Question How do I check the health of an HDD ? Is CrystalDiskInfo SMART report enough ?

[knowledge2121]

I want to upgrade my Xbox 360s HDDs but the problem is, 360's are only compatible with some old WD Scorpio HDDs.

I have some compatible HDDs and may buy some used or new ones later on...

Should I just check them with CrystalDiskInfo SMART report ? or is additional testing required ?

 

[kanewolf]

I want to upgrade my Xbox 360s HDDs but the problem is, 360's are only compatible with some old WD Scorpio HDDs.

I have some compatible HDDs and may buy some used or new ones later on...

Should I just check them with CrystalDiskInfo ? or is additional testing required ?

Power on hours and the other SMART info is as good as it gets. Nothing guarantees a disk won't fail in the near future.

 

[knowledge2121]

Power on hours and the other SMART info is as good as it gets. Nothing guarantees a disk won't fail in the near future.

As long as CrystakDiskInfo reports that a SMART value is ok(blue circle), it should be fine, correct ? or should I check certain values ?

Also, Some sources say you should do a full format and then check SMART values...is this true ?

 

[kanewolf]

As long as CrystakDiskInfo reports that a SMART value is ok(blue circle), it should be fine, correct ? or should I check certain values ?

Also, Some sources say you should do a full format and then check SMART values...is this true ?

A full format will access the sectors. So if it fails to write, it will show up in the SMART statistics. I don't think that is a bad idea.
Power on count and power on hours are important also. Disks have a higher probability of failure the older they are.

 

[fzabkar]

You could perform a full surface scan using Victoria for Windows or HDDScan. These tools will identify any "slow" sectors.

BTW, you could use HDDHackr to modify the firmware in a later model WD HDD to make it look like other supported HDDs, even those from other manufacturers.

 

[knowledge2121]

I am using this guide. In the guide it is mentioned that:

Hddhackr 1.40 will only work with the following Western Digital drive series: BEAS/BEVS/BEVT/BPVT/LPVT/BEKT/BJKT/BPKT/BUDT/HLFS/BLFS/BPVX/LPCX

Can you point me to the guide that lets you use any HDD ?

 

[fzabkar]

You can't use just any HDD, but you can use Hddhackr to modify a WD HDD so that it emulates those HDDs that are supported by Xbox 360. In other words, you can make any HDD in Hddhackr's list looks like a different WD model, or a Fujitsu, etc.

WD's newer HDDs have firmware locks which thwart Hddhackr's attempts to modify them.

 

[MWink64]

You could perform a full surface scan using Victoria for Windows or HDDScan. These tools will identify any "slow" sectors.

This would be my recommendation. CrystalDiskInfo only reports SMART info. It doesn't do any diagnostics. If the drive hasn't noticed something's wrong, it won't show up. HDDScan and Victoria/MHDD don't just do a pass/fail surface scan, they also identify "slow" sectors that may not have failed but are likely going to.