Data loss due to
problematic hard drives is very frustrating. In order to prevent it, you should
regularly check the status of your drives by perusing the internal SMART
values. Look for the entry “Error-free” in the Control Panel under “System and
Security | Management | Computer management | Disk management”. This entry
denotes that there is nothing wrong with your system. However, you can perform
a more accurate test using the application CrystalDiskInfo. It automatically analyses
all the accessible drives and represents them according to their status and current
temperature.
Besides some information
about the interface and the serial number, you will fi nd data about the drives'
operating hours and startup operations. In case of SSD drives, the “Host write
processes” field will be listed in terabytes and should be noted. The other area
shows the SMART parameters read from the hardware. You can choose to view the
results in decimal values by using the command “Options | Additional Options |
Hex-value | 10 [DEC]”.
In the list, the column
“Hex value” shows the raw data, while the “Current value” field shows the data normalized
in relation to a “Limit value”. In case of drives, “Reallocated sectors”
occasionally emerge. This may indicate user interface problems and even
imminent breakdowns. Even if the drive itself evaluates the value as good
(higher than limit value), you should carefully observe any developments. You
can set the tool to run at start-up and even send you notifications via e-mail.
A detailed evaluation of individual SMART values is diffi cult, but is not
required in most cases. If you want to explore this topic further, a look at
Wikipedia may prove to be useful:
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