Crystal Disk Info Reads "Caution"

McDug · 18 Jun 2022

One of my HDD's is showing "Caution" in Crystal Disk Info.
I did a disk check (dskchk) and there was no error's found.
The drive is old. Do you think it is just on its last leg? (look at the hours)
I wish they used better terminology than "Caution" (to me that could mean anything)
I might format the drive, that might help. (not a quick format, it should scan and fix problems there)
Here is a screenshot of Crystal Disk Info beside chkdsk windows.

Crystal Disk Info Reads "Caution"-2022-06-18-02_16_11-greenshot.png

Samuria · 18 Jun 2022

It has lots of reallocated sectors so sooner or later it will fail bad sectors can't be fixed. Check doesn't check sectors marked as bad it only shows new bad blocks

MaloK · 18 Jun 2022

almost 11 years old, That's not that bad.

The ST3000DM001 is a hard disk drive released by Seagate Technology in 2011 as part of the Seagate Barracuda series. It has a capacity of 3 terabytes (TB) and a spindle speed of 7200 RPM. This particular drive model was reported to have unusually high failure rates, due to a parking ramp that was made from different materials. The failure rates were approximately 5.7 times higher in comparison to other 3 TB drives, for which Seagate faced a class-action lawsuit.[1]

Megahertz · 18 Jun 2022

Current pending sector count

"Current Pending Sector Count is a critical S.M.A.R.T. parameter. The parameter indicates the number of unstable sectors on the disk drive that are yet to be remapped or reallocated.

A rise in Current Pending Sector Count may mean there are unstable sectors on the disk drive. If the count of pending sectors increases with time or receiving warning/error from S.M.A.R.T. scan, it’s time to replace the disk drive."

Bastet · 18 Jun 2022

I would image the drive & consider replacing it asap.

dalchina · 18 Jun 2022

One of my HDD's is showing "Caution" in Crystal Disk Info.
I did a disk check (dskchk) and there was no errors found.

These are totally different checks. The first represents the whole physical disk.

The second, the integrity of the file system on a part of that disk.

It is not at all surprising the second may pass when the first fails.

For a more informative appraisal try
Hard Disk Sentinel (full functional trial).

To get early warning of such failure:
a. Run Crystal Diskinfo at startup, set to montor drives and report when parameters indicate the disk is failing.
and
b. routine and regular disk imaging with Macrium Reflect (free/paid) as is endlessly recommended here will tell you if the data to be imaged is not intact (CRC read error).

MaloK · 18 Jun 2022

These are warnings of an imminent Physical failure.

In opposition of real living organisms. Your drive may look Physiologically perfect until the end.

Bree · 18 Jun 2022

McDug said:

One of my HDD's is showing "Caution" in Crystal Disk Info.

Your SMART data is showing a non-zero C5 Current Pending Sectors count. These are sectors that may (or may not) be failing. Reformatting the drive will allow the internal controler to test those sectors. If they turn out to be bad they will be taken out of use and replaced by sectors from a pool of spares, for each reallocated sector the pending sector count will go down by one and the 05 Reallocated Sector count go up by one. If the sector tests as being good, then it will just be removed from the pending sector count.

Pending sectors are not necessarily a sign that the drive is failing. The drive needs to test those sectors before it can confirm that they're bad. It can't do that while the sectors are in use, but it can when you format the drive. I had one drive with multiple pending sectors that, after a reformat, had no reallocated sectors. It's worked reliably ever since. I have other drives where the reallocated sector count has steadily increased, those I have promptly replaced.

MaloK · 18 Jun 2022

It means that the pool is exhausted and at some point reallocation will stop occurring ...

I repace them instantly whatever their age is.

McDug · 19 Jun 2022

Thanks everyone for your advice! I already backed up the drive. I will replace when I can. Thanks so much for all your help guys!!!