Alright, first off - I don't have a damaged sector and have received no errors saying so. I was laying in bed last night and a question hit me out of the blue that I couldn't seem to find a specific answer to today.

If there is a damaged sector error, is it necessarily referring to the specific sector that the data your trying to access is on? I mean since HDDs are generally sequential access rather than random access, could a sector damage error mean a 'gateway-type' sector that the read/write head has to traverse or utilize on its way to the data-holding sector?

Im tired and not sure if Im typing clearly enough, what Im trying to ask is can a sector error occur if the sector holding the wanted data is not damaged but one that lays in the path to that sector is?

Again, this isn't urgent. I have no problems with my system. Its just a general curiosity that emerged in a half stupor - I haven't much of a life these days

Blessings