HD Sentinel has a proprietary rating program.
SMART attempts to predict drive failure.
In Ten Forums we see see drives that fail with SMART > 90%.
If free is important then run:
HD Tune free SMART, Benchmark, and full error scans:
https://www.hdtune.com/files/hdtune_255.exe
Sea Tools for Windows long generic test:
SeaTools for Windows |
Seagate
How to use SeaTools for Windows | Seagate Support US
Chkdsk /b /v
If you are using disk imaging regularly and routinely e.g. Macrium Reflect (free) as is so very often recommended here, then you will also benefit from its sensitivity to the condition of your disk.
If imaging fails, you get an error message. Time to research that and check the relevant disk.
This discipline is invaluable as you then have a full backup, restorable to a replacement disk if necessary, and your PC data can be stored separately securing you against theft, fire and flood, and you can often recover to a previous good state without technical help, perhaps saving a clean install.
Example: I routinely imaged a PC. Suddenly, imaging failed. HD Sentinel advised me of the growing number of weak sectors and a warning of shortish projected life.
In another thread, whereas Macrium detected and warned of the drive problem, the user found Easeus Todo completely ignored it.
So there's a completely different slant to disk maintenance.
Last edited by dalchina; 11 Mar 2021 at 03:27.
I'm surprised no one has yet suggested Samsung's own free software, Samsung Magician.
SSD Tools & Software | Download | Samsung V-NAND SSD | Samsung Semiconductor Global Website
Samsung magician drive testing is limited to certain SSD.
The thread title: Best hard drive health software?Code:The Magician SSD management utility is designed to work with all Samsung SSD products including 470 Series, 750 Series, 830 Series, 840 Series, 850 Series, 860 Series, 870 Series, 960 Series, 970 Series and 980 Series. This software is not compatible with other manufacturers' SSDs.
So not applicable to HDs.
The OP specifically stated in post #1 that the drive they wanted to test was a Samsung SSD, and that it was the '870 series'. Therefore Magician is not only applicable, but is specifically designed for use with their drive. Isn't the manufacturer's own test usually the best to use?
"I'm not sure if there's an underlying issue with this brand new Samsung QVO 870 SSD"
https://www.experts-exchange.com/questions/29116446/
In the above example, SeaTools found nothing although Event Viewer found the following:
The IO operation at logical block address 0x0 for Disk 3 (PDO name: \Device\00000058) failed due to a hardware error.
The drive in question is a Samsung SSD, not an HDD which was implied in the title.
The Samsung Magician application is the one to use.
SSDs internally are very different from an HDD and such things as surface scans are nonsense in respect of SSDs. The memory cell elements being a solid state semiconductor device and the controller is also vastly different.
"I want to determine the health of the SSD, ..."(Samsung QVO 870)
Exactly.
SSD Tools & Software | Download | Samsung V-NAND SSD | Samsung Semiconductor Global Website
There are two kinds of drive error:
- Hardware error. This kind or error can't be fixed. Every new drive has built in a Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology (SMART). Use Crystal disk info . It's a portable, don't need to be installed. Extract and run.
There are other good hardware software testers (SeaTools, HD Sentinel, etc) to be used for a "surface" (cluster) test.
- Software errors can be fixed with check disk (chkdsk x: /f or /r) on a NTFS or Fat32 partitions
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