S.M.A.R.T. Status

[Jako]

I've installed a few HD's on my desktop and keep some important files in it. I was reading somewhere about checking the smart status of the HD's which will give you an idea of how they are working...also an indication if something is going wrong.

Are there programs built into Vista to do this automatically, or is there something I need to download?

[Shaggy3zx]

I like S.M.A.R.T. Monitoring Tools (http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=64297)

[Jako]

I like S.M.A.R.T. Monitoring Tools (http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=64297)

Is there anyway to check out the status from Vista itself, or do you always need to download a 3rd party app?

[Jako]

Are there any with a GUI, that one above is like command prompt

[unhappy_mage]

I believe a program called Everest can read SMART data. Google it.

[JC634]

I believe a program called Everest can read SMART data. Google it.

Yes, it can. http://www.lavalys.com/

[v0idm33h]

Speedfan also lets you check the S.M.A.R.T. data on your hard drives. You need to run it as an administrator in vista so it can access the information.

http://www.almico.com/speedfan.php

[Jako]

Is reading smart data the best way to predict if a HD is going bad or is bad? Are there any other methods?

[v0idm33h]

For myself I use it only as a general idea for failure. If the SMART readings get under 50% fitness I will dump everything vital onto another hard drive and use it as a scratch disk or temp drive till it eventually dies.

The more heat your hard drives are exposed to the faster they wear out. All hard drives will eventually fail that’s why they have a MTBF which will generally give you an idea on how long your drive lasts. You can check your manufactures website for information about your drive and they also might have the MTBF listed there as well.

One thing for sure is ALWAYS backup your important data. If it really means something to you take the time and burn it to dvd/cd/bluray/tape/hologram media and you wont have to worry so much about the failure that will happen.

[thebeephaha]

The more heat your hard drives are exposed to the faster they wear out.

Ehhhh... Google did a massive study and found that claim was bogus.

I still cool my drives though, but I don't think is important as most people make it out to be.

[chaikovski2002]

Ehhhh... Google did a massive study and found that claim was bogus.

I still cool my drives though, but I don't think is important as most people make it out to be.

If a hard drive has proper cooling most of its life time, how long will it last before it needs to be replaced?

[DonDon]

The Google Hard Drive Study is a great read for the truly Geeky at heart.

There were several interesting observations.

Temperature did not play a significant role in failures.

A SMART warning was a great predictor of impending failure, but I think they only got a warning on a third of failures.

They had a fairly high failure rate in the first months of a drives life, but after they weeded out the weak, the failure rate didn't pick up significantly till the fourth year I think.

Just search that term on, Uhm Google maybe, and you will get a link directly to the PDF.

Don