Software to test reliability of hard drive

[buckjrdley]

I was just recently handed my friends laptop computer which was failing to boot properly. After attaching it to my PC via an SATA to usb bridge, I found that the file system had become corrupted. I am going to test his RAM for errors using memtest86+.

My question is:
Is there any free software that can test the stability and reliability of a hard drive similar to memtest?

I am aware of many disk error checking programs, but I want a piece of software that can make sure the drive is reading and writing properly.

For the record, the drive is a WD Scorpio Blue 250GB 5400rpm.

Thanks in advance for your responses.

 

[Emulex]

teracopy has CRC, just fill the drive up and have it do a check. if it fails it will let you know.

I do this push over network (SMB) so i know there isn't any bit flipping from the d2d server/network/end usb drive. the main server that is running is ecc protected from the bus to the drives

 

[buckjrdley]

Brilliant. That should be perfect.

 

[Blain]

Diagnosing a HD via USB is never the best alternative.

 

[Emulex]

unless the transport itself is unstable. and yes i've found my freeagent white 12" cable to be the culprit. replaced them all with nice shielded 6" ones and never had any corruption.

by pushing over the network you also are checking the network card SERVER A push the files and create CRC, server A reads the destination and checks the CRC. if anything in path corrupts (bad nic, bad switch?) i know. Server A is fully ECC protected in all hardware, the endpoint pc is not (just a pc).

 

[buckjrdley]

Blain, I appreciate the post, but could you please include a method you would suggest I do, for your current post is rather useless to me at the moment.
Keep in mind that I do not have many resources at my disposal and that it is possible that I may be forced to use a non-standard/worse alternative.

Do you have a suggestion for diagnosing this drive that is feasible, reliable, and effective?

I'm using my Toshiba Satellite A205S4707 laptop with this drive.
I also don't need the drive to be utterly flawless, as it is strictly used for non mission critical applications, and is regularly backed up.
Is testing via usb sufficient for these purposes?

Please let me know.

 

[Blain]

Blain, I appreciate the post, but could you please include a method you would suggest I do, for your current post is rather useless to me at the moment.

Find a desktop PC for the testing.
Connect the HD directly to a SATA port and power it from the power supply.

 

[buckjrdley]

Curious:
What makes USB a poor choice for this kind of testing?

Also, do you have any other suggestions for testing software?

 

[Blain]

Curious:
What makes USB a poor choice for this kind of testing?

Also, do you have any other suggestions for testing software?

Scott Moulton, forensic expert and owner of My Hard Drive Died data recovery & training...

"The USB connector is the biggest problem, you do not get true feedback using a USB connector; it’s not the native way to talk to the drive, USB does not respond to all the ATA commands. You need to find a good motherboard that will support the correct ATA specs for the drive, you will have a better chance to access data on this drive."

 

[buckjrdley]

it’s not the native way to talk to the drive, USB does not respond to all the ATA commands.

Good to know. That definitely would be a limitation.

Thank you for your help. I'll be sure to connect the drive to one of my boxes at work when I go in on Monday.

Thanks again.

 

[bryanl]

Scott Moulton, forensic expert and owner of My Hard Drive Died data recovery & training...

"The USB connector is the biggest problem, you do not get true feedback using a USB connector; it’s not the native way to talk to the drive, USB does not respond to all the ATA commands. You need to find a good motherboard that will support the correct ATA specs for the drive, you will have a better chance to access data on this drive."

Even when the software can issue commands that make the USB drive execute SMART diagnostics, as MHDD and HDDSCAN can?

 

[corkyg]

Seems to me that the discussion is looking more at measuring performance rather than reliability. Reliability is the result of statistical calculations resulting in MTBF. But, whatever turns your crank.

 

[Spikesoldier]

what i would do is download the WD hdd test. you sound like you want to run too comprehensive of a test (read + write)

remember if you cant read a sector on the hdd, there is no chance in hell you can write to it. i recommend the wd test because that is what WD will run when you RMA them a drive. if it passes their test, they will send it right back to you as it is a good drive in their eyes.

 

[bryanl]

Seems to me that the discussion is looking more at measuring performance rather than reliability. Reliability is the result of statistical calculations resulting in MTBF. But, whatever turns your crank.

Even I finally quit using hard drives that have to be cranked.

 

[sm625]

what i would do is download the WD hdd test. you sound like you want to run too comprehensive of a test (read + write)

I second this. The WD diag tool does some pretty cool stuff. When I run it on my computer with a WD raptor, it sounds like a car engine revving.

 

[buckjrdley]

Thanks for all the responses. I like the simplicity of running the WD test, but unfortunately the drive is completely useless now (took a turn for the worse). It's about to be tossed in the trash can.