PassMark DiskCheckup allows the user to monitor the SMART attributes
of a particular hard disk drive. SMART ( Self Monitoring Analysis &
Reporting Technology ) is an interface between a computer's BIOS (basic
input/output system) and the computer hard disk. It is a feature of the
Enhanced Integrated Drive Electronics (EIDE) technology that controls access
to the hard drive. If S.M.A.R.T is enabled when a computer is set up, the
BIOS can receive analytical information from the hard drive and determine
whether to send the user a warning message about possible future failure
of the hard drive.
SMART monitors elements of possible long term drive failure, such as 'Spin
Up Time', the number of start/stops, the number of hours powered on and
the hard disk temperature.
DiskCheckup displays the current values of the SMART attributes, along with the Threshold value for that attribute. If any attribute value is close to or below the threshold, the drive is no longer reliable and should be replaced.
Note that SMART attributes change slowly over time and are helpful attempts
to diagnose the life span of a particular drive. DiskCheckup monitors these
changes over a long period and predict the date (if
available) of the Threshold Exceed Condition (TEC), which is displayed
on the main window.
DiskCheckup also displays some additional drive information, such as the
drive serial number, model number, firmware version, device capacity, partition
capacities, the number of cylinders, tracks, the sectors per track, etc...
E-mail notification when Threshold Exceed Condition detected
DiskCheckup can be configured to perform e-mail notification when a SMART
attribute has been detected to be less than the allowable threshold value.
Such threshold values are determined by the hard disk manufacturer. For
a drive to be considered "good", all the SMART attributes must
be above these values. Different SMART attributes have different threshold
values. For more configuration options, refer to the screen shot below.
System requirements
A hard drive and BIOS that supports SMART, plus compatible drivers. Most recent hard drives are OK but drives connected via SCSI or hardware RAID will not work. But drives connected via SATA (serial ATA) are supported. Drives configured as software RAID (dynamic disks) via Windows Disk Management will also work.
