Existing users, 
 SMART Utility - 2.0Checks hard drives' internal diagnostics systems. |
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Feedback Summary:
| Version 2.0: | |||||
| Overall Rating: |  (5.0) |
Features: |  (4.0) |
Support: | (5.0) |
| Ease of Use: | (5.0) |
Quality / Stability: | (5.0) |
Price: | (5.0) |
Key to Types of Feedback:
Reviews 
Troubleshooting 
Usage Tips 
Developer Notes 
Commentary 
Featured Reviews
''It fails me, it fails me not...'' - Version: 2.1.1, 12/1/2009 04:51AM PST
(1 of 1 users found this comment useful)
summerstormpictures
According to a white paper by Google... - Version: 2.1, 10/16/2009 11:14AM PST
(3 of 3 users found this comment useful)
Gennx30
covering 100,000 hard drives-praying for a sign, throwing salt over your shoulder, or visiting a psychic are nearly as reliable as using a SMART utility to predict HD failure;
Also, HEAT and USE do not seem to correlate between a drive failing and one that does not
There are certain parameters on a aggregate scale such as Googles server farms-where these utilities have SOME value-but for an individual consumer-the above suggestions are cheaper-and maybe as reliable
There may be some exceptions-probably based more on luck or coincidence
All in all even a free smart utility is no more than a 'feel good' device-like a rabbits foot
Considering to horror of data loss and the expense of recovery-the manufacturers should simply adjust the QC formula-'the acceptable rate of returns' down to 5% or less-this would not add appreciably to the cost-
as most reviews-of the best HDs i read show a 10% average failure rate-ive been researching into which BU HD might be the best for me- im seeing an UNACCEPTABLE failure rate-conisdering what you buy it for-one should not have to worry
To be safe, your computer and external HD should exist as redunant BUs-VERY unlikely both could fail at once-but I know im tempted to push all overflow stuff onto my BU-but the worry-should I buy a BU for the BU?
http://labs.google.com/papers/disk_failures.pdf
if someone has other data showing differently-please submit
Also, HEAT and USE do not seem to correlate between a drive failing and one that does not
There are certain parameters on a aggregate scale such as Googles server farms-where these utilities have SOME value-but for an individual consumer-the above suggestions are cheaper-and maybe as reliable
There may be some exceptions-probably based more on luck or coincidence
All in all even a free smart utility is no more than a 'feel good' device-like a rabbits foot
Considering to horror of data loss and the expense of recovery-the manufacturers should simply adjust the QC formula-'the acceptable rate of returns' down to 5% or less-this would not add appreciably to the cost-
as most reviews-of the best HDs i read show a 10% average failure rate-ive been researching into which BU HD might be the best for me- im seeing an UNACCEPTABLE failure rate-conisdering what you buy it for-one should not have to worry
To be safe, your computer and external HD should exist as redunant BUs-VERY unlikely both could fail at once-but I know im tempted to push all overflow stuff onto my BU-but the worry-should I buy a BU for the BU?
http://labs.google.com/papers/disk_failures.pdf
if someone has other data showing differently-please submit
Much Better - Version: 2.0.2, 6/9/2009 08:07PM PST
(1 of 1 users found this comment useful)
Phoenix DownUnder
Hi, this version appears to be much more stable but I am unable to test with multiple drives at the mo. I have removed and dumped one of my sata drives from this olde PPC Leopard machine
and wasn't planning to update it as it won't run Snow Leopard. BUT Smart Utility is stable with the one drive and the details are excellent. WDC 250Gb - 7100 hours and no errors!! To the designer, sorry I didn't come back to this entry - have just seen your replies. Also have been moving house!!
Will try and find a sata drive and see what happens. Alas it doesn't see USB connected WD (backup) drives. Demo period was only 1 restart long, can no longer start.
and wasn't planning to update it as it won't run Snow Leopard. BUT Smart Utility is stable with the one drive and the details are excellent. WDC 250Gb - 7100 hours and no errors!! To the designer, sorry I didn't come back to this entry - have just seen your replies. Also have been moving house!!
Will try and find a sata drive and see what happens. Alas it doesn't see USB connected WD (backup) drives. Demo period was only 1 restart long, can no longer start.
Why not use the free SMARTReporter which is FREE and sits in your menu bar? It's available here on VersionTracker.