Ok, I have lately built a server out of older PC parts mainly to host a Teamspeak 3 server, and most of my media. Recently, Windows 7 informed me that the drive was dying, or S.M.A.R.T was not responding on the drive.
I have never had a drive do this, and the HDD isn't used very extensively, and when the PC isn't being used, the HDD does shut down. So it doesn't run ALL the time.
I've run several HDD tests on it, and even a S.M.A.R.T. test that I found on the internet myself, and they say there are NO errors, and SMART is responding correctly.
I"m no PC slouch, but I cannot even find a single article on Google, let alone anywhere about this happening. Should I ignore it, or should I make a new main drive, and use this drive as just storage?
Run CHKDSK on that drive first. If the test from it comes out dirty, use the "/f" and "/r" switch to find possible ways to recover that drive. But avoid using that drive as a main drive or don't use it at all, as I'm not willing to trust it anymore. And if not using it all, "decommission" (destroy) it. :P
ya i would get a new drive. look at the WD red drives http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&N=-1&isNodeId=1&Description=western+digital+red+drives&x=0&y=0
They're server grade but lower rpm. if your using them in a networked server you'll have a bottle neck with your router long before the drives.
Remember, spending must be done after there's enough evidence to proof that the drive is indeed dying, unless if it's an IDE drive or it's way too small for today's demand.
That's the thing, every test including CHKDSK from XP pro to Win7 says the damned thing is fine. But Windows constantly says that SMART is not responding, or SMART did not respond in a timely manner.
Yet, I've put the drive in a multitude of other systems, run every disk checking software I could think of, and they all say the drive is fine and free of errors, and that there were no problems with SMART.
Is there a program that checks SMART by itself? One I'm not familiar with?
Done this bald. And yet still this thing isn't reporting any errors on any system I can find. But every time it sits and idles in Win7, SMART will throw an error that it's not responding. Yet, tests show it's working perfectly fine.
I am starting to think it's an issue with Win7 and my drive. Or maybe my SMART chip\software is bunk and just stops working.
It's weird cause there's no errors, and even Linux says the drive is A-OK.
Like I said before, if anyone else can think of a program I havn't, or where I should search, I'd gladly give it a try. It's a mystery to me, and I want to know if I should ignore it, or puchase a new Drive.
I know this a very old post, but I figured I would reply to it with my results in case it helps anyone else.
This drive died four months after this post ended. And I'm still not sure why. I tested this drive on multiple Operating systems, older ones, newer ones. And NOTHING said it was having issues but MY copy of Win 7.
Luckily it died AFTER I was able to get all my info off of the drive.
ive had two die this week. WD and a very old toshiba from a external HDD drive. owell... usually you can find a bunch of 150-300gb hardrives for $10 on craigslist if you look for someone selling servers. just ask them if they have harddrives to sell. i have 5 large stacks. if one dies, i just swap it