[SOLVED] Seagate’s SeaTools Reliability

Solution
Yes, so long as the drive isn't in the process of already failing. If it is, then ANYTHING you do with the drive isn't data-safe, because using a drive to do anything except get what you can off it as fast as you can has at least some chance of resulting in "dead drive" if it fully fails during that process.

But in general, Seatools for Windows and Seatools for DOS is perfectly safe and I use it for drive and SSD testing all the time. I recommend that if you are trying to check drive health you run the Short DST (Drive self test) and the Long generic test.
Yes, so long as the drive isn't in the process of already failing. If it is, then ANYTHING you do with the drive isn't data-safe, because using a drive to do anything except get what you can off it as fast as you can has at least some chance of resulting in "dead drive" if it fully fails during that process.

But in general, Seatools for Windows and Seatools for DOS is perfectly safe and I use it for drive and SSD testing all the time. I recommend that if you are trying to check drive health you run the Short DST (Drive self test) and the Long generic test.
 
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Solution
Don't use SeaTools to "repair" anything. "Repairing" a bad sector involves writing zeroes to it.

Don't trust the SMART report. SeaTools will award a passing grade to a drive with thousands of bad sectors, if that number doesn't fall below its internal threshold. In any case you will never be told how many bad sectors the drive actually has.

SeaTools is basically a warranty tool, ie it will determine if the drive qualifies for a warranty replacement. That's all I would use it for.
 
Nov 25, 2021
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Yes, so long as the drive isn't in the process of already failing. If it is, then ANYTHING you do with the drive isn't data-safe, because using a drive to do anything except get what you can off it as fast as you can has at least some chance of resulting in "dead drive" if it fully fails during that process.

But in general, Seatools for Windows and Seatools for DOS is perfectly safe and I use it for drive and SSD testing all the time. I recommend that if you are trying to check drive health you run the Short DST (Drive self test) and the Long generic test.
Thanks for the info. How about S.M.A.R.T. Check? Any good? Is it data-safe?
 
Nov 25, 2021
66
0
30
Don't use SeaTools to "repair" anything. "Repairing" a bad sector involves writing zeroes to it.

Don't trust the SMART report. SeaTools will award a passing grade to a drive with thousands of bad sectors, if that number doesn't fall below its internal threshold. In any case you will never be told how many bad sectors the drive actually has.

SeaTools is basically a warranty tool, ie it will determine if the drive qualifies for a warranty replacement. That's all I would use it for.
Thanks for the info. Are you referring to "Fix All"? I never run that test.

Is S.M.A.R.T. Check data-safe? I'm asking because I run that test.
 
Don't use SeaTools to "repair" anything. "Repairing" a bad sector involves writing zeroes to it.

Don't trust the SMART report. SeaTools will award a passing grade to a drive with thousands of bad sectors, if that number doesn't fall below its internal threshold. In any case you will never be told how many bad sectors the drive actually has.

SeaTools is basically a warranty tool, ie it will determine if the drive qualifies for a warranty replacement. That's all I would use it for.
Right. I'm not saying Seatools is a premium resource, it's just a fair place to start and so long as you don't tell it to fix anything it's fine as a starting place to seeing if you need to use a more advanced utility as in, there is or there is not a "problem" of some kind. I know you know what you are doing when it comes to drives, but that fact doesn't automatically make every other person's experience with a thing obsolete or incorrect. I've used Seatools for YEARS, before there even generally WAS much of anything else out there for the layman to use when there was a need to just run the basic DST or long generic/extended tests without paying for a more advanced utility. As a very basic tool in your toolbox, it works fine. Same with WD lifeguard.

And yes, I also agree that primarily these are good tools for warranty reasons as in "it's dead Jim" or "seems to be fine" but only for the two tests that I specifically mentioned.
 
Seagate has the SeaChest utilities. These are excellent tools.

If you want a true indication of the physical state of your drive, SeaTools and DataLifeGuard should be avoided. Instead there are "honest", free tools such as HDDScan and Victoria for Windows. These will find "weak" sectors, ie those that require several read retries, and they will report the raw SMART data, not just pass or fail assessments.

To the OP, a SMART check is safe. It simply reads and reports the SMART data stored in a specific firmware module. "Fix All" is data destructive. If you want to recover data from a failing drive, avoid all the aforementioned tools. Instead use HDDSuperClone or ddrescue. These tools understand how to deal with bad heads or bad media. SeaTools and DataLifeGuard will just thrash your drive until it breaks.
 
Nov 25, 2021
66
0
30
Seagate has the SeaChest utilities. These are excellent tools.

If you want a true indication of the physical state of your drive, SeaTools and DataLifeGuard should be avoided. Instead there are "honest", free tools such as HDDScan and Victoria for Windows. These will find "weak" sectors, ie those that require several read retries, and they will report the raw SMART data, not just pass or fail assessments.

To the OP, a SMART check is safe. It simply reads and reports the SMART data stored in a specific firmware module. "Fix All" is data destructive. If you want to recover data from a failing drive, avoid all the aforementioned tools. Instead use HDDSuperClone or ddrescue. These tools understand how to deal with bad heads or bad media. SeaTools and DataLifeGuard will just thrash your drive until it breaks.
Thanks for that information. How about Short DST (Drive Self Test)? Is it data-safe as well?