Windows detected a hard disk problem... but all tests pass?

mistermangos

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Apr 20, 2017
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Hello,

Yesterday when I got home I was greeted by a "Windows detected a hard disk problem" error message. I proceeded to back up some data and then look at the Event Logs for the message, which showed this:

Windows Disk Diagnostic detected a S.M.A.R.T. fault on disk HGST HTS721010A9E630 (volumes C:\;D:\). This disk might fail; back up your computer now. All data on the hard disk, including files, documents, pictures, programs, and settings might be lost if your hard disk fails. To determine if the hard disk needs to be repaired or replaced, contact the manufacturer of your computer. If you can't back up (for example, you have no CDs or other backup media), you should shut down your computer and restart when you have backup media available. In the meantime, do not save any critical files to this disk.

I searched online for some advice, and eventually I was led to downloading and using SeaTools to run tests on my drive. I ran the every test and they all passed, except for the Long Generic, which failed almost instantly. I thought my drive was surely broken, so I proceeded to order a new one. Before I went to bed, I decided to let the tests run again... and when I woke up the drive passed all the tests, including the Long Generic one! Being thoroughly confused, I decided to run another test using smartmon tools, and this was the output: https://pastebin.com/MhzMNp5D

Is my drive actually dead or was it just some weird mistake?
 
Solution
Well if it was 'dead' you wouldn't get anywhere. :) However it could be going.

You might want to just try running the chkdsk that comes with the computer. You can run in from by going to Command Prompt in Windows.

The following are the options you can use when running it....

Checks a disk and displays a status report.


CHKDSK [volume[[path]filename]]] [/F] [/V] [/R] [/X] [/I] [/C] [/L[:size]] [/B]


volume Specifies the drive letter (followed by a colon),
mount point, or volume name.
filename FAT/FAT32 only: Specifies the files to check for fragmentation.
/F Fixes errors on the disk.
/V On FAT/FAT32: Displays the full path and name of every file
on the disk...
Well if it was 'dead' you wouldn't get anywhere. :) However it could be going.

You might want to just try running the chkdsk that comes with the computer. You can run in from by going to Command Prompt in Windows.

The following are the options you can use when running it....

Checks a disk and displays a status report.


CHKDSK [volume[[path]filename]]] [/F] [/V] [/R] [/X] [/I] [/C] [/L[:size]] [/B]


volume Specifies the drive letter (followed by a colon),
mount point, or volume name.
filename FAT/FAT32 only: Specifies the files to check for fragmentation.
/F Fixes errors on the disk.
/V On FAT/FAT32: Displays the full path and name of every file
on the disk.
On NTFS: Displays cleanup messages if any.
/R Locates bad sectors and recovers readable information
(implies /F).
/L:size NTFS only: Changes the log file size to the specified number
of kilobytes. If size is not specified, displays current
size.
/X Forces the volume to dismount first if necessary.
All opened handles to the volume would then be invalid
(implies /F).
/I NTFS only: Performs a less vigorous check of index entries.
/C NTFS only: Skips checking of cycles within the folder
structure.
/B NTFS only: Re-evaluates bad clusters on the volume
(implies /R)

The /I or /C switch reduces the amount of time required to run Chkdsk by
skipping certain checks of the volume.

It will certainly let you know if there are any bad sectors, etc. on the drive and if it doesn't finish then you know it has hit a very bad or even gone sector.
 
Solution