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#21
Hard Disk Sentinel may tell you more - covers SSDs too. Full functional trial, portable version available. Just launch it and look. Gives a commentary in English. Not that any report of communication errors is historic (and may mention cables).
Do need any data from the disk, or are you just seeing if it can be usable?
You might try formatting it, though if all spare sectors are used it's reaching end of life.
does it tell you the unused spare nand blocks ?
if you have copied off everything important you could secure erase/sanitize it.
. At the media level, Sanitize and Security Erase perform the same operation. Only the interface commands are different.
In this technical blog, we will continue to use the term “sanitize,” with the understanding that Sanitize Block Erase and Security Erase perform the same operation.the manufacturer probabaly provides software to do it.This is not an overwrite. It is a true erase of the media. Each targeted storage element is raised to an erase voltage (significantly higher than the standard program voltage), then that signal is dropped to ground, leaving no trace of the previous signal. After this, the storage element is now in a state where it is ready to be programmed with new data from the host computer. In fact, once complete, the drive as a unit is now in a performance state that we know as “Fresh-out-of-Box,” or FOB.
otherwise you can use the solidigm software which will they say will perform the function on all brands.
It will only do firmware/driver updates for solidigm ssd, but most functions in the toolkit work for all brands.This modern, easy-to-use toolkit provides real-time monitoring of drive health, activity, and other information for all SSDs, regardless of the manufacturer.
I used it to sanitize a non solidigm nvme disk
Introducing the Latest Solidigm Synergy™ Software
Last edited by SIW2; 14 Apr 2024 at 09:08.
I'm not sure what the unused spare nand blocks are. I don't see it listed in Crystal Info I already got the data off the drive and added it to my wife's new computer. So I can reformat it and zero it if that may help. I downloaded Hard Disk Sentinel and will try it soon. I didn't know a HD had spare sectors and once they run out the HD is dead. How do I find out about them?
Crystal Info says Reallocate sector count is 200. with a threshold of 140. The Crystal Info screen looks the same as my original post on this thread. I see on all my other hard drives the Reallocate sector count is 100 threshold of 10
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I tried Hard Disk Sentinel and I see I used it last year, now it won't work unless I register it. Can I uninstall it and start all over with the free trial? Or do a regedit?
No hacking allowed... I don't know how previous installations are recorded. Might be on their site against a hardware id...
You could see if this pre-registered giveaway is still viable:
Hard Disk Sentinel Standard Giveaway License Key Free
you might have to scroll downI'm not sure what the unused spare nand blocks are. I don't see it listed in Crystal Info
I just looked at the first post. You have a mechanical disk ? All this time I assumed it was an ssd.
Last edited by SIW2; 15 Apr 2024 at 06:57.
The pre-registered giveaway expired. So should I just use solidigm to sanitize the drive instead? This is not an SSD HD it's regular SATA. I'm not sure Hard Disk Sentinel will offer any additional benefits. Unused spare NAND blocks seems to be a SSD thing, I have SATA.
The values that are important to look at are the Raw values, for Reallocated Sectors your screenshot says 'zero'. However, until the drive's internal controller has a chance to test the two sectors listed in the raw value for Current Pending Sectors CrystalDiskInfo will always report Caution.
As I said in post #5 the pending sectors cannot be tested while marked as being in use. If you have no need of any data from this disk, then the simplest way to force a sector test is to format the HDD with a single partition using all the space, then perform a FULL format. Once complete, depending on the test results, CrystalDiskInfo will either show 'Good' with no reallocated or pending sectors. Or it will say Caution and the two pending sectors will now have been replaced from the pool of spare sectors and the Reallocated Sector count will be 2 (or maybe more). Any non-zero Raw value for Reallocated Sectors is a sign of a failing disk.
On the website it says:
I received the giveaway OK after it was announced but it did not work because I failed to install it before the Jan 24 deadline.Install this giveaway installer before the giveaway has ended (Jan 24, 2024, GMT+0 08:00)
However, their are still coupon codes for a 40% discount. Coupon codes:
From giveaway site: HDSPH2 for 40% discount for all versions
From main site: HDSP-H1-GA79612 for 40% discount for Pro and Family only
Hard Disk Sentinel Standard (1 computer): 13.20 = (22.00 - 8.80) USD
Hard Disk Sentinel Professional (1 computer): 19.80 = (33.00 - 13.20) USD
Hard Disk Sentinel Family (up to 5 computers): 35.40 = (59.00 - 23.60) USD
Hard Disk Sentinel Version Comparison
Hard Disk Sentinel store