What is the problem with hard disk diagnostics?

Timely diagnosis of the hard drive allows you to save not only funds, but also nerve cells, which, as you know, are restored extremely reluctantly. It's even hard to say which is more important. Today we will talk about what is hard disk diagnostics, what it serves and how it can be done without having to visit service centers.

A hard disk is one of the least reliable components of any computer system. The reason for this is very easy to understand, if we recall that it is the hard drive that contains the rotating parts (disappearing drives and fans of the cooling systems are not taken into account). Inside it is a three-phase electric motor, with a high speed spinning spindle with several "pancakes" discs. Consequently, mechanical wear and exposure to external influences for such a device is quite natural.

Despite the introduction of various technologies designed to solve the most common problems, reliability is still not enough. Moreover, modern hard disk diagnostics make it possible to assert that with each new generation it is getting lower. So, you can still find fully working hard drives with a capacity of 40 GB, and the warranty period for them was calculated for years.

Modern models with an average load are unlikely to survive 5-6 years. This is a fee for high density of records and a humane pricing policy. Fortunately, everything is not as sad as it might seem at first glance, especially if you know what hard disk diagnostics are and how to perform it.

Back in 1992, IBM introduced a special technology into its hard drives, which allows predicting a future breakdown with a certain degree of probability. A special firmware in the firmware of the hard drive constantly made a map of the average changes in key (observable) parameters, when approaching the boundary permissible value, warned the user about the need to backup data to a new disk. Subsequently, the idea was supported by such giants as Quantum and Seagate, and began to be introduced in all new models. The logic of observation was also refined: now many more parameters were controlled, and the accuracy became higher. The mechanism was called SMART (this is an abbreviation, but not "smart" as one might think).

For example, for some reason an unreadable area appears on the hard drive. It is automatically reassigned from the backup zone, with the corresponding SMART parameter being changed to one. When the number of reassignments reaches a certain limit, the firmware will recommend its replacement.

To assess the status of SMART, you need a program for diagnosing HDD. We recommend using Hard Disc Sentinel - Russian-language interface, visibility, constant monitoring of the state of the disk. Install, select the hard drive (if there are several), click on the SMART tab. Here exclamation marks in yellow squares are an occasion to reflect on the disk's working time and its future replacement. You can not delve into such nuances, but simply read the recommendation on the "Overview" tab.

Sometimes on the Web, you can find instructions that the means of the operating system itself can diagnose the hard drive. Windows 7 and all others, unfortunately, can not directly work with SMART. In this case, there is ambiguity in the interpretation of the term "diagnosis". Sometimes it is understood as a check for errors with the ScanDisk utility, although you can also rightly mean viewing SMART.