What's the best way to test a new hard drive before using it?

[Ken90630]

So I ordered a new external hard drive for a friend the other day so she can back up her gazillion photos and vast iTunes library. I will also use it to create full system backups for her (with Acronis True Image) every so often.

I've always wondered this and never gotten around to asking, so here goes: Is there a credible way to test a new hard drive (internal or external) before actually using it? In other words, make sure it doesn't have any problems before transferring a bunch of important data to it? I'm referring to EIDE and SATA drives here, not SSDs.

It's my understanding that there aren't any sectors or tracks on a new hard drive, and that low-level formatting is the process that creates those. So it wouldn't make sense to run a hard drive diagnostic (e.g, WD's Data Lifeguard, or CheckDisk) before formatting it. Right? So would it be advisable to format the drive first, then run a diagnostic test on it to make sure there aren't any bad sectors?

Lastly, I've seen guys mention Spin Rite before but I don't know much about it. Would that be the ticket for what I'm talking about (instead of a post-formatted diagnostic)?

 

[Elixer]

Well, you could do a full format (not quick). That will do a sector by sector write.
Then, you can copy data to the HD, and check the results.
The easiest way to do this is to copy something that has a checksum (MD5 SHA-1 or whatever), so you can check it after the copy. You can use zip or rar a bunch of files together if needed, then just do a archive test as well.

After that is done, you should be OK for the most part, (since, HDs tend to fail early) however, you still need to make (multiple) backups, since there is no way to say how long it will last.

Also have a SMART monitoring program running, like crystaldiskinfo (free).
If that shows error/warning, that isn't a good sign.

 

[ethebubbeth]

I'd do a full format, followed by conveyance and then long SMART scans. After that, use something like ioperf or breakin (http://www.advancedclustering.com/software/breakin.html) to stress test the drive for a while.

 

[Cerb]

It's my understanding that there aren't any sectors or tracks on a new hard drive, and that low-level formatting is the process that creates those.

There are. Low-level formatting used to create necessary markers for the disk controller and/or OS, but that was a very long time ago. Now, it's just a big list of logical blocks, ready for a file system.

 

[Ken90630]

Thanks for the suggestions and info, guys. Looks like I have some new things to try out.

Cerb: So you're saying that a new hard drive already DOES have tracks and sectors on it?

And when you say, "Now, it's just a big list of logical blocks, ready for a file system," can you clarify what that means? Are you saying that's what you have AFTER doing a low-level format of a new drive? (Forgive my ignorance here, but these are aspects of HDs that I admittedly never quite learned properly.)

 

[silicon]

There are. Low-level formatting used to create necessary markers for the disk controller and/or OS, but that was a very long time ago. Now, it's just a big list of logical blocks, ready for a file system.

i would opt for low level formatting performed many times over a period of time. If the idea is to lay bare a faulty drive then this may work. Fine the manufacturer's software for the drive and see what happens.

 

[john3850]

Since 1992 every drive I ever bought stated do not do a low level fomat instead do long format or write all 0s.

 

[Cerb]

i would opt for low level formatting performed many times over a period of time.

How, and to what end? The firmware is responsible for the locations of the tracks, and the data on those tracks, including data and ECC block locations, offsets, and sizes, and remapping bad blocks.

If the idea is to lay bare a faulty drive then this may work. Fine (sic) the manufacturer's software for the drive and see what happens.

See what happens...when? With what software, and having it perform what action?

 

[Cerb]

Cerb: So you're saying that a new hard drive already DOES have tracks and sectors on it?

Yes. They always had tracks, AFAIK. So much of each section is already dedicated to data, so much as ECC per data, a portion of reserved sectors for when a bad one crops up and needs to be remapped, etc. (I'm pretty sure most HDDs put firmware, cofig data, or both, on the platters, too).

And when you say, "Now, it's just a big list of logical blocks, ready for a file system," can you clarify what that means?

A new HDD, in modern operational modes, is address with logical block addresses, LBAs. These LBAs are either 512B or 4096B in size (4096B drives can be addressed as 512B drives, and generally are). They generally start at the outer edges of the platter, and work their way in as they go higher. Cylinders, heads, and sectors are hidden; and the stated values on the label, to be used for legacy systems, are not guaranteed to accurately reflect the physical structure (most will show as X,255,63, or X,1,1).