First post, by Zup
- Rank
- Oldbie
I'd need some tools to test HDDs. I like MHDD and Victoria because they have a block test that shows if a sector is "weak" (functional, can be read and written, but it takes some time to do it) opposing to SMART internal tests that only shows if the disk can be read. Because I use both tools from Hiren's Boot CD I use them mostly as offline testing tools (I mean, I must restart my computer to run them). So I'd like to have:
a) A Windows tools that can start SMART internal tests, even on USB connected disks. Doing a SMART test is less reliable but a lot faster than do a block test on USB disks (the test run at native SATA speed, not USB speed). I know that some USB adapters don't allow SMART commands, but I have a USB to SATA converter that can do the trick (both HGST Drive Fitness Tool and smartctl can run the tests, but HGST DFT seems to only work with Hitachi HDDs and smartctl must be run on Linux).
b) A Windows tool that can do block test and run "portable". I know some apps that needs to install special drivers (I'm not allowed to do that in my laptop), and some other will only run on 32 bits (BTW, the Windows version of Victoria included in Hiren's Boot CD is not capable of reading SMART data on SATA/USB disks).
Any suggestion? Thanks.
I have traveled across the universe and through the years to find Her.
Sometimes going all the way is just a start...