Where do I get software to make use of this "S.M.A.R.T"

[Pixelation]

So I've been looking around for hard drive reviews and I keep seeing people talking about "S.M.A.R.T" in relation to errors...

"Self-Monitoring Analysis and Reporting Technology"

I ended up getting a Samsung hard drive...
I google it up, I get some software from companies I have never heard of. I don't want to download random software for my hard drives.

I want to check if there's anything wrong with the hard drive before I continue on to use it. Seems to work fine so far.
Is it a software that goes with the hard drive technology?
Is there a MAIN software company that is like used by almost everyone?
Am I supposed to get it from the hard drive manufacturer's website?
Is it already included with windows 7?

It was fairly hard to search information on this... So I decided to just ask.
Best I got was some samsung article explaining their awesome technology and stuff, but nowhere did it tell me how to use it.
Thanks

 

[Emerald]

I would check the Samsung site and look for a diagnostic software.

http://ars.samsung.com/customer/usa/jsp/faqs/faqs_view_us.jsp?AT_ID=5539&PROD_ID=26&PG_ID=-1&PROD_SUB_ID=0

If I am not mistaken SMART is used by the HDD to automatically check for problems and move data to different sectors if needed to prevent data loss.

 

[sminlal]

Utilities like DiskCheckup can report the SMART counter values of a SATA drive. I use it for my drives and it works just fine.

http://www.passmark.com/products/diskcheckup.htm

 

[fzabkar]

I trust these SMART utilities:

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

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

smartmontools (Linux / Windows):
http://sourceforge.net/projects/smartmontools/files/
http://sourceforge.net/apps/trac/smartmontools/wiki/Download

CrystalDiskInfo:
http://crystalmark.info/download/index-e.html

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