My Hard Drive Failed A Seatools "long Generic" Scan. How Likely Is It To Be Failing?

I have a 1 TB Western Digital external hard drive hooked up to my computer via USB.

I have been slightly worried about the possibility of it going out, as I've had it for three years now and it seems to be getting a tad noisier and slower to start up lately (although that could be my imagination). So I downloaded SeaTools for Windows and ran two tests. The first one (Short Drive Self Test) passed. The second (Long Generic) reported (in its words) "Long Generic - FAIL".

I then downloaded and ran HDDScan, which can apparently find out the S.M.A.R.T. data of a hard drive, and got the following results:



I have no idea how to interpret these results (except that the green dots seemingly indicate success), so I don't know for certain if the drive passed or failed.

My questions are these:

1. Does the S.M.A.R.T. data indicate that the drive is functioning correctly?

2. Even if the S.M.A.R.T. data does indeed indicate that the drive is functioning correctly, should the failure of the Long Generic SeaTools test be considered proof that there is a problem after all that S.M.A.R.T. simply failed to detect?

3. If there is likely to be a problem, is there a way to pinpoint what it is and whether it is most likely a fixable one or one that would require replacement of the drive?

 

Not much wrong with SMART data. What was error code Seatools gave?

 

Here it is:

By the way, since then, I have done some tests (a S.MA.R.T. test and an extended test) on the drive using a dignostics program made by Western Digital, my hard drive's manufacturer. It passed those tests. Here are the results of the extended test:

Now that the drive has passed the Western Digital extended test, should I try another test to make sure, such as CrystalDiskInfo (which I've heard is one of the best tests out there)?

 

So Seatools found 5 bad sectors and failed. WD software don't say anything about those. Run another test and see what it tells.

You hav already made backups from disk of course.

 

I've now tried running CrystalDiskInfo, but all it did was give me S.M.A.R.T. data. I don't see an option for anything more thorough. Do you have any suggestions of good hard drive diagnostic software I could try?

I don't currently have the data on the hard drive backed up, as I don't have enough space elsewhere to put it.

 

Those results told that your drive is working but some bad sectores are never good sign. So my recommendations are to make backups immediately or asap.

I see no need for another diagnostic software.

 

So it would be wise for me to replace the drive as soon as I can?

I wonder why SeaTools showed bad sectors, but the Western Digital program didn't, especially considering that the hard drive is made by Western Digital?

 

Usually drives have spare space for bad sectors. So any bad sectors found = spare space has been used. Also being mechanical device, strange sounds are not good sign.

Perhaps Seatools took more comprehensive test than WD program. Backup everyhting then (after that) try to fix those bad LBAs with Seatools.

 

I'm actually not certain that it is making strange sounds. It's just that it usually takes about three or four seconds to initially spin up and I seem to be hearing the noises it makes louder than before (they sound nothing like the "click of death", though.) The thing is, it could be that these are because A: I use the drive slightly less now, so it has to spin up up more often, and B: I'm not using my air conditioner as much due to it being winter, so that may be why I'm perceiving the drive as noisier. I'm not sure one way or the other.

It will be necessary to buy another hard drive to back everything up. That's the only way I can acquire enough space.

If the bad LBAs can be fixed, would it be safe to use the drive again, or would it be wisest to retire it (I've been using it since June 2011).

 

Those noises sound unusual so your drive MAY be broking down.

Backup first, then it's up to you what to do. HDD breakdowns happen very randomly, how much risk are you willing to take?

For data storing, RAID 1 solution is much better than single HDD.

 

I've heard of RAID 1, but was under the impression that it can't work with Windows 7. I'll have to look into it.

 

That impression is wrong.

 

Would it be necessary to buy anything (other than two hard drives) to set up a RAID 1 array?

 

Box that holds two drives and supports RAID 1.

 

I just did a little Googling, and it appears that RAID 1 can't be implemented on external USB hard drives. If that is the case, then I can't use it, because my computer has no room for additional internal hard drives. The hard drive this thread is about is an external USB hard drive.

 

Is it possible to use it with an External USB hard drive, though? I just read that RAID can't be implemented on USB hard drives.

 

Funny, I have external RAID 1 HDD setup. So that is not the case.

And why not? How can I have USB 3.0 RAID 1 setup if that is not possible

 

From what I had read, they have to be connected via SATA.

 

Ah, I finally understand what that meant. Using only USB HDDs, RAID 1 is not possible.

But putting 2 SATA HDDs in RAID 1 HDD cage and that cage with USB to computer produces RAID 1 setup with USB connection to computer. That's like external HDD RAID 1 then.

 

Oh, that's what it is.

Can you recommend a good, reliable RAID 1 cage?