This invention relates to the magnetic recording medium, its manufacturing method and the magnetic disk apparatus, in which the ferromagnetic thin film is formed on the substrate board, and the protective layer is provided on that. A Magnetic recording medium of the has at least one layer of the protective layer on the magnetic surface, which is characterized in that the surface of the protective layer is provided with the high noncontinuous large resistance layer, and the density of the surface of the protective layer is higher than other regions other than the said surface. The magnetic recording medium has the surface of the protective layer which contains at least one kind or more of the element of the inert gas element, the halogen element and hydrogen. Therefore, when making a lower flying height of the magnetic head is achieved, the slide durability over the long term is improved, particularly, the slide durability of the magnetic disk apparatus using the MR head can be improved.