SMART Hard Drive Utilities and Hard Drive Test Software

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HARD DRIVE UTILITIES: SMART TEST SOFTWARE

Hard drive utilities such as the SMART hard drive test software can be a useful way of determining or predicting when a hard drive will fail. S.M.A.R.T. actually stands for Self Monitoring Analysis and Report Technology. Basically, SMART is an industry standard early warning system for hard drive failure that is incorporated into modern hard drives. This utility constantly runs tests on the hard drive and monitors various parameters or attributes that are set by the manufacturer of the hard drive, to ensure that the hard drive is functioning as it should. Making use of this utility may allow detection of an on-coming hard drive failure so that a replacement of the hard drive can occur before the failure. Some software that access the SMART data actually make a prediction on how long the hard disk drive will last based on the data that is being monitored at that time. These predictions are often quite outrageous and not very useful. However, taking note of changes that are occurring with the hard drive is important.

The SMART data is generally only visible with special software that can access the S.M.A.R.T. data. This hard drive software exists in a variety of forms and can be obtained as freeware in some cases. Many hard disk drive failures occur after some signs of failure have been present for a while. The SMART hard drive test software picks up on these signs or changes that occur with the hard drive immediately. However, hard drive utilities such as S.M.A.R.T. cannot predict sudden hard drive failures which can still occur even though the software may have indicated that everything was working well.

Some examples can help illustrate how SMART functions as a useful hard drive utility.

Spindle Bearing Failure
The possible onset of the failure of the spindle bearings can be reflected in the following S.M.A.R.T. parameters or attributes: changes in the spin up/spin down times of the hard drive, increases in the operating temperature of the hard disk drive, changes in the current used by the spindle motor.

Head Crash
A decrease in the head flying height or in other words a narrowing of the gap between the magnetic heads that read the hard disk and hard disk surface could signal that a head crash will occur in the near future.

Other
Some other parameters that signal that hard drive failure is imminent include a rise in the number of remapped sectors, a rise in the number of errors being corrected, and a reduction in the data transfer rate of the drive.

Hard drive utilities that can access the SMART data from the hard disk drive can also provide other useful information about the hard drive. Hard drive test software can provide information such as the manufacturer, model number, serial number, firmware version, current mode of operation, disk size, supported standard, number of cylinders, number of heads, sectors per track, power on hours, etc.