Hard Disk: S.M.A.R.T. Status Bad, Backup and Replace

[icecoldsnake]

Bought a Seagate Constellation ES on ebay, hooked it up and in every port it sits in. I get the title of this thread. GREAT RIGHT??????? So how can I check it to ensure it is F'd up before I yell at the seller??

Also Specs:
Windows 7 Home Premium x64
Intel Core 2 Duo CPU E6750 @2.66Ghz
Asus P5E-VM HDMI mobo
6 gb Ram (2gb Patriot DDR2-6400, 4gb Ballistix DDR2-6400)
GeForce 9500 GT (1gb DDR2)
80gb Maxtor HDD (I just ordered a 1tb Seagate Constellation to replace this)

 

[fzabkar]

Try a comprehensive SMART diagnostic. Look for reallocated, pending, or uncorrectable sectors.

HD Sentinel (DOS / Windows / Linux):
http://www.hdsentinel.com/

HDDScan for Windows:
http://hddscan.com/

See this article for SMART info:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S.M.A.R.T.

 

[memadmax]

I have been working on this very same problem this very minute....
I got a hard drive that I salveged from a media player system and it has just ONE reallocation error and the threshold is 32....
I had another hard drive that was having bad cable issues(made SMART errors go thru the roof) and I found something that did something to the SMART thing, but now I can't remember what the program was, but it did do a low level format for starters.

Anyways, so far from what I can tell, you can't erase SMART data unless you go in with an RS-232 serial cable direct into the hard drives' controller... other than that... it sounds like you got sold a Lemon...

 

[memadmax]

Ugg, try this tool: HDD-Low-Level-Format-Tool from softpedia.
This was what I used. It says it recertifies the SMART. After you do the low level format monitor your hard drive with one hdd-scan like the dude above me said for any new bad sectors or other crap.

 

[icecoldsnake]

The seller accepts returns on defective parts. Would it be worth the time and money to fix it or to get the refund. Also.. I paid $60 total for this HDD.

 

[rdc85]

return it and get the money, it's not worth to try to fix HDD... (actually bad SMART could be used as argument to get refund)

edit: to fix mechanical error of HDD need to be in clean dust free rooms totally not worth it IMO.....

 

[MidnightDistort]

I would just return it. IMO buying used hard drives are pretty risky. I bought a couple of 80GB IDE HDDs for $10 each which run great but have over 2,300 days of power on hours. I just wanted a couple of extra storage devices to playback videos on my older PC so it's really no big deal if one of them dies in a year or so.

I suggest however that if you do plan on buying another hard drive, used hard drives are fine for primary use but get a new one for backups and don't use it. It won't be a guarantee that the new drive won't fail but having a new drive generally has a lower fault rate compared to an older drive.

 

[icecoldsnake]

Cool... Thanks for all the advice guys. I don't really have many other people that know much about computers. I'm the only one, but this is my first desktop that I could work on so I need all the advice I can get, so I don't slip up... again... haha Thanks guys

 

[MidnightDistort]

Yeah, imo it's pretty much common sense you wouldn't want to store any important data on a old clunky hard drive or a previously owned one. Plus you won't have strange errors like i am having on an older system which i added/changed some stuff on it.

 

[icecoldsnake]

Best answer selected by icecoldsnake.