Windows 10: Drive Error Checking in Windows 10

Hi Brink,
I had a repeat performance this morning: [Windows False Positive (?)]

Windows Detected a Hard Disk Problem, attached
Command Prompt (Admin) -> chkdsk E: /f <--&--> chkdsk Z: /f ... says all is OK.
SMART Drive Fitness Test ... says all is OK, attached
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(I now have that drive fully backed up with Macrium)
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Can you suggest any other way to check this drive, or just wait and see?

Thanks for taking a look! *Smile
/jdU

P.S.: (Off topic) Re: Primary SSD, Is is normal for Windows 10 to show only 3 partitions while Macrium sees 4?
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You might replace the data cable on the drive just to rule that out as a cause, but I'm not sure what to make of it when both chkdsk and the program from the manufacturer report no issues.

If you have Windows 10 installed with UEFI, then it would be normal to not see the other hidden partition in Disk Management.

 

Data cable = SATA Cable (?), easy enough; will do. Thanks.
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UEFI - Check, Thanks; I thought I read somewhere Windows 10 does that (sometimes?), just surprised it doesn't show in Disk Management, but Macrium sees it. Obviously NBD. Thanks

 

Seagate also has a similar program called Sea Tools. Several Versions nested in their website for download.
Chkdsk has been around since the First versions of DOS. Just a lot more switches available now.
There are some 3rd party Programs Available that will decode your S.M.A.R.T logs on your HD as well.
Playing with Hard Drives and SMART can get a little complicated as each OEM uses the logging system in different ways.

 

Hi bltserv, Brink -
Is it possible that using a Western Digital program to test a Hitachi HDD might be a problem?
Thanks,

 

Check.
I'll be picking up a SATA cable tomorrow from a buddy.

 

Normally all these simple OEM SATA testing programs will test other companies drives for the go/no-go Short Test
Extending Testing, Error Code Reporting, Firmware Downloading. Use the Test for the OEM of the Drive your Testing.
Only 3 Disk Drive companies Left now. Soon to be 2. Hitachi and WD are basically under the same now. Seagate.
And with SSD technology growing so fast and the price becoming more competitive. Soon the Hard Drive will
go the way of the Floppy.

 

Hi All!
I've held off on changing the data cable to see if I get another Windows disk failure warning. All has been good until yesterday. I ran the WD DFT again and came up with no errors. Before I change the cable I thought it wise to run a Hitachi Drive Fitness Test, but also thought it would be wise to get "thumbs up" from you folks before grabbing a free download more or less at random. The comment about *overwriting data* caught my eye, so I'm asking if this .iso file will do the trick or may I be asking for trouble?
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Hitachi Drive Fitness Test 4.16
Hitachi Drive Fitness Test 4.16 Download - TechSpot
Developer:
Hitachi
Last updated:
December 29, 2015
License:
Freeware
OS support:
Windows
File size:
2.7 MB

Quick, reliable method to test SCSI and IDE hard disk drives, including Serial-ATA IDE drives.
This download creates a self-booting DOS diskette to run the DFT utility. The Drive Fitness Test (DFT) provides a quick, reliable method to test SCSI and IDE hard disk drives, including Serial-ATA IDE drives. The Drive Fitness Test analyze function performs read tests without overwriting customer data. (However, Drive Fitness Test is bundled with some restoration utilities that will overwrite data.)

Supports SCSI and IDE drives, including Serial-ATA drives

Thanks very much for you comments and advice! *Smile
Best,

 

Hello HD,

The Hitachi Drive Fitness Test 4.16 program will be fine to use, but be sure to not use the "Restore drive fitness" features since they appear to wipe the drive and all its data.

 

It's very rare that a SATA data cable will fail. Unlike the old PATA 40 PIN ones would all the time. Run the long test. Also there are some programs out there that let you read SMART data logs. I have a Commercial one. SCSI Tools. But its way off the charts price wise. Used to be a SMART tools that you could read this internal disk info with.

S.M.A.R.T. Monitoring Tools download | SourceForge.net

 

Thanks for the feedback bltserv,
It appears < Download smartmontools-6.5-1.win32-setup.exe (1.1 MB) > is a x32 program.
I just tried: < Hitachi Drive Fitness Test 4.16, dft32_v416_b00.iso > to learn it will only run on x32 machines. I'm running x64.
The Windows disk failure warning may be a false positive, as suggested by Brink, but leaves me with a nagging feeling disaster is around the corner. I was hoping to find a Hitachi DFT that would work with my x64 machine, but no luck there. Strange (to me) since this Hitachi drive came with my x64 machine.





Anyway, thanks for trying to help. *Smile
Best,

 

To be safe, you might consider getting a new drive to keep your data on, and just use this one as a working drive. This way if it should die, you won't lose anything.

 

Drives are so cheap now. $ 59 for a Terabyte.

Usually these Disk Testing programs will run in 32 Bit Compatibility mode on a 64 Bit Machine without issue ?
And should do so and install automatically ? Something seems amiss there.

I agree. Don't waste time and effort on a questionable disk.

 

Hi Brink,
Well, that's more or less what I'm doing now. When I upgraded to a SSD Primary that only holds the OS and Program Files, I gained the previous 1TB Primary as a new data file drive. That's Drive-2 while Drive-3 is the questionable one. I've copied currently used work files from Disk-3 to Disk-2 (and am making weekly external drive backups of both drives). Periodically, I update Disk-3 with the current files on Disk-2.
I guess you could say my data is 'safe'; it's just seems silly I have to constantly dance around over this issue. *Smile LOL.
Oh, well - eventually large SSD pricing will come down enough to justify moving to the newer technology.
Best,

 

Jdu, try this https://www.hgst.com/support/hard-dr...port/downloads That is Hitachi's web site and lists their tools. Hitachi has been bought out by Western Digital, so if this doesn't work maybe WD will have some info on them or another tool.