Testing Hard Drives

[888qqq]

I have two hard drives. My main drive is a 15Gig MAXTOR (8 years old); the other is a 40 Gig Western Digital (5 years old). Because they're old I decided to test them. I tried using chkdsk with Windows, but I got a message saying that the test could not be completed. I don't remember the exact wording of the message. So instead I ran PowerMax for the MAXTOR and WinDLG for the Western Digital. Both drives passed. Does this mean the drives are in good condition necessarily? Can I get a better idea of the condition of the drives from reading the test results? Are there other tests I should do like a visual inspection? My computer is an 8 year old Compaq Presario 5000. What's the availability of hard drives for my computer? Also, I'd like to make the 40 Gig drive my main drive because of its larger memory. Is switching drives difficult to do? My main drive makes noise like its running something most of the time. Could this be because my configuration is small (630MHz processor, 192MB RAM), and it can't keep up with my XP o/s? I recently ran through many antivirus programs with techies on another site and deleted at least one virus I found, but the HD is still noisy. BTW, there's a warning when running the longer test with WinDLG that says data should be backed up before running the test because data could be lost or the drive could be damaged or whatever. How true is this? Sorry about the number of questions, but my understanding of computers is rudimentary. Any replies would be appreciated.

 

[n7]

http://hddguru.com/content/en/software/2005.10.02-MHDD/

Download, burn, & run bootable CD.

Once you're loaded, select F8 to see SMART data, & to run the test, F4 then hit F4 again.

You'll ideally want everything to be <150 ms, with no errors or warnings in the information box on the right side.

 

[888qqq]

I don't understand a few things from your post. Which version do I download? I downloaded Magic Book Disk with MHDD. It's a Winrar zip file I guess. I double clicked on its icon on my desktop and it wouldn't run. I also burned it onto a cd and tried to run it from the cd, and I couldn't get it to run from the cd either. Also, why would I burn the program onto a cd when I can just run the program from my desktop? What is a bootable disk? My understanding of computers is very basic, so I need detailed instructions. Thanks.

 

[MetaDFF]

There are two versions you can download.

If your computer has a floppy disk drive download the self-extracting floppy image and run that. Once you run it, it should ask for you to put a floppy disk into your A drive and create a bootable floppy disk. Once the disk is created, set your computer to boot to the floppy disk in the BIOS and restart your computer, it should begin reading and booting from the floppy disk drive and automatically load the HDD utility.

If your computer does not have a floppy disk drive, download the CDROM iso-image. Unzip the zip file you download and burn that ISO file to a CD using your burning software. After burning is complete, go to your BIOS and set your computer to boot to the CDROM drive and restart your computer. Upon restart, it should begin reading and booting from the CDROM drive and automatically load the HDD utility.

A boot disk is simply some removable storage medium (floppy, CD, USB) from which the computer can load (also known as boot) an operating system or utility program. In this case your boot disk will load the HDD utility program.

 

[n7]

MetaDFF explained it well.

I assume you understand how to unzip a .zip file.
You'll need to use a program capable of burning images to get the unzipped file onto a CD.
Something like Nero or even crappy ones like Roxio or Sonic, etc. can do that.

Or just download ImgBurn: http://www.imgburn.com/
It can burn .iso files to discs easily.

Now once you've gotten the disc burned, you need to boot into the program on the disc.
On your old Compaq, it might not be set to boot from disc first, so check during the POST what key it states to hit to choose boot order.
If i recall correctly, it's usually ESC on the old Compaqs, & from that little menu you can choose what device to boot from.

Then it'll load the program.
MHDD doesn't test slave devices, so it'll just show your 15 GB as an option.

Once you've selected that drive, hit F8 to show SMART data (if you know have an idea of how to read that).
F4 & then F4 again will start the scan, which should take awhile.

As i mentioned earlier, you should be seeing all the results as lower than 150ms ideally, & no errors or warnings in the box for information.

I use this program for checking drives everyday pretty much, & it's very good for showing what condition a drive is in, better than manufacturers' utilities even IMO, as it shows a lot more information, rather than just pass or fail.

If you can't figure out how to get MHDD running, you could try just running Speedfan (this is a Windows program), & bringing up the SMART data tabs, & then choosing More Info online, which will show basic info on how the drive is doing.
Perhaps then post screenshots of that here.
Direct link to Speedfan: http://www.almico.com/speedfan433.exe

 

[toadeater]

HD Tune has a nice graphical benchmark and SMART info. The pro version has an error check.

http://www.hdtune.com/

 

[888qqq]

I downloaded MHDD onto a floppy disk. When I started the computer drive A ran automatically, so I guess my computer is defaulted to boot on drive A. As the computer was starting I kept pressing esc over and over and the first screen that came up was a list of two options. The option highlighted was "Start computer without SCSI support". I chose that option as it was the default. I didn't get a screen that gave me the option of choosing which drive the computer would boot up with. The next screen listed the drives on my computer. I chose 1 because it was my master drive. Then I pressed f8 then f4 three times not two times to get the program to run. The test took ten minutes. These are the results: <3ms: 7, <10ms: 115038, <50ms: 2. There were no other results including no errors or warnings. So I guess the HD is ok. Are these results very good or just good? The results are pretty surprising considering the fact that the drive is eight years old, and I've been using it to run XP with such a small configuration which puts more strain on the HD, correct? I have a few more questions. Is MHDD strenuous for a HD as I've heard other HD testing programs are, or is there a risk that data or programs can be lost as is true when using other HD testing programs? Is testing with one HD testing program sufficient? When done testing with MHDD how do I leave the program, just eject the floppy and turn the computer off? Isn't it always a good idea to have a backup mirror, or whatever they're called, HD to save data and programs in case the HD fails no matter the condition of the HD even if the HD is new? If a backup drive is not set up then you're always replacing drives not based on their condition but just because they're old which is a waste. How difficult and expensive is it to set up a backup HD? Thanks for any replies.

 

[n7]

Those are good results for a drive of that age.

I usually just do CTRL ALT DEL after finishing in MHDD to reboot, but it doesn't really matter how to choose to exit.

You mention you have a second drive, a 40 GB one.

You could back up your important stuff to that one.

I personally backup my important stuff simply by having it on at least two hard drives, & the really important stuff i'll put on disc as well (DVD/CD).