New HDD - What Scan Check Tools Do You Run before Using?

• 

  iDroid on 09/12/2020 - 12:35

  +6

  Pffft, I'd just put it in, format it and use it. No special treatment required.

  • 

    Switchblade88 on 09/12/2020 - 12:47

    +2

    Yeah - it's not like the bad old days where HDDs were as unreliable as floppy disks.

    Besides, any important data should be on separate backups anyway - I treat every single storage media I own with suspicion and thinly veiled contempt anyway; so if any drive dies it's not a big deal.

• 

  elusive on 09/12/2020 - 13:19

  The one thing I'd almost always do is a SMART conveyance self-test, just in case it got knocked around a bit too much in shipping.

  You could do an extended self-test if you want, but that'll take many hours and is probably overkill.

  As always, any testing is just to try to identify an early failure and save some time later. Always have backups for anything you can't afford to lose.

  • 

    Nugs on 09/12/2020 - 13:21

    yep, those are done and for the reasons you outlined. Thanks
    .

• 

  garetz on 09/12/2020 - 13:24

  +1

  Depends really.

  if the disk has been shipped from the usa or uk in one of those amazon deals.

  First i do a extended test using whatever utility that the brand of the disk provides, like seatools for seagate or wd diagnostics for wd.
  Then i do a full format.

  After those 2 operations concurrently, i usually can tell the disk is fine, and what max temps to expect.
  I still have old 1tb wd re3s with 80k+ hours working over 10 years later. I think ive had 2 disks fail in the last 20 years of doing this, and 2 logical corruptions that were due to inactivity.

  • 

    bazingaa on 09/12/2020 - 14:03

    Then i do a full format.

    Remember the good old "low level format" and "scandisk" :D

    with 80k+ hours working over 10 years later.

    That's impressive. My 500GB Seagate is just 30k hours

• 

  Caped Baldy on 09/12/2020 - 13:42

  +1

  Use a program like HD Tune. Tutorial on HD Tune.
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s45BA7mczts

  You should be able to use Crystal Disk Info to determine the drive inside.

  It can get a bit toasty. I put mine on top of an air purifier which lowered the drive temps.

• 

  bazingaa on 09/12/2020 - 13:59

  +2

  SMART and general info = CrystalDiskInfo

  Benchmark = CrystalDiskMark

• 

  Nugs on 09/12/2020 - 14:41

  Thanks for all the responses
  I have run WD quick & extended, crystaldiskinfo, hdtune quick and now running hdtune non quick. By which time I will be more than satisfied.
  I don't normally bother, but 12TB is a pain in the neck to restore if it fails and being able to identify issue before using is my only concern.
  I don't have a NAS or other array, it is just a primary use drive with two at half the size as backups that I occasionally run. I started with 1.5TB, then 3, then 6 and now 12; I wonder if 24's will be feasible by the time I need it? it's not anything irreplaceable either
  .