HDD dying or not? Windows finds errors, smart does not

Ameloma

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Sep 2, 2011
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My storage drive is behaving strangely. First of all, I feel that sometimes when I start pc, the hdd shuts down and then speeds up. I fairly sure that is the hard drive sound.

The thumbnails in that drive load slowly, as if they were deleted and then recreated after restart.

Western Digital Data Lifeguard Diagnostic for Windows says it passes SMART. It also passes quick test.

However, Windows error check found a ton of errors in files. I tested some of the files and they seemed to work normally. I didn't want to use repair, because windows has a habit of deleting files to repair them.

I restarted PC and checked the drive for errors and this time it didn't find any.


HDD WD10EZEX Western Digital 1TB Caviar Blue SATA III, 64MB

MOBO AsRock Z87 Pro4, LGA1150, Intel Z87, DDR3, ATX



Unrelated side note, I really want to say this: Thermaltake NiC C4 sucks.
 
Solution
File errors reported by Windows is not necessarily an indication of a failing drive - - only drive diagnostics software can tell you how healthy or otherwise the drive is. If drive diagnostics says the drive is okay, then it is indeed okay.

For file errors reported by Windows you need to run Windows CheckDisk (aka the built-in Windows Error Checker) on the relevant partition. That's entirely separate from physical drive health. Do not conflate the two.

File errors can be caused by several things such as improper shutdown of Windows, sudden blackouts with no UPS connected, system crashes etc.



File errors reported by Windows is not necessarily an indication of a failing drive - - only drive diagnostics software can tell you how healthy or otherwise the drive is. If drive diagnostics says the drive is okay, then it is indeed okay.

For file errors reported by Windows you need to run Windows CheckDisk (aka the built-in Windows Error Checker) on the relevant partition. That's entirely separate from physical drive health. Do not conflate the two.

File errors can be caused by several things such as improper shutdown of Windows, sudden blackouts with no UPS connected, system crashes etc.



 
Solution