Harddrive software

[playboyman007]

Is there a software out there that would allow me to detect any faults in my harddrive? The reason for me to want this type of software is because my computer keeps on restarting or freeze. I already know it is not a PSU problem because I am using a new PSU, and I also know its not a temp problem because my cpu and mobo runs on stable temp. So my next conclusion is the harddrive. All I do with the computer is download, encode videos, burn dvds, use diskeeper to defrag almost twice a day, and scan my computer for threats. All these activites will take a toll on my hard drive, so I want to use a software to determine faults in the hard drive before I buy a new Hard drive.

 

[PCcashCow]

Just run a checkdisk on the drive, any cluster errors would point to a failing drive. You can also use the manufacturer tools like seatools to run some diags on the drive.

However, your problem does not sound like a Hard drive problem. Try loading setup defaults in BIOS. If you still freeze, then upgrade the BIOS if possible. Lastly run memtest off a Linux CD. Drives don't freeze systems typically.

 

[playboyman007]

Just updated my bios, still the same problem. haha

well Im using a maxtor hardrive, do they have a similar program like seagate's seatool?

 

[Guest]

PowerMax http://www.maxtor.com/portal/site/Maxtor/menuitem.3c67e325e0a6b1f6294198b091346068/?channelpath=%2Fen_us%2FSupport%2FSoftware+Downloads%2FAll+Downloads&downloadID=22

Grumpy

 

[PCcashCow]

Just updated my bios, still the same problem. haha

well Im using a maxtor hardrive, do they have a similar program like seagate's seatool?

I still would look to other devices to find your problem, when a drive starts to fail you see SMART toss disk errors in your event logs, as well as cluster corruption from chkdsk. Even if nothing new has gone into your system, memory can degrade and fail over time, just as any other component. There is always OS corruption too, you could try a repair with the latest singed drivers or a clean install.

 

[mitch074]

you defrag too much, it's useless - all you're doing is wearing down your drive's heads. Defrag should be done once or twice a month, tops. Worst case scenario, split your drive in two: a partition where you put stuff that doesn't move much (OS, apps) and in the other the moving parts: movies etc. so that they don't interfere.
Even then, defragging is only useful with files that are often accessed; movies for example don't playback differently if they're split in 10 pieces (it gets noticeable at 45 small fragments all over the drive).

Maxtor does provide a HD's reset/test suite software. I don't rely on SMART messages anymore, since I saw a disk reporting SMART status OK until it stopped spinning.

My advice: make sure it's not a software problem (clean install, no screwed up apps like Norton or eDonkey - only basics: a free AV and 1-2 games), then if hangups still occur, swap with another drive and the very same 'light' system (even better, clone said 'light' system using Norton Ghost or anything else: Knoppix partimage+QtParted do the trick for me), just to be sure.

Brand new PSUs are not fault-free: you may be exceeding its design or it is faulty. The motherboard too could be screwed up (I once had a Gigabyte that worked well, but then I got hangups, until the day it refused to reboot).