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Hard Drive Software

T

tekneek

Weaksauce
Joined
Feb 8, 2011
Messages
103
Recently bought an external hard drive that I plan to remove the drive and use for my NAS.

What programs are good for scanning the drive for faults/errors before I remove it from the case (voids warranty)?
 
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Most of the manufacturers have their own hard drive testing software. I believe Hitachi's software will work on any manufacturer's drives. Most of them only allow you to test their own drives. I've used Hitachi's software quite a bit. You have to boot into it from a CD or other device.

WD has good software you can use in Windows, but I don't think they'll let you test other manufacturer's drives (can't remember).
 
Speedfan will let you send the drive a SMART Extended Test Command. That should find any issues.
 
Thanks for the suggestions guys. I tried hitachi's software, but it does not detect USB external hard drives when you boot into it. I need something that'll detect USB
 
WD's software will do USB drives from Windows, as I've used it for that before.
 
Manufacturer software is the best.
Click to expand...

I totally disagree. Most manufacturer software is just a GUI around a SMART long and short test. And that isn't the best test since it is a read only test. A 4 pass badblocks test (looking at SMART before, after and periodically during the test) is significantly better. A full format again looking at the SMART is also better than the SMART long test that most manufacturer software does.
 
I like the hard drive testing applications that's included with Parted Magic. I prefer the version on Ultimate Boot CD.

Also keep in mind that many newer external drives come with a custom PCB that does not have a SATA connection. You may not be able to take it out of the casing and just plug it into a PC.
 
bigdogchris said:
I like the hard drive testing applications that's included with Parted Magic. I prefer the version on Ultimate Boot CD.

Also keep in mind that many newer external drives come with a custom PCB that does not have a SATA connection. You may not be able to take it out of the casing and just plug it into a PC.
Click to expand...

i was worried about the custom pcb, but this drive has a regular 3.5 sata drive from what i gather on the interwebs. if it's on the interwebs, it must be true right? :rolleyes:


evilsofa said:
Here's how to run badblocks from a PartedMagic disk or USB stick:

http://hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=1039465768&postcount=14

Works on external USB drives just fine. Takes a LONG time.
Click to expand...

totally forgot about partedmagic. duration of the test is also a concern for me since these drives are huge and it would be running via usb. running tests for 1+ week(s) is a bit much
 
You do not have USB3?

A 4TB Touro will take 55 or so hours to do a 4 pass badblocks on a USB3 interface. Well at least that is how long it took for me on my core2quad based htpc + PCIe USB3 controller card.
 
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