Disk Health - where's list of possible health status

Defraggler
1

Defraggler Analyze has always displayed Disk Health = GOOD on the HEALTH tab.

I've often wondered what the entire range of results are:

GOOD - BAD

GOOD - BETTER - BEST

VERY GOOD - GOOD - Run Backup NOW!

EXCELLENT - GOOD - FAIR - Crickets Chirping

Does anyone know?

I first searched FAQ, HELP and Defraggler Docs, then Defraggler forum. Very few results for "Disk Health" and nowhere did I find an answer to this very simple question. (Yes, it's possible I just missed it.)

http://www.piriform....h?q=disk+health

http://www.piriform....docs/defraggler

I had hoped an easy-to-find answer would save me from delving into S.M.A.R.T. again. [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S.M.A.R.T ] It's times like these I realize how much I've forgotten over the past 2 decades. Piriform relies on an ON-line HELP format that contains very little actual documentation. FWIW, I prefer detailed and cross-referenced OFF-line Help documentation so I (usually) don't have to waste a lot of time schleping around trying to guess where an answer is buried.

Thanks

2

I was also wonder the same thing. BUMP.

3

I agree. What's the list of outcomes for the Disk Health tab in Defraggler? Great little program! thanks Piriform.

4

Hi guys.

I'm sorry you haven't had a reply before now, but I believe the reason for that is the guys here on the forum don't actually have one to give you, and the devs haven't been forthcoming.

After researching this, as you have yourselves, I'll give you my take on it.

I don't believe Defraggler has a "Range Of Results" to display simply because the "Health" state of an individual drive is governed by how the manufacturer of that make of drive has set up it's "SMART" attributes, and this set-up can differ from manufacturer to manufacturer.

Defraggler I think is simply displaying what a particular drive is telling it to display, and isn't using it's own routines to make that decision. The range of results will be whatever is written into a particular manufacturers "SMART" software, and as stated above, this interpretation differs from manufacturer to manufacturer.

For that reason most hard drive manufacturers provide their own "Hardware Diagnostics Check Tools" which should tell you just what the range of "Health" attributes are for a particular make of drive.

Some of these manufacturer specific tools can be found at the link below.

SMART attributes

A SMART attribute is anything that the hard drive manufacturer thinks is worth checking and that might be a useful indicator of the health of the hard drive.

The raw values in hex are converted into a value. This value is weighted as a score out of 100 or out of 200 or whatever the drive manufacturer chooses to represent the condition of the hard disk.

Different drive manufacturers use different SMART attributes ...

I've taken these quotes from this article ...

http://www.rm.com/Su...cref=TEC1142508

... and some links to Hitachi, Western Digital (WD) and Maxtor/Seagate hard drive diagnostic tools are found at the bottom of the above linked to article.

More Hard Drive Diagnostic Tools And Utilities:

From all the stuff I've read I think that particular article explains in the clearest terms as to how the "Health" state of a drive is determined by an individual manufacturers interpretation of what is good bad or indifferent, and this interpretation will differ from manufacturer to manufacturer.

Third party diagnostic tools can only display what they are given by the drive, and as far as I know there isn't a way to even determine how many different states of "Health" are available to be displayed by different makes of drive.

If there's any doubt, look for the drive specific diagnostic tools available from individual manufacturers.

As you may have gathered, I'm no techie, but I've done my best, and I hope it helps.

EDIT: Almost forgot this other useful link.

S.M.A.R.T. attribute list (ATA)

This is the list of all known attributes supported by IDE and Serial ATA hard disks. Note: some manufacturers may use the attributes for different purposes also. Attributes not listed here are "vendor specific" attributes (their purpose is not known).

Also includes S.M.A.R.T. attribute list supported by SCSI hard drives

http://www.hdsentine...t/smartattr.php