Western Digital WDBAAB5000ASL User Manual - Page 44

Checking Drive Health, Diagnostics, Diagnostic Tool, Description

Page 44 highlights

MY PASSPORT ESSENTIAL AND ESSENTIAL SE USER MANUAL 17 Checking Drive Health The data files on your My Passport drive are important to you. The WD SmartWare software has several built-in diagnostic tools to help make sure that your drive is performing well. Run one of the following tests if you are concerned that your drive is not operating properly: Diagnostic Tool Quick S.M.A.R.T. Status Check Quick Drive Test Complete Drive Test Description S.M.A.R.T. is a failure-prediction function that continuously monitors key internal performance attributes of the drive. A detected increase in drive temperature, noise, or read/write errors, for example, can provide an indication that the drive might be approaching a serious failure condition. With advanced warning, you could take precautionary measures, like moving your data to another drive, before a failure occurs. The result of a quick S.M.A.R.T. status check is a pass or fail evaluation of the drive's condition. The S.M.A.R.T. status check completes within a second or two. Your My Passport drive has a built-in Data Lifeguard diagnostic utility that tests the drive for error conditions. The quick drive test checks the drive for major performance problems. The result of a quick drive test is a pass or fail evaluation of the drive's condition. The quick drive test can take several minutes to complete. The most comprehensive drive diagnostic is the complete drive test. It methodically tests every sector for error conditions, and inserts bad-sector markers as required. The complete drive test can take several hours to complete, depending on the size and data configuration of your drive. The best time to run the drive diagnostics and status checks is on a regular basis, before you encounter any problems with your drive. And, because they are so fast, running the quick S.M.A.R.T. status check and the quick drive test provides a high level of assurance with minimal inconvenience. Then, run all three whenever you encounter disk error conditions when backing up or retrieving files. To run drive diagnostics and status checks: 1. On the Drive Settings screen (see Figure 16 on page 25), click Diagnostics to display the Run Diagnostics dialog: CHECKING DRIVE HEALTH - 39

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MY PASSPORT ESSENTIAL AND ESSENTIAL SE
USER MANUAL
CHECKING DRIVE HEALTH
– 39
Checking Drive Health
The data files on your My Passport drive are important to you. The WD SmartWare
software has several built-in diagnostic tools to help make sure that your drive is
performing well. Run one of the following tests if you are concerned that your drive is not
operating properly:
The best time to run the drive diagnostics and status checks is on a regular basis, before
you encounter any problems with your drive. And, because they are so fast, running the
quick S.M.A.R.T. status check and the quick drive test provides a high level of assurance
with minimal inconvenience. Then, run all three whenever you encounter disk error
conditions when backing up or retrieving files.
To run drive diagnostics and status checks:
1.
On the Drive Settings screen (see
Figure 16 on page 25
), click
Diagnostics
to
display the Run Diagnostics dialog:
Diagnostic Tool
Description
Quick S.M.A.R.T. Status Check
S.M.A.R.T. is a failure-prediction function that continuously
monitors key internal performance attributes of the drive. A
detected increase in drive temperature, noise, or read/write
errors, for example, can provide an indication that the drive
might be approaching a serious failure condition. With
advanced warning, you could take precautionary measures,
like moving your data to another drive, before a failure
occurs.
The result of a quick S.M.A.R.T. status check is a pass or fail
evaluation of the drive's condition.
The S.M.A.R.T. status check completes within a second or
two.
Quick Drive Test
Your My Passport drive has a built-in Data Lifeguard
diagnostic utility that tests the drive for error conditions. The
quick drive test checks the drive for major performance
problems.
The result of a quick drive test is a pass or fail evaluation of
the drive's condition.
The quick drive test can take several minutes to complete.
Complete Drive Test
The most comprehensive drive diagnostic is the complete
drive test. It methodically tests every sector for error
conditions, and inserts bad-sector markers as required.
The complete drive test can take several hours to complete,
depending on the size and data configuration of your drive.
7