitrack diplomacy framework, in which “Track 1” denotes official intergovernmental dialogue, and “Track 2” involves unofficial exchanges among academics, experts, and members of civil society. “Track 0” goes even further, encompassing direct personal diplomacy, high-level back-channel meetings, or initiatives launched by influential third parties with the aim of resolving conflicts or fostering international cooperation.
A track on a disk drive is a circular path on the surface of a disk used for recording and reading information. The 0 track is located at the very beginning of the disk and is used to save information about the disk's layout. Typically, the 0 track consists of the first 64 sectors of the disk (as you know, the first sector of the 0 track is the MBR – Master Boot Record). If the 0 track is damaged, you won't be able to access your USB drive or memory card normally. Luckily, receiving such an error doesn't necessarily mean that the 0 track is damaged; you might receive it due to other reasons.
The error "Invalid media or Track 0 bad" is typically related to either your computer or the CD/DVD drive and can be caused by several factors: 1. **Damaged Disc**: Track 0 on a CD is a crucial part that contains metadata about the data stored on it. If this area is damaged, the drive may fail to read the disc content, resulting in a "Track 0 bad" error. 2. **Drive Issues**: There could be hardware problems with the optical drive, such as a damaged laser reading head, preventing it from reading the disc correctly. 3. **Incompatible Media Format**: The CD or DVD you're trying to play or read might not be compatible with the drive. For instance, using a DVD drive to read a Blu-ray disc, or a CD drive to read a DVD. 4. **Software Problems**: Outdated or corrupted drivers could cause this issue. Make sure your drive's driver is up-to-date and free from conflicts or errors. 5. **Dust and Dirt**: Dust on the disc surface or inside the drive can affect its reading performance, leading to errors. 6. **Burning Issues**: If you burned the disc yourself, there might have been an issue during the burning process that damaged Track 0. Solutions could involve cleaning the disc and the drive, checking for driver updates, using a compatible medium, or considering data repair or recovery tools. If the issue persists, it might require professional inspection.
This issue can be caused by a minor problem with the device or significant physical damage, including:
- Connection issues
- Bad sectors on an external hard drive, USB flash drive, or memory card
- Lost or corrupted MBR (Master Boot Record)
- Hardware issues
Before fixing: Recover data from external storage device
Before you attempt any repair, you might be concerned about the files on your hard drive. If you encounter a "bad track 0" error on your memory card, can you still recover data? If Windows can still recognize and detect the disk normally, you might have one last chance to retrieve files from the memory card or other device with the "Invalid media or bad track 0 - Disk not usable" error message. tools free data recovery software – Data Recovery Wizard will help you out to get data back from the problematic device.
Step 1: Select and scan the external hard drive
- 1. Download and install the Data Recovery tool on your computer or laptop.
2. Connect the external hard drive to your computer.
3. Run the Data Recovery wizard and select the external hard drive from the list of external drives. Then, click on Scan to search for lost data.
Step 2: Check the scan results
- Data recovery software will immediately scan all data on the selected drive, including deleted, corrupted, and existing data.
- You can use the filter feature to quickly locate a specific file type, such as images, Word, Excel, PDF, videos, emails, and more.
Step 3: Preview and Recover Your Data
- • Double-click a file from the scan results to preview it.
• Select the files you want and then click “Recover”.
• Choose a location different from the original drive to save the recovered files.
8 Solutions to "Invalid Media or Track 0 Error - Disk Cannot Be Used"
Aside from the corresponding solutions for possible causes, there are other potential fixes to address the "Invalid media or track 0 bad - disk unusable. Format failed." error. To quickly get the comprehensive solution for invalid media or track 0 bad issues, follow this guide:
Solution 1: Check the USB connection
Even minor connectivity issues can lead to severe errors like clicking hard drive, corrupted disk structure, unreadable data, and the “Invalid Media or 0 Track – Disk Not Usable” error that we're discussing here. So, check your USB connections first. You can:
- Try another USB port/cable.
- Connect your external hard drive or other storage device to a different computer to see if the issue persists.
- Plug your USB drive into a port on the back of your computer case; these usually provide more consistent power.
Fix 2: Disable Write Protection
Read-only attributes can also cause errors in CMD. Another issue with the hard drive write protection is: “Windows cannot run disk check on this volume because it is write protected.”
Remove write protection:
Step 1: Run the Command Prompt as an administrator.
Step 2: Type diskpart, and then click “Yes” when prompted with the User Account Control dialog.
Step 3: Enter the following commands in order:
- List Disks
- Select Disk X (replace "X" with the number of your write-protected hard drive)
- Attributes disk clear read-only
If you don't consider yourself a power user, or you're not comfortable with the command line, don't worry – there are graphical solutions that can help you remove write protection from your hard drive, USB drive, or even an SD card.
CleanGenius is a tool that can help you fix these issues on your hard drive, without having to use the command line.
Here is a simple, easy-to-understand guide on how to use this tool to address your concerns:
Step 1: Download and install CleanGenius (free) on your computer.
Step 2: Run CleanGenius on your computer, choose Optimization and enable Write Protection mode.
Step 3: Select the write-protected device and click on “Disable” to remove the protection.
Solution 3: Format the hard drive to another file system
The "Invalid media or track 0 bad - disk unusable" error might be due to the drive being formatted with an incorrect file system. Generally, Windows supports three file systems: FAT32, NTFS, and exFAT. When you encounter this error message, you can try formatting the drive with one of the other file systems, excluding the one that reported the error.
Solution 4: Format the drive with Diskpart or third-party software
When you get an error, you might be using a formatting command like “format e: /fs=ntfs.” If this doesn't work, you can try using the diskpart command or third-party software, such as the free partition manager – AOMEI Partition Assistant – to format your drive.
Format the disk using Diskpart:
Step 1: Run Command Prompt as an administrator.
Step 2: Type diskpart, and then click Yes when prompted for permission.
Step 3: Enter the commands in the following order:
Note that "fs" stands for the file system you want to format the partition with, which can be FAT32, NTFS, or exFAT. The "quick" means "quick format."
It's much easier to format a drive with third-party software than with Diskpart. Don't believe us? Read our article on how to format a hard drive in Windows 10.
Fix 5: Rebuild the MBR (Master Boot Record)
As mentioned above, MBR is a part of sector 0 on the disk. If the MBR is lost or damaged on the disk, issues will occur for sure. Thus, it's worth trying to rebuild MBR to fix the "Invalid media or bad sector - Disk not usable" error.
Fixing issue with track 0 comments.
If the error is due to a real Track 0 error on an external hard drive, USB flash drive, or memory card, you can work around the problem by commenting out Track 0. To do this, you'll need the assistance of a third-party utility called PC Tools 9.0.
Step 1: Boot from the startup floppy/CD/DVD to get into a DOS environment, and insert the CD that has PC Tools 9.0 on it.
Step 2: Use the DE.EXE command of the utility to repair the bad sectors. In order to edit Head 0, you must remove or disable the Read-Only mode in the "Configuration."
Step 3. Select 'Select' > 'Drive Type' > 'Physical' > 'Hard Disk', and press 'Enter'.
Step 4: The partition table will now appear. Find the “Starting Sector,” which is at the beginning of the first track (0). Position your mouse over it and change the '0' to a '1'. Make sure that the “Ending Sector” for the first track is correct, then hit “Enter.”
Step 5: Click “Save” to save your changes and exit.
Step 6: Restart the computer and format the hard drive with bad MBR.
"Repair bad sectors"
Track 0 contains the first 64 sectors of the hard drive. If one of them is bad, you might receive an error message like "Invalid media or Track 0 bad - disk unusable" when trying to format the drive. Thus, try to fix bad sectors on the hard drive to get rid of the error.
Repair 8. Ship for Repair
If all else fails, your last resort is to send the external storage device in for repairs and seek professional help. For hardware problems like physical damage, none of the above will work, and it will likely need to be manually repaired.
Bottom line
"Invalid Media or Track 0 Bad - Disk Unusable" is a common error that plagues Windows users. There are eight possible solutions you can try to address this error when formatting a drive. Hopefully, one of them will perfectly resolve your issue. If your external hard drive, USB flash drive, or memory card is unrepairable and still under warranty, you can get it replaced, or simply get a new one.