{"id":64181,"date":"2020-09-11T17:42:16","date_gmt":"2020-09-11T17:42:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/?p=64181"},"modified":"2023-01-06T11:52:00","modified_gmt":"2023-01-06T11:52:00","slug":"quick-fixes-for-invalid-media-or-track-0-bad-disk-unusable","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/fix-invalid-media-or-track-0-bad-disk-unusable-error\/","title":{"rendered":"Quick Fixes for &#8220;Invalid media or Track 0 bad &#8211; disk unusable"},"content":{"rendered":"<?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><blockquote class=\"note_alert\">\n<p><em>I tried to format my hard drive, but Windows was unable to complete the formatting. It prompted an error message &ndash; Invalid media or Track 0 bad &ndash; disk unusable. What are the causes? How can I fix it and format the drive? Any help would be appreciated!<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote><p>The error &ndash; <strong>Invalid media or Track 0 bad disk unusable <\/strong>(<strong>See Image 1<\/strong>) is related to Track 0, the hard drive&rsquo;s first sector. If you encounter this error while formatting your hard drive, you may not be able to access the data in it. We have shared some useful methods in this blog to help you fix this error. However, before solving this error, let&rsquo;s know about Track 0 and its causes.<\/p><div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"389\" height=\"102\" src=\"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/image-38.png\" alt=\"invalid-media-or-track-0-bad-disk-unavailable\" class=\"wp-image-64182 apply-gradient-on-post-images\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/image-38.png 389w, https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/image-38-300x79.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 389px) 100vw, 389px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em><span class=\"has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color\">Image 1: Invalid media or Track 0 bad &ndash; disk unusable<\/span><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div><figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-background\" style=\"background-color:#f3f4f5\"><tbody><tr><td><em>If the data is essential and you couldn&rsquo;t take its back-up earlier, you may recover data using a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/windows-data-recovery-professional.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">professional data recovery tool<\/a> even from a formatted drive.<\/em><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"what-is-track-0,-and-why-it-becomes-unusable?\"><strong>What is Track 0, and why it becomes unusable?<\/strong><\/h2><p>Track 0 is located at the beginning of the hard drive that stores the partition table of the disk and Master Boot Record (MBR). The MBR consists of an initial executable code to boot the Operating System (OS). &nbsp;This information is essential for a drive to boot and function properly.<\/p><p>If the MBR or partition table gets damaged or corrupted, you may lose access to the drive and encounter this error.<\/p><p><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">Other Reasons for the error- Invalid media or Track 0 bad &ndash; disk unusable<\/span><\/strong><\/p><p>This error also may occur due to the following reasons:<\/p><ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The drive is not configured correctly<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Bad sectors on the hard drive<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Corrupted drive partition<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Hard drive with Unallocated space in Disk Management<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Write-protection enabled on the drive<\/li>\n<\/ul><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"methods-to-fix-error-&ndash;-invalid-media-or-track-0-bad-disk-unusable\"><strong>Methods to Fix Error &ndash; Invalid media or Track 0 bad disk unusable<\/strong><\/h2><p class=\"has-vivid-red-color has-text-color has-background\" style=\"background-color:#eaeef0\"><strong>Method 1: Rebuild MBR<\/strong><\/p><p>If the drive&rsquo;s MBR is corrupted, you may encounter this error. You may <strong>Rebuild MBR<\/strong> to fix the issue with the following steps:<\/p><p><strong>a. <\/strong>Press <strong>Windows + S<\/strong> and type <strong><em>cmd<\/em><\/strong> to open <em>Command Prompt<\/em>.<\/p><p><strong>b. <\/strong>Type the following commands respectively:<\/p><ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><em>bootrec \/fixmbr<\/em>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em>bootrec \/fixboot.<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em>bootrec \/rebuildbcd.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul><p>(<strong>See Image 2<\/strong>)<\/p><div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"525\" height=\"252\" src=\"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/image-39.png\" alt=\"rebuild-mbr\" class=\"wp-image-64186 apply-gradient-on-post-images\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/image-39.png 525w, https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/image-39-300x144.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 525px) 100vw, 525px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em><span class=\"has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color\">Image 2: Rebuild MBR<\/span><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div><p><strong>c. <\/strong>Once done, close the Command Prompt and check if the error is fixed.<\/p><p class=\"has-vivid-red-color has-text-color has-background\" style=\"background-color:#e6e9ea\"><strong>Method 2: Try Formatting with DiskPart Utility<\/strong><\/p><p>Try formatting the hard drive\/USB\/SD card, etc. using DiskPart utility. This command-line utility helps in quick formatting the drive partitions or changing them to NTFS or FAT32.<\/p><p class=\"has-black-color has-text-color\"><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-black-color\">Follow the given steps:<\/mark><\/p><p><strong>a.<\/strong> Open Command Prompt and type <strong>diskpart<\/strong> command. Hit <strong>Enter<\/strong>.<\/p><p><strong>b. <\/strong>Then type <strong>list disk<\/strong> and press <strong>Enter<\/strong>.<\/p><p><strong>c. <\/strong>Now, type <strong>Select Disk 0<\/strong> and hit <strong>Enter<\/strong>. (<em>Disk 0 is the drive with the error<\/em>.) (<strong>See Image 3<\/strong>)<\/p><div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"624\" height=\"378\" src=\"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/image-44.png\" alt=\"type-select-disk-and-hit-enter\" class=\"wp-image-64192 apply-gradient-on-post-images\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/image-44.png 624w, https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/image-44-300x182.png 300w, https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/image-44-407x247.png 407w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 624px) 100vw, 624px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em><span class=\"has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color\">Image 3: Type select disk and hit enter<\/span><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div><p><strong>d. <\/strong>Next, type <strong>clean &gt; create partition primary<\/strong> and hit <strong>Enter<\/strong>.<\/p><p><strong>e.<\/strong> Afterward, <strong>assign letter=H<\/strong> and hit <strong>Enter<\/strong> (<em>where letter <strong>H<\/strong> is the new letter assigned to your drive<\/em>).<\/p><p><strong>f. <\/strong>Now, type <strong>format fs=fat32 quick <\/strong>or<strong> fs=ntfs quick<\/strong> and press <strong>Enter<\/strong>. (<strong>See Image 4)<\/strong><\/p><div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/image-45.png\" alt=\"format-partition-in-diskpart-utility\" class=\"wp-image-64193 apply-gradient-on-post-images\" width=\"580\" height=\"351\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/image-45.png 624w, https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/image-45-300x182.png 300w, https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/image-45-407x247.png 407w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 580px) 100vw, 580px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em><span class=\"has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color\">Image 4: Format drive partition in Diskpart utility<\/span><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div><p><strong>g. <\/strong>Once the process is completed, type <strong>Exit<\/strong> to close the Command Prompt and check if it&rsquo;s fixed.<\/p><p class=\"has-vivid-red-color has-text-color\">[<strong>Caution:<\/strong> Performing this method will format the partitions, wiping out the entire data stored on the drive. To recover data from formatted partitions, you may use a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/windows-data-recovery-professional.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Professional Windows data recovery software<\/a>.]<\/p><p class=\"has-vivid-red-color has-text-color has-background\" style=\"background-color:#e1e5e6\"><strong>Method 3: Run CHKDSK Command<\/strong><\/p><p>The error&rsquo; <strong>Invalid media or Track 0 bad disk unusable&rsquo;<\/strong> may also occur due to bad sectors on the drive. If Windows can&rsquo;t complete the drive formatting and prompts this error message, the chances are that your drive is corrupt. Run CHKDSK command to fix the corrupted drive or drive with bad sectors with the following steps:<\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-background\" style=\"background-color:#f3f4f5\"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Note:<\/strong>&nbsp;<em>The CHKDSK command scans and fixes the drive corruption. It also marks down the bad sectors on the drive and helps Windows understand not to read or store the bad sectors&rsquo; data, which results in complete data loss. However, you may&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/how-to-recover-files-which-are-lost-after-using-chkdsk-command\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">recover files lost after using the CHKDSK command<\/a> using a professional data recovery software.<\/em><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure><p>Follow the below-given steps:<\/p><p><strong>a.<\/strong> Press <strong>Windows + X<\/strong> and select <strong>Command Prompt (Admin).<\/strong><\/p><p><strong>b.<\/strong> Type <strong>chkdsk \/f :\/f<\/strong> and press <strong>Enter<\/strong>. (<strong>See Image 5<\/strong>)<\/p><div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"614\" height=\"619\" src=\"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/image-43.png\" alt=\"run-chkdsk-command\" class=\"wp-image-64191 apply-gradient-on-post-images\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/image-43.png 614w, https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/image-43-298x300.png 298w, https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/image-43-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/image-43-80x80.png 80w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 614px) 100vw, 614px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em><span class=\"has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color\">Image 5: Run CHKDSK Command<\/span><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div><p class=\"has-vivid-red-color has-text-color has-background\" style=\"background-color:#dce0e1\"><strong>Method 4: Try formatting in Windows Disk Management<\/strong><\/p><p>Sometimes, when you connect your drive on PC, it doesn&rsquo;t show in the file explorer, due to which you may not be able to format your drive, and this error may occur. The reason could be no letter assigned to the drive. You may check your drive in Disk Management and assign a letter and file system to the drive using the following steps:<\/p><p><strong>a.<\/strong> Open <strong>Disk Management<\/strong>, locate, and select your drive.<\/p><p><strong>b.<\/strong> If the drive shows as <em>Unallocated<\/em>, right-click on the drive, and select <strong>New Simple Volume<\/strong>. (<strong>See Image 6<\/strong>)<\/p><div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"624\" height=\"455\" src=\"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/image-46.png\" alt=\"select-the-new-simple-volume\" class=\"wp-image-64194 apply-gradient-on-post-images\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/image-46.png 624w, https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/image-46-300x219.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 624px) 100vw, 624px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em><span class=\"has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color\">Image 6: Select the New Simple Volume<\/span><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div><p><strong>c. <\/strong>Click <strong>Next<\/strong> to proceed. Click <strong>Next<\/strong> again on the next open window.<\/p><p><strong>d. <\/strong>On <em>Assign Drive Letter or Path<\/em> window, select <strong>Assign the following drive letter:<\/strong> and choose a letter from the drop-down list and click <strong>Next<\/strong>. (<strong>See Image 7<\/strong>)<\/p><div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"492\" height=\"388\" src=\"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/image-47.png\" alt=\"assign-the-following-drive-letter\" class=\"wp-image-64196 apply-gradient-on-post-images\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/image-47.png 492w, https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/image-47-300x237.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 492px) 100vw, 492px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em><span class=\"has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color\">Image 7: Assign the following drive letter<\/span><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div><p><strong>e. <\/strong>On the next prompt, select <strong>Format this volume with the following settings<\/strong>.<\/p><p><strong>f.<\/strong> Select <strong>NTFS<\/strong> as the drive&rsquo;s file system, and click <strong>Next<\/strong>. (<strong>See Image<\/strong> <strong>8<\/strong>)<\/p><div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"495\" height=\"393\" src=\"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/image-48.png\" alt=\"choose-ntfs-as-drive-file-system\" class=\"wp-image-64198 apply-gradient-on-post-images\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/image-48.png 495w, https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/image-48-300x238.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 495px) 100vw, 495px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em><span class=\"has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color\">Image 8: Choose NTFS as drive&rsquo;s file system<\/span><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div><p><strong>g.<\/strong> Click <strong>Finish<\/strong> on the next prompt to complete the process.<\/p><p><strong>If you can access the drive from File Explorer, you may try formatting the drive by following the given steps:<\/strong><\/p><p><strong>a.<\/strong> Open <em>File Explorer<\/em>, right-click on the drive, and click &lsquo;<strong>Format&hellip;<\/strong>&lsquo; (<strong>See Image 9<\/strong>)<\/p><div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"490\" height=\"529\" src=\"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/image-49.png\" alt=\"right-click-on-the-hard-drive-and-select-format\" class=\"wp-image-64200 apply-gradient-on-post-images\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/image-49.png 490w, https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/image-49-278x300.png 278w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 490px) 100vw, 490px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em><span class=\"has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color\">Image 9: Right-click on the drive and select Format<\/span><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div><p><strong>b.<\/strong> In the next open window, choose <strong>NTFS<\/strong> as the drive&rsquo;s file system, select <strong>Quick Format<\/strong>, and click <strong>OK<\/strong> to initiate the process. (<strong>See Image 10<\/strong>)<\/p><div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"249\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/image-50.png\" alt=\"quick-format-the-drive\" class=\"wp-image-64202 apply-gradient-on-post-images\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/image-50.png 249w, https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/image-50-166x300.png 166w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 249px) 100vw, 249px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em><span class=\"has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color\">Image 10: Quick Format the drive<\/span><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div><p><strong>c.<\/strong> Follow further instructions given on-screen (if any).<\/p><p><strong>d.<\/strong> Wait until the process is finished and then check if the problem is solved.<\/p><p class=\"has-vivid-red-color has-text-color has-background\" style=\"background-color:#dfe2e6\"><strong>Method 5: Disable Write-Protection<\/strong><\/p><p>If the write-protection on your drive is enabled, there may be chances that you won&rsquo;t be able to format it and may encounter the error message &ldquo;<strong>Invalid media or Track 0 bad disk unusable<\/strong>.&rdquo; To fix this, you need to disable the write-protection switch in the drive. If you can&rsquo;t find it, use DiskPart utility. Follow the given steps:<\/p><p><strong>a.<\/strong> Open Command Prompt, type diskpart, and press <strong>Enter<\/strong>.<\/p><p><strong>b.<\/strong> Click <strong>&ldquo;Yes&rdquo;<\/strong> and provide permission to run diskpart.<\/p><p><strong>c. <\/strong>Then type the following commands in the given order:<\/p><ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><em>List volume<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em>Select volume 4 (Replace the letter 4 with the letter of your drive)<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em>Attributes disk clear readonly<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul><p>(<strong>See Image 11<\/strong>)<\/p><div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"624\" height=\"326\" src=\"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/image-51.png\" alt=\"disable-write-protection-using-diskpart-utility\" class=\"wp-image-64203 apply-gradient-on-post-images\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/image-51.png 624w, https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/image-51-300x157.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 624px) 100vw, 624px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em><span class=\"has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color\">Image 11: Disable write-protection using DiskPart utility<\/span><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div><p><strong>d. <\/strong>Wait until the process is done. Once the process is finished, type exit, and close the Command Prompt.<\/p><p><em><strong>The error is fixed, but what about my data? I couldn&rsquo;t take the back-up before formatting the drive. Can I still get it back?<\/strong><\/em><\/p><p>Yes! You may recover your essential data with a Windows Data Recovery Software such as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/windows-data-recovery-professional.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Stellar Data Recovery Professional<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p><div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/cloud.stellarinfo.com\/StellarDataRecoveryProfessional-Blog.exe\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"apply-gradient-on-post-images\" src=\"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/images\/free-download-windows.png\" alt=\"Free Download Button\"><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div><p>This easy-to-use, yet powerful data retrieval tool can efficiently extract lost or deleted files, folders, photos, documents, and more from Windows PCs and storage media devices. The tool can get back the data even from formatted, corrupted, or damaged drives. You can also use this software to retrieve your favorite photos, videos, or audios from missing, deleted, or lost drive partitions.<\/p><p class=\"has-background\" style=\"background-color:#e4e8eb\"><strong>Note:<\/strong> If your storage media gets physically crashed or damaged, reach out to&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.co.in\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">data recovery services<\/a>&nbsp;experts. The data recovery specialists can get back your data even from water tempered, physically damaged, or partially burnt devices.<\/p><hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-css-opacity is-style-wide\"><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"wrapping-up\"><strong>Wrapping Up<\/strong><\/h2><p>&lsquo;<em>Invalid media or Track 0 bad disk unusable&rsquo;<\/em> can occur at any moment due to several reasons, as explained above. This error makes you lose access to your drive and its data. To get rid of this error and successfully format your drive, you may try different methods such as Rebuilding MBR, formatting drive using DiskPart, running CHKDSK command, or disabling write-protection. However, if you couldn&rsquo;t take the back up and lose data due to this error, you may use a powerful data recovery software, i.e., <strong>Stellar Data Recovery Software<\/strong>. This data retrieval tool can restore data from formatted or corrupted Windows PCs and storage drives, including HDDs, USBs, SSDs, SD cards, etc. You can get back all kinds of data with this tool.<\/p><p>If you have any queries, let us know in the comment section below!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I tried to format my hard drive, but Windows was unable to&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/fix-invalid-media-or-track-0-bad-disk-unusable-error\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Quick Fixes for &#8220;Invalid media or Track 0 bad &#8211; disk unusable<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":64205,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[701],"tags":[155,1587,198,922],"class_list":["post-64181","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-windows-data-recovery-professional","tag-data-recovery","tag-invalid-media-or-track-0-bad-disk-unusable-error","tag-windows-10","tag-windows-data-recovery","entry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>5 Fixes for \u201cInvalid media or Track 0 bad - disk unusable\u201d Error in Windows 10<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Have you encountered the error &#039;Invalid media or Track 0 bad - disk unusable&#039;? This may appear when you try to format a drive using CMD. Try these 5 fixes to resolve this error message.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/fix-invalid-media-or-track-0-bad-disk-unusable-error\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"5 Fixes for \u201cInvalid media or Track 0 bad - disk unusable\u201d Error in Windows 10\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Have you encountered the error &#039;Invalid media or Track 0 bad - disk unusable&#039;? This may appear when you try to format a drive using CMD. Try these 5 fixes to resolve this error message.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/fix-invalid-media-or-track-0-bad-disk-unusable-error\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Stellar Data Recovery Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/mansi-verma-230a4594\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-09-11T17:42:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-01-06T11:52:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Quick-Fixes-for-Invalid-media-or-Track-0-bad-disk-unusable.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mansi Verma\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Mansi Verma\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"9 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/fix-invalid-media-or-track-0-bad-disk-unusable-error\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/fix-invalid-media-or-track-0-bad-disk-unusable-error\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Mansi Verma\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/c16062af900fc713fa916a3db31da99f\"},\"headline\":\"Quick Fixes for &#8220;Invalid media or Track 0 bad &#8211; disk unusable\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-09-11T17:42:16+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-01-06T11:52:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/fix-invalid-media-or-track-0-bad-disk-unusable-error\/\"},\"wordCount\":1418,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/fix-invalid-media-or-track-0-bad-disk-unusable-error\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Quick-Fixes-for-Invalid-media-or-Track-0-bad-disk-unusable.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Data Recovery\",\"Invalid media or Track 0 bad - disk unusable error\",\"Windows 10\",\"Windows data recovery\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Windows Data Recovery- Professional\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/fix-invalid-media-or-track-0-bad-disk-unusable-error\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/fix-invalid-media-or-track-0-bad-disk-unusable-error\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/fix-invalid-media-or-track-0-bad-disk-unusable-error\/\",\"name\":\"5 Fixes for \u201cInvalid media or Track 0 bad - disk unusable\u201d Error in Windows 10\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/fix-invalid-media-or-track-0-bad-disk-unusable-error\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/fix-invalid-media-or-track-0-bad-disk-unusable-error\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Quick-Fixes-for-Invalid-media-or-Track-0-bad-disk-unusable.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-09-11T17:42:16+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-01-06T11:52:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/c16062af900fc713fa916a3db31da99f\"},\"description\":\"Have you encountered the error 'Invalid media or Track 0 bad - disk unusable'? This may appear when you try to format a drive using CMD. Try these 5 fixes to resolve this error message.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/fix-invalid-media-or-track-0-bad-disk-unusable-error\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/fix-invalid-media-or-track-0-bad-disk-unusable-error\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/fix-invalid-media-or-track-0-bad-disk-unusable-error\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Quick-Fixes-for-Invalid-media-or-Track-0-bad-disk-unusable.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Quick-Fixes-for-Invalid-media-or-Track-0-bad-disk-unusable.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":600},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/fix-invalid-media-or-track-0-bad-disk-unusable-error\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Quick Fixes for &#8220;Invalid media or Track 0 bad &#8211; disk unusable\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Stellar Data Recovery Blog\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/c16062af900fc713fa916a3db31da99f\",\"name\":\"Mansi Verma\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e121695d43c532de90f70f5314b264e950777a1808da3f9324499c6d09ff6a8a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e121695d43c532de90f70f5314b264e950777a1808da3f9324499c6d09ff6a8a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Mansi Verma\"},\"description\":\"Mansi is a seasoned tech enthusiast, holding over a decade of experience in writing blogs, articles, guides, press releases, and tips for different industries, including Data Recovery, IoT, Artificial Intelligence, and Robotics.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/stellarinfo.com\/blog\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/mansi-verma-230a4594\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/author\/mansi\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"5 Fixes for \u201cInvalid media or Track 0 bad - disk unusable\u201d Error in Windows 10","description":"Have you encountered the error 'Invalid media or Track 0 bad - disk unusable'? This may appear when you try to format a drive using CMD. Try these 5 fixes to resolve this error message.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/fix-invalid-media-or-track-0-bad-disk-unusable-error\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"5 Fixes for \u201cInvalid media or Track 0 bad - disk unusable\u201d Error in Windows 10","og_description":"Have you encountered the error 'Invalid media or Track 0 bad - disk unusable'? This may appear when you try to format a drive using CMD. Try these 5 fixes to resolve this error message.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/fix-invalid-media-or-track-0-bad-disk-unusable-error\/","og_site_name":"Stellar Data Recovery Blog","article_author":"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/mansi-verma-230a4594","article_published_time":"2020-09-11T17:42:16+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-01-06T11:52:00+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1000,"height":600,"url":"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Quick-Fixes-for-Invalid-media-or-Track-0-bad-disk-unusable.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Mansi Verma","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Mansi Verma","Est. reading time":"9 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/fix-invalid-media-or-track-0-bad-disk-unusable-error\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/fix-invalid-media-or-track-0-bad-disk-unusable-error\/"},"author":{"name":"Mansi Verma","@id":"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/c16062af900fc713fa916a3db31da99f"},"headline":"Quick Fixes for &#8220;Invalid media or Track 0 bad &#8211; disk unusable","datePublished":"2020-09-11T17:42:16+00:00","dateModified":"2023-01-06T11:52:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/fix-invalid-media-or-track-0-bad-disk-unusable-error\/"},"wordCount":1418,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/fix-invalid-media-or-track-0-bad-disk-unusable-error\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Quick-Fixes-for-Invalid-media-or-Track-0-bad-disk-unusable.jpg","keywords":["Data Recovery","Invalid media or Track 0 bad - disk unusable error","Windows 10","Windows data recovery"],"articleSection":["Windows Data Recovery- Professional"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/fix-invalid-media-or-track-0-bad-disk-unusable-error\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/fix-invalid-media-or-track-0-bad-disk-unusable-error\/","url":"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/fix-invalid-media-or-track-0-bad-disk-unusable-error\/","name":"5 Fixes for \u201cInvalid media or Track 0 bad - disk unusable\u201d Error in Windows 10","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/fix-invalid-media-or-track-0-bad-disk-unusable-error\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/fix-invalid-media-or-track-0-bad-disk-unusable-error\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Quick-Fixes-for-Invalid-media-or-Track-0-bad-disk-unusable.jpg","datePublished":"2020-09-11T17:42:16+00:00","dateModified":"2023-01-06T11:52:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/c16062af900fc713fa916a3db31da99f"},"description":"Have you encountered the error 'Invalid media or Track 0 bad - disk unusable'? This may appear when you try to format a drive using CMD. Try these 5 fixes to resolve this error message.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/fix-invalid-media-or-track-0-bad-disk-unusable-error\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/fix-invalid-media-or-track-0-bad-disk-unusable-error\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/fix-invalid-media-or-track-0-bad-disk-unusable-error\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Quick-Fixes-for-Invalid-media-or-Track-0-bad-disk-unusable.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Quick-Fixes-for-Invalid-media-or-Track-0-bad-disk-unusable.jpg","width":1000,"height":600},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/fix-invalid-media-or-track-0-bad-disk-unusable-error\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Quick Fixes for &#8220;Invalid media or Track 0 bad &#8211; disk unusable"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/","name":"Stellar Data Recovery Blog","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/c16062af900fc713fa916a3db31da99f","name":"Mansi Verma","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e121695d43c532de90f70f5314b264e950777a1808da3f9324499c6d09ff6a8a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e121695d43c532de90f70f5314b264e950777a1808da3f9324499c6d09ff6a8a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Mansi Verma"},"description":"Mansi is a seasoned tech enthusiast, holding over a decade of experience in writing blogs, articles, guides, press releases, and tips for different industries, including Data Recovery, IoT, Artificial Intelligence, and Robotics.","sameAs":["https:\/\/stellarinfo.com\/blog","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/mansi-verma-230a4594"],"url":"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/author\/mansi\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64181","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/37"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64181"}],"version-history":[{"count":35,"href":"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64181\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":119677,"href":"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64181\/revisions\/119677"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/64205"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64181"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64181"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64181"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}