99% SMART fitness and performance on a new drive.. ok?

[GarSpear]

i hate to ask such a basic question.. but I've never been able to make sense of SMART data..

I have a new blue 1TB WD as a secondary drive.. it shows as 99% fitness and 99% performance... is that anything to be concerned about in a drive that has only seen 150 hours of action so far?

 

[D_Know_WD]

Hi there GarSpear,

Sorry that you are facing some issues with your WD drive. 🙁
It may be a good idea to back up the data stored on the drive until you sort this out.

Could you provide some screenshots on the results so we can see why the drive shows as 99%?

Also, you can test the drive with WD's Data Lifeguard Diagnostic tool(both tests): http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=8RmuKf
In case the drive passes both tests, it should be in a good condition.
In case it does not, then you can contact WD's Support and eventually RMA it: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=wUkMKA

Let me know how this goes,
D_Know_WD

 

[GarSpear]

Hi

Thank you for replying.

I will check the disk with the tool you gave a link to and post the results. Though I should point out that I have read that maybe your tool is somewhat more 'relaxed' compared to other SMART analysis tools? I tried several SMART tools and all show 99%.

I should clarify and say I bought two new blue 1TB drives. The one I bought in July is the one showing 99%. The one I received last week I have yet to try but I am about to test it. I went with WD because I had heard that Hitachi and WD are currently the best. My two blues were from a big online retailer. However, neither came in a well protected retail box which made me concerned from the moment I received them. I know mine are not re-certified because they have blue labels. Is it normal for WD drives to just come in an electrostatic bag and a cardboard box? Customer service seems top notch and they have told me I can return both drives if I want to.

I just don't understand why a new drive would show as 99% fitness and 99% performance. I am about to check the other one.

Thank you

 

[D_Know_WD]

Some tools provide normalized values, some of them provide RAW ones and some of them provide PASS/FAIL results. The more tests you perform the better: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/282651-32-best-diagnostic-testing-utility

You can post several screenshots of the different tools.

Anyway, in case the HDD is brand new and it shows a health status of anything different than 100%, I would say that it may be a good idea to contact the place you got it from.

D_Know_WD

 

[GarSpear]

Thank you.

I am working on it now.

The 99% drive is now undergoing the WD long test.

I shall test both drives and do as you say. I guess the first drive is going to go back...

Other than being dropped, can anything bad happen to a drive on a bumpy journey? My second blue 1TB was delivered by a postman on foot. I have a good postie but he literally runs his round. It freaked me out when the drive was delivered by him and the outer box was in a bit of a state and every bubble in the bubble wrap around the hard drive was completely burst...

 

[GarSpear]

I will try and find time to post the pictures. I have limited energy (I have MS) so it takes me a while to get these things done. Lifeguard shows a pass for the first WD drive. HD tune shows no bad sectors and everything is 'ok'. Crystal disk says the WD drive is 'good' but says my 2nd hand SSD is '100% good?' Speedfan now shows the first July drive as 99% and 90% fitness and performance...

I am confused as hell...

This whole thing is just making me very very depressed.

Sorry if that sounds rude, but I just want to move forward with a computer I can trust.

PS: does CHKDSK alter any SMART parameters? After I had formatted the first WD drive windows said errors had been detected and I needed to reboot to correct them.. I have since re-formatted again and no errors were found.. done the tests.. and I am about to reformat one more time, do the tests again, and then I shall then compare the results to the other drive which I have yet to remove from the package..

I am about to drop a few quid on an external NAS bay and two red WD's, so I could do with some help.. I'd appreciate it.. I'm cranky because I am always tired..

What the hell is speedfan telling me? Why is a 'hand me down' SSD (the SSD is not new) showing as 100% good in crystal disk and yet a brand new WD drive is showing as just 'good'. Why does the WD drive now show as 99% and 90% in speedfan? Why have I suddenly lost 9%? What does speedfan show that others don't?

Why can't I trust what I have bought? I have three WD's that have run 5 years almost 24/7.. I once had two Maxtor's that ran pretty much 24/7 for ten years.. they still work with no pending sectors etc, I just took them out because they became too small (40GB)..

Please help make sense of this..

Sorry.. cranky.. not sleeping properly..

 

[D_Know_WD]

Mechanical drives could be easily damaged if handles improperly. Yet, you can't really be sure whether it got damaged by the delivery guy.

I can't really comment on whether the results of the tool that shows 99% fitness and performance are accurate, but the other tools you've used report raw values. From my experience, I would say that if these three tools say that the HDD is in a good condition, then I guess this should be the case. Yet, mechanical drives could fail at any time, even if they are 100% healthy and brand new. This is why, you need to keep your most important data stored on at least two places.
In case you are worried about the drive, it will not hurt to contact the place you got it from and see whether you can RMA it.
Regarding your SSD, I would say that it may be better to test it with some brand specific software. I believe that most of the manufacturers have their own tools.

It is strange that Windows detects errors though. Have you tried something simple as just attaching the drive with different cables to a different port? If you haven't, you can do that.

D_Know_WD

 

[GarSpear]

This is the SMART report using speedfan.

It has gone from 99% and 99% to 99% and 90% (pictured) though now again shows 99% and 99%

 

[Emerald]

Based on the SMART values provided, the drive in healthy.

All Error and Reallocation counters are Zero

 

[GarSpear]

Thank you, but why is the performance and fitness not 100% in speedfan SMART?

 

[D_Know_WD]

Yeah, I was about to write the same thing.
Do you get 100% when testing your other drives? According to the S.M.R.T. data, the HDD should be perfectly fine.
As I have already mentioned, in order to rule out some connections related problem, you can try swapping cables and ports and retest.

D_Know_WD

 

[GarSpear]

I currently have 8 hdd drives in use and one SSD split between two computers - my old PC and my new PC. 4 of these drives are external usb drives so not sure I can smart test these? I get a whole range of results for fitness and performance, but no issues with pending sectors etc in the 3 I have tested today (2 old ones in my old computer and the 1st new blue 1TB in my new computer) etc. Is it possible that Speedfan knocks off a percentage point for fitness and performance as soon as the drive has started to be used for a few hours?

I am tempted to see what speedfan says about the second drive, though I think really I need something bigger and so I may return the second blue.

Ignore the green in my signature, I didn't buy one of those in the end.. I need to update my signature. Having said that maybe a 4TB green internally on my new system would be a good swap for the second blue.

I think maybe I am just over anxious because of my illness. Though obviously I am curious as to how speedfan calculates performance and fitness.

Thank you for having the patience to talk to me.

 

[D_Know_WD]

Yes, you can test your external drives and the tools should provide S.M.A.R.T. for them as well.
To be honest, I don't really know how this specific tool measures fitness and performance. You have a point. It could be that the drives have been used for some time.

What do you need the new drive for? In case it is for just storing data on it, WD Green would be a nice choice. In case you want to run applications off of it, it may not be the best pick.

D_Know_WD