Hard Disk Repair | DataRecoveryUnion.com

Windows is generally perceived as being easier to use and administer and mostly with good reason. Most companies choose Windows as their desktop environment and often for their intranet servers too. And yet some companies selected Linux as the desktop and server platform for their massive infrastructure upgrade. In the following paragraphs I will explain the rationale for the decision.

As Sever Machines: Linux VS Windows

For Example: we have embarked on a massive upgrade of our infrastructure with the addition of several 24/7 servers with RAID 1, QA automation machines, order processing machine and redundant internet connections. Each server machine will have RAID 1 and also have hot backup. The choice was between Windows server and Linux. Choose Linux for our server machines for the following reasons:

1. Web server runs on Linux for strategic and security reasons. It only makes sense to have the same server operating system and environment here to simplify maintenance.

2. There should have two machine (one for hot backup) to provide internet connection. The same machine will also host DNS server, Web server and database (for the applications). In short we should make it a near duplicate of our web server machine. The idea is to be able to use this machine to act as a emergency backup of our live server(s). Both the machines (files and database) will be synched several times a day. This machine can also act as backup DNS provider. However this cannot be used to distribute load under normal situations because the upload bandwidth is low as is normal in ADSL and Cable connections. Even then this should provide me with some peace of mind. It only makes sense to have similar configurations in this machine as our current web server machine(s).

3. High cost of Windows server machines for multiple licenses and complicated licensing schemes. The cost of procuring and ensuring that we are compliant is very high for small organizations, not simply in dollar value but also in terms of resource allocation. They will use commodity hardware and they will have to replace them from time to time. However, with Linux they can keep several hot backups and not worry about breaking their licenses. In intend to use Fedora Core as our experience with them has been very positive.

4. RAID 1 support: Both Windows 2003 server and Linux provide software RAID 1 support and also other RAID levels. Unfortunately Windows XP Pro or Windows 2000 do not provide RAID 1 support (mirrored). You must purchase the server version. Both operating systems work with hardware RAID 1. However at this time we choose the software route as it fits well with our strategy of using commodity hardware and having spare backup machines; also it is cheaper without compromising data integrity and availability. Generally in software RAID the performance is expected to be lower. Also in Windows RAID support you will first have to install the operating system on a non-RAID device before RAID can be enabled. Linux provide all the RAID support through software and for free. Their RAID support appears more configurable and all encompassing.

5. The server applications like Apache HTTP server, Subversion, MySQL, DNS Server runs equally well on both platforms.

As Workstations: Linux VS Window

Development & QA Automation Machines

These need to be high end machine. For Example: we use a code editor for php and Eclipse IDE for Java. Both of them are available in Linux as well as Windows XP. Linux comes with Bash shell which is significantly superior to cmd prompt in terms of scripting and task automation. Java and PHP work in Linux as well as on Windows platform.

Blogging Machine

As a blogger we simply need a web browser and a convenient feed reader. There are several PHP-MySQL based feed readers which will suitably serve our requirements. Firefox works fine with Linux as well as Windows. So you see Windows do not have any advantage here.

Email

Any machines require email access. In my experiments Thunderbird came slightly ahead of Microsoft Outlook for pure email purposes especially due to built in Naive Bayesian filter and close integration with Firefox, our web browser. For additional requirements like Calendar, Sunbird is a good choice.

Security

Linux is traditionally ahead of Windows in terms of security. We can get a reasonable protection with iptables alone. ClamAV serves as a decent anti-virus solution for Linux among others. Frankly Internet Explorer will not be missed.

Office Productivity Suite

Star Office competes well against Microsoft Office in this department.

Linux lacks behind in ease of use and requires more upfront training. However the increased security, availability of software RAID 1 (mirroring) and lack of licensing hassles give it a strong advantage over Microsoft Windows. This is just my opinion.

Hard Disk Repair

Software RAID VS Hardware RAID

DATARECOVERYUNION.COM16 years ago12 years ago010 mins

RAID stands for Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks which is a technology that employs the simultaneous use of two or more hard disk drives to achieve greater levels of performance, reliability, and/or larger data volume sizes.

There are different levels of RAID. The most popular RAID formats are RAID-1 & RAID-5. However today we will not focus on the various RAID format. Let’s go straight to the differences between software RAID and hardware RAID.

1. Hardware RAID:

A conventional Hardware RAID consists of a RAID controller that is installed into the PC or server, and the array drives are connected to it.

In high end external intelligent RAID controllers, the RAID controller is removed completely from the system to a separate box. Within the box the RAID controller manages the drives in the array, typically using SCSI, and then presents the logical drives of the array over a standard interface (again, typically a variant of SCSI) to the server using the array.

2. Software RAID:

In software RAID the software does the work of RAID controller in place of the hardware. Instead of using dedicated hardware controllers or intelligent boxes, we use particular software that manages and implements RAID array with a system software routine.

3. Comparing Hardware RAID & Software RAID

Portability

OS Portability

Software RAID is not usable across operating systems. So you cannot, for example, use two RAID disks configured in Linux with Windows XP and vice versa. This is big issue for dual booting systems where you will either have to provide a non-RAID disk for data sharing between the two operating system / use hardware RAID instead.

As you know, dual booting is mostly obsolete these days as you can run multiple operating systems on the same machine using virtualization software like VMware & xen.

Hardware Portability

Software RAID
In Linux you can mirror two disks using RAID-1, including the boot partition. If for any reason the hardware goes bad, you can simply take the hard disk to a different machine and it will just run fine on the new hardware. Also with a RAID-1 array, each of the hard disk will have full copy of the operating system and data, effectively providing you with two backups, each of which can be run from a different hardware.Unfortunately in Windows it is not so easy to switch a operating system from one hardware to another, but that is the story of proprietary licenses and we will keep it for another day.

Hardware RAID
Hardware RAID is not so portable. You cannot just swap the hardware to a different machine and hope it will work. You have to find a Motherboard which is compatible with your RAID controller card; otherwise you can kiss your data goodbye. Also there is a bigger issue of problem with the RAID controller itself. If it fails and you cannot get the same controller from the market (and it has probably become obsolete by then), then again you can kiss your data goodbye.

Easy & Speedy Recovery

It may seem trivial but for a busy and loaded server, an easy and speedy recovery, that too inside the operating system without having to reboot is what one can dream of. Imagine if during the peak hours, your RAID system crashes and you are forced to reboot the machine to make changes to it to restore your data! Software RAID’s like in Linux, not only continues working even when the hardware has failed, but also starts restoring the RAID array, should any spare disk be available. All of these happen in the background and without affecting your users. This is where software RAID shines brilliantly.

System Performance

Software RAID uses the CPU to do the work of the RAID controller. This is why high-end hardware RAID controller outperforms software RAID, especially for RAID-5, because it has a high powered dedicated processor. However for low end hardware RAID, the difference may be neglible to non-existent. In fact it is possible for the software RAID perform better than low end hardware RAID controller simply because today’s desktops and workstations are powered by very powerful processors and the task is trivial to them.

Support for RAID Standards

High-end Hardware RAID may be slightly more versatile than Software RAID in support for various RAID levels. Software RAID is normally support levels 0, 1, 5 and 10 (which is a combination of RAID 0 and RAID 1) whereas many Hardware RAID controllers can also support esoteric RAID levels such as RAID 3 or RAID 1+0. But frankly who uses them?

Cost

This is where software RAID again scores over hardware RAID. Software RAID is free. Hardware RAID is moderate to high priced and can put a strain on your budget if deployed widely.

But over the years the cost of hardware RAID has come down exponentially, so it may not be too far when more affordable RAID-5 cards will be built-in on newer motherboards.

Future Proof

Gone are the days when we could associate software RAIDs with bugs and OS problems. Nowadays software RAIDs are almost flawless. We are using software RAID in Linux operating system for several years and haven’t experienced any problem whatsoever. On the contrary, hardware RAID has a single point of failure and that is its hardware controller. If it crashes then your only option is to find another equivalent RAID controller from the market; by this time the model may become obsolete and you may not even find anything compatible. You are as such faced with the haunting prospect of losing all your data, should the RAID controller fail. Software RAID will never become obsolete and will continue to get updated with updated versions of your operating system.

4. In conclusion: Software or Hardware RAID?

In my opinion, software RAID is the way to go for most users, unless you want to extract the very last ounce of performance from your RAID array and budget is not a constraint.

Hard Disk Repair

External Hard Drive Problems

DATARECOVERYUNION.COM16 years ago4 years ago07 mins

Seagate are presently among the most popular and reliable hard disks drives. The disks of the Barracuda ATA 4, ATA 5 and SATA series are relatively fast and advanced models, the only major drawback of which is their considerable heating during operation. Most frequently repairs are called for because of damaged controller components or stuck spindle motors. Disks from the U series also suffer from reading problems due to erratic development of unstable regions on the disk surface which are impossible to eliminate in any conventional way. Data recovery from Seagate HDD’s is a labor consuming process, especially in cases of mechanical damage, and may take up a lot of time, but the chances of success are typically high.

Maxtor, former Quantum, are inexpensive and relatively fast disks, although with quite a few downsides. With time the motor noise increases, the disk tends to develop surface defects and detection failures by the system may occur with increasing frequency. It is not recommended to use these disks for storing critical information and regular backups are just obligatory. While in most cases repair works are attempted for the sole purpose of data recovery, the repaired disk itself can be operational for a long time, except for the slim models which usually fail again within several weeks. The owners of such disks are advised to consider replacement with a more reliable brand. Data from these disks can be recovered successfully, but the repair work must always be trusted to a specialized service shop.

Western Digital disks, although quite widespread in the past, have never been regarded as very reliable. Disks manufactured only three or four years ago are now rarely to be found in a good operating condition. Current models of WD have a satisfactory price/capacity ratio. The new models of WD are called in for repair not very often, maybe also due to their low popularity. A characteristic feature of these disks is the sudden appearance and quick development of bad sectors in different areas of the disk surface. In some cases the disk fails to be detected by the BIOS because of faults in the switching microcircuits. The specific design and circuitry of these disks can sometimes make the task of data recovery after a physical damage too complicated.

IBM (presently Hitachi) are fast and advanced hard disk drives, however not very reliable, especially the glass plate models (DTLA and AVER series). If during startup the disk is not detected or detection is slow, then repair time has certainly come. These disks are highly serviceable and, if treated properly, can continue to operate reliably for a long time. Exception are the cases when the disk repeatedly emits a strong squeaking noise, which is a sign of a serious physical damage of the magnetic surface. Data can still be recovered, but quite complicated situations are possible when the magnetic surface has begun to destroy, thus making the data recovery task more time consuming and problematical. Isolated batches (assembled in Hungary and Romania) with numerous identical defects have also been registered. The production of HDD’s by IBM was discontinued.

Hitachi is successor to the IBM HDD manufacturing division. Most of the remarks about IBM disks are valid for Hitachi as well.

Samsung hard disks are noteworthy for their combination of good performance, high reliability and attractive price. Current models (SP series) are hardly ever called in for repairs, unlike earlier models (Wiener series) most of which are already out of use. Samsung disks usually fail suddenly and for no obvious reason. With the IDE models service problems begin to appear after at least one or two years of operation. Data recovery is very difficult because of the specific design of these disks. Therefore, regular backups are strongly advised.

Fujitsu, while known in the past as expensive and extremely reliable, with the advent of the MPG series these disks now present a sorry sight. The disk begins to shut off during operation and periodically fails to be detected by the system. Next comes full inoperability of the disk. Hopes for spontaneous revival are illusory since these misfortunate events repeat again and again. Data recovery from a damaged disk is in most cases successful. The disk can be repaired, but it is impossible to guarantee its stable operation. Fujitsu is discontinuing the production of hard disks for personal computers.

Hard Disk Repair

Linux Configuration Files

DATARECOVERYUNION.COM16 years ago4 years ago015 mins

–profile
–System wide environment and startup script program.

/dev/MAKEDEV
The /dev/MAKEDEV file is a script written by the system administrator that creates local only device files or links such as device files for a non-standard device driver.

/etc/aliases
Where the user’s name is matched to a nickname for e-mail.

/etc/bootptab
The configuration for the BOOTP server daemon.

/etc/crontab
Lists commands and times to run them for the cron deamon.

/etc/dhcpd.conf
The configuration file for the DHCP server daemon.

/etc/ethers
File for RARP mapping from hardware addresses to IP addresses. See the man page ethers(5).

/etc/exports
The file describing exported filesystems for NFS services.

/etc/fdprm
The floppy disk parameter table. Describes the formats of different floppy disks. Used by setfdprm.

/etc/filesystems
Can be used to set the filesystem probe order when filesystems are mounted with the auto option. The nodev parameter is specified for filesystems that are not really locally mounted systems such as proc, devpts, and nfs systems.

/etc/fstab
Lists the filesystems mounted automatically at startup by the mount -a command (in /etc/rc or equivalent startup file).

/etc/group
Similar to /etc/passwd but for groups rather than users.

/etc/groups
May contain passwords that let a user join a group.

/etc/gshadow
Used to hold the group password and group administrator password information for shadow passwords.

/etc/host.conf
Specifies how host names are resolved.

/etc/hosts
List hosts for name lookup use that are locally required.

/etc/HOSTNAME
Shows the host name of this host. Used for support of older programs since the hostname is stored in the /etc/sysconfig/network file.

/etc/inittab
Configuration file for init, controls startup run levels, determines scripts to start with.

/etc/inetd.conf
Sets up the services that run under the inetd daemon.

/etc/issue
Output by getty before the login prompt. Description or welcoming message.

/etc/issue.net
Output for network logins with LINUX version

/etc/ld.so.conf
Configuration file for ld.so, the run time linker.

/etc/lilo.conf
Configuration file for LILO.

/etc/limits
Limits users resources when a system has shadow passwords installed.

/etc/localtime
In Debian the system time zone is determined by this link.

/etc/login.defs
Sets user login features on systems with shadow passwords.

/etc/logrotate.conf
Configures the logrotate program used for managing logfiles.

/etc/magic
The configuration file for file types. Contains the descriptions of various file formats for the file command.

/etc/motd
The message of the day, automatically output by a successful login.

/etc/mtab
A list of currently mounted file systems. Setup by boot scripts and updated by the mount command.

/etc/named.conf
Used for domain name servers.

/etc/networks
Lists names and addresses of your own and other networks, used by the route command.

/etc/nologin
If this file exists, non-root logins are disabled. Typically it is created when the system is shutting down.

/etc/nsswitch.conf
Name service switch configuration file.

/etc/passwd
The user database with fields giving the username, real name, home directory, encrypted password and other information about each user.

/etc/printcap
A configuration file for printers.

/etc/profile, /etc/cshlogin,/etc/csh/cshrc
Files executed at login or startup time by the Bourne or C shells. These allow the system administrator to set global defaults for all users.

/etc/protocols
Describes DARPA internet protocols available from the TCP/IP subsystem. Maps protocol ID numbers to protocol names.

/etc/rc or /etc/rc.d or /etc/rc?.d
Scripts or directories of scripts to run at startup or when changing run level.

/etc/rc.d/rc0.d
Contains files used to control run level 0. Usually these files are softlink files.

/etc/rc.d/rc1.d
Contains files to control run level 1. Scripts beginning with an S are for start, K for kill.

/etc/rc.d/rc.sysinit
Init runs this when it starts.

/etc/resolv.conf
Configures the name resolver, specifying the address of your name server and your domain name.

/etc/securetty
Identifies secure terminals from which root is allowed to log in.

/etc/services
Lists the network services that the system supports.

/etc/shadow
Shadow password file on systems with shadow password software installed. Shadow passwords move the encrypted password files from /etc/passwd to /etc/shadow which can only be read by root.

/etc/shadow.group
Systems with shadow passwords may have this file.

/etc/shells
Lists trusted shells. The chsh command allows users to change their login shell to shells listed only in this file.

/etc/skel/.profile
Can be used by administrator to set the editor environment variable to some editor that is friendly to new users.

/etc/sudoers
A list of users with special privileges along with the commands they can execute.

/etc/smb.conf
The configuration file for setting up Samba services.

/etc/sysconfig/amd
Used to configure the auto mount daemon.

/etc/sysconfig/clock
Used to configure the system clock to Universal or local time and set some other clock parameters.

/etc/sysconfig/i18n
Controls the system font settings.

/etc/sysconfig/init
This file is used to set some terminal characteristics and environment variables.

/etc/sysconfig/keyboard
Used to configure the keyboard.

/etc/sysconfig/mouse
This file is used to configure the mouse.

/etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-interface
Defines a network interface.

/etc/sysconfig/pcmcia
Used to configure pcmcia network cards.

/etc/sysconfig//routed
Sets up dynamic routing policies.

/etc/sysconfig/static-routes
Configures static routes on a network.

/etc/sysconfig/tape
Used for backup tape device configuration.

/etc/X11/XF86Config
The configuration file for the X server.

/etc/syslog.conf
Configuration file for the syslogd daemon.

/etc/termcap
The terminal capability database. Describes by what “escape sequences” various terminals can be controlled. See terminfo, termcap, curs_termcap man pages.

/etc/terminfo
Details for terminal I/O.

/etc/usertty
This file is used to impose special access restrictions on users.

$HOME/.bashrc
User aliases, path modifier, and functions.

$HOME/.bash_profile
Users environment stuff and startup programs.

$HOME/.bash_logout
User actions to be done at logout.

$HOME/.hushlogin
When this file exists in the user’s home directory, it will prevent check for mail, printing of the last login time, and the message of the day when the user logs in.

$HOME/.inputrc
Contains keybindings and other bits.

$HOME/Xrootenv.0
Has networking and environment info.

/proc/cpuinfo
Information about the processor such as its type, make and performance.

/proc/devices
A list of devices configured into the currently running kernel.

/proc/dma
Shows which DMA channels are being used at the moment.

/proc/filesystems
Filesystems that are configured into the kernel. The file used to detect filesystems if the /etc/filesystems does not exist.

/proc/ioports
Shows which I/O ports are in use at the moment.

/proc/interrupts
Shows which interrupts are in use and how many of each there have been.

/proc/kcore
An image of the physical memory of the system.

/proc/kmsg
Messages output by the kernel. These are also routed to syslog.

/proc/ksyms
Symbol table for the kernel.

/proc/loadavg
The load average of the system.

/proc/meminfo
Information about memory usage, both physical and swap.

/proc/modules
Which kernel modules are currently loaded.

/proc/mounts
Contains information on filesystems currently mounted, similar to /etc/mtab

/proc/net
Contains status information about network protocols.

/proc/self
A symbolic link to the process directory of the program that is looking at /proc. When 2 process look at proc, they get different links.

/proc/stat
Various statistics about the system such as the number of page faults since the system was booted.

/proc/uptime
The time the system has been up.

/proc/version
The kernel version.

/tmp/fvwmrca01339
FVWM-M4 defines. Contains networking, Xwindows, other setup info.

/usr/lib/zoneinfo
Time zone datafiles are stored here on the Debian system

/var/log/lastlog
Used by finger to tell when a user was last logged in.

/var/log/wtmp
Binary info on users that have been logged on. The last command uses this info.

/var/run/utmp
Contains information about users currently logged in. Who and w commands use this file.

/var/named/root.hints
Used for domain name server. Placed here optionally, but this is the normal location.

/var/named/*
Files used by domain name server. Placed here optionally, but this is the normal location.

/var/log/btmp
Used to store information about failed logins. This file must be first created to activate it.

/var/log/lastlog
Contains information about the last time a login was done on the system. Works with lastb(1).

/var/log/maillog
The normal system mail log file.

/var/log/messages
The main system message log file.

var/log/secure
System tracking of user logins. Check this file periodically.

/var/spool/mail
Where mailboxes are usually stored.

Hard Disk Repair

Linux File Structure

DATARECOVERYUNION.COM16 years ago4 years ago05 mins

Linux file structure files are grouped according to purpose. Ex: commands, data files, documentation. Parts of a Unix directory tree are listed below. All directories are grouped under the root entry “/”.

root – The home directory for the root user
home – Contains the user’s home directories along with directories for services

ftp
HTTP
samba
george

bin – Commands needed during bootup that might be needed by normal users
sbin – Like bin but commands are not intended for normal users. Commands run by LINUX.
proc – This filesystem is not on a disk. It is a virtual filesystem that exists in the kernels imagination which is memory.

1 – A directory with info about process number 1. Each process has a directory below proc.

usr – Contains all commands, libraries, man pages, games and static files for normal operation.

bin – Almost all user commands. some commands are in /bin or /usr/local/bin.
sbin – System admin commands not needed on the root filesystem. e.g., most server programs.
include – Header files for the C programming language. Should be below /user/lib for consistency.
lib – Unchanging data files for programs and subsystems
local – The place for locally installed software and other files.
man – Manual pages
info – Info documents
doc – Documentation
tmp
X11R6 – The X windows system files. There is a directory similar to usr below this directory.
X386 – Like X11R6 but for X11 release 5

boot – Files used by the bootstrap loader, LILO. Kernel images are often kept here.
lib – Shared libraries needed by the programs on the root filesystem

modules – Loadable kernel modules, especially those needed to boot the system after disasters.

dev – Device files
etc – Configuration files specific to the machine.

skel – When a home directory is created it is initialized with files from this directory
sysconfig – Files that configure the linux system for devices.

var – Contains files that change for mail, news, printers log files, man pages, temp files
file

lib – Files that change while the system is running normally
local – Variable data for programs installed in /usr/local.
lock – Lock files. Used by a program to indicate it is using a particular device or file
log – Log files from programs such as login and syslog which logs all logins and logouts.
run – Files that contain information about the system that is valid until the system is next booted
spool – Directories for mail, printer spools, news and other spooled work.
tmp – Temporary files that are large or need to exist for longer than they should in /tmp.
catman – A cache for man pages that are formatted on demand

mnt – Mount points for temporary mounts by the system administrator.
tmp – Temporary files. Programs running after bootup should use /var/tmp.

Hard Disk Repair

How To Diagnose a Noisy Hard Drive

DATARECOVERYUNION.COM16 years ago12 years ago03 mins

Hard drives are usually nearly silent but some do make a muted clicking sound when they’re being accessed – this is normal. On the other hand, if you start hearing noises only occasionally or noises that you’ve never heard before – like clicking, grinding or squealing – your hard drive may be failing.

The steps below will help you determine what to do next before all of your precious data is gone for good.

Run free hard drive diagnostic software, already available on most PCs or available on the Internet. Additionally, more advanced diagnostic software is available for a cost from third party software developers.Note: At best, diagnostic software will only mark the areas of the hard drive that are failing as “bad” and prevent the computer from using them in the future. It will not truly fix a hard drive that is physically failing.

If any corrections made by the diagnostics software do not temporarily resolve the hard drive noise, do a complete backup of your system and replace the hard drive immediately.

If the diagnostics software helps resolve the clicking, grinding or squealing noises keep in mind that this is only a temporary solution. Chances are, the hard drive will continue to fail until it is completely unusable. The permanent solution is to do a complete backup of your system and replace the hard drive as soon as possible.

Tips:
Since there is no good way to repair a failing hard drive, protecting your data by performing regular backups is essential. With an up-to-date backup, recovering from a hard drive failure is as simple as installing a new drive and restoring your data.

Hard Disk Repair

Hard drive diagnostic software:Western Digital Data Lifeguard Diagnostics

DATARECOVERYUNION.COM16 years ago2 years ago05 mins

Western Digital Data Lifeguard Diagnostic is free hard drive testing software designed for Western Digital branded hard drives. Data Lifeguard Diagnostic will also run diagnostics on hard drives from other manufacturers as long as the primary drive is Western Digital.

The Western Digital Data Lifeguard Diagnostic software installs on Windows operating systems and allows for a number of hard drive tests. See the installation instructions from Western Digital in the link below for details.

Download: Western Digital Data Lifeguard Diagnostics

How to test a drive for problems using Windows Data Lifeguard Diagnostics?

How can you use Windows Data Lifeguard Diagnostics to do the following:

Perform a quick test on a drive for problems
Get the serial number of a drive
Write zeros to a drive
Peform a full media scan on the drive for bad sectors

The Windows version of the Data Lifeguard Diagnostics utility can perform drive identification, diagnostics, and repairs on a Western Digital FireWire, EIDE, Serial ATA, and USB drive. In addition, it can provide you with the drive’s serial and model numbers.

To use the utility:

Download Windows Data Lifeguard Diagnostics. You may need to extract this using an extraction utiltiy such as WinZip.
Run the program, windlg.exe. If you’re running this under Windows Vista, you will need to Right-click on the windlg.exe file and select Run As Administrator.
Read and accept the license agreement to continue.
On the main program screen, there are two windows. In the top window, you will see the drives in your system that are available for testing. The model number, serial number, and capacity of each drive will be displayed. In the bottom window, the partition information for the selected drive will be displayed.
Double-click the drive to be tested in the top window.
The DLGDIAG – Select an Option window appears.
You will see the following options:
QUICK TEST – performs SMART drive quick self-test to gather and verify the Data Lifeguard information contained on the drive.
EXTENDED TEST – performs a Full Media Scan to detect bad sectors. Test may take several hours to complete depending on the size of the drive.
WRITE ZEROS – writes zeros to the drive with options of Full Erase and Quick Erase. File system and data will be lost.
VIEW TEST RESULT – displays the latest test results.
Select the test you wish to perform and click the Start button.
When the test completes, you will be notified. Click the Close button.
A web page will display the test results for the drive.

Note: Windows Data Lifeguard Diagnostics will test internal hard drives contained within a WD My Book Premium II and WD My Book Pro Edition II storage system. The RAID Array on these units does not need to be broken in order to test the internal drives. The only feature that will not be available with the diagnostics is the SMART data. The diagnostics will not read SMART data from the drives.

Related Links:

Hard Disk Repair

Hard drive diagnostic software:Hitachi Drive Fitness Test

DATARECOVERYUNION.COM16 years ago4 years ago01 mins

Hitachi Drive Fitness Test is free hard drive diagnostic software available for use on most drives available today.

The Drive Fitness Test (DFT) quickly and reliably tests SCSI, IDE and SATA drives. The DFT analyze function performs read tests without overwriting customer data.

Get More: Hitachi Drive Fitness Test

Hard Disk Repair

Hard drive diagnostic software:Windows Error Checking

DATARECOVERYUNION.COM16 years ago4 years ago13 mins

1. Microsoft Windows Built-In Error Checking
Error Checking, sometimes referred to as chkdsk, is a hard drive diagnostic tool that comes with Microsoft Windows that can scan your hard drive in search of a wide range of errors. This tool can also attempt to correct a number of hard drive problems.

2. How To Scan Your Hard Drive Using Error Checking
Scanning your hard drive using Error Checking can help diagnose and even correct a wide range of hard drive errors. Error Checking replaces older Windows hard drive diagnostics such as “scandisk” and “chkdsk“.

Here’s How:
1. Open My Computer by double-clicking on the icon on the desktop.
2. Right-click on the drive letter that you wish to check for errors (usually C:) and click on the Properties menu item.
3. Choose the “Tools” tab and click on the Check Now… button.
4. Two options are available in the next window:

Automatically fix file system errors will correct many file system errors detected. This is highly recommended.
Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors will perform a search for areas of the hard drive that may be damaged or unusable. If found, this tool will mark those areas as “bad” and prevent your computer from using them in the future. This is a very useful feature but may extend the scan time as much as a few hours.

5. Click Start.
6. Allow the Error Checking program to run its course until complete.
7. Restart the PC if prompted to do so.

Hard Disk Repair

Freeware Partition Manager

DATARECOVERYUNION.COM16 years ago12 years ago210 mins

The partition table tools listed below allow you to create, resize, move, concatenate, copy, undelete (unerase) the partitions on your hard disk.

1. Gnome Partition Editor
GParted is a well-known Linux application that allows you to create, delete, resize (some partition types), move (some partition types), copy and check partitions on your hard disk. This version of GParted comes in the form of an ISO for a CD, which you can burn to your CD to create a bootable CD from which you can modify your hard disk partitions. GParted supports the following partition types to varying degrees: ext2, ext3, FAT16, FAT32, NTFS, HFS, HFS+, JFS, linux swap, ReiserFS, Reiser4, and XFS.

2. Partition Logic
Current version: 0.7
Partition Logic is a free hard disk partitioning and data management tool. It can create, delete, format, defragment, resize, and move partitions and modify their attributes. It can copy entire hard disks from one to another.

3. SwissKnife
Current version: 3.22
You can create, delete and format partitions on your hard disk drives in one smooth, simple process. While the product has been tested up to 400GB, it should support hard disks of up to 2048GB. SwissKnife allows creation of FAT32 & NTFS partitions. FAT16 option is provided for compatibility. Supports Internal interfaces such as IDE and SCSI and External interfaces such as Hi-Speed USB, Parallel port, PCMCIA, USB On-The-Go, Firewire®, SATA interfaces etc. Creates Fixed and Removable Disk Format types.

4. Ultimate Boot CD
Current version: 4.1.1
Ultimate Boot CD is a bootable CDROM for PCs that contain a variety of software for diagnosing and fixing problems on your computer, managing your hard disk partitions (including creating, resizing, copying, moving, etc), imaging or cloning your hard disk partitions.

5. Ranish Partition Manager
Current version: 2.44
Ranish Partition Manager is a powerful hard disk partitioning tool.It gives users high level of control for running multiple operating systems,such as Linux, Windows 98/XP, FreeDOS, and FreeBSD on a single disk.

Partition Manager can create, copy, and resize primary and extended partitions.It includes command line interface and simulation mode that works with large filesso you can safely experiment before working on the real hard drive partition tables.

6. The Partition Resizer
Current version: 1.3.4
The Partition Resizer resizes and moves your existing partitions for hard disks up to 2 TB (that is, 2 terabytes). It can handle both primary and extended partitions. It is able to move your data (where necessary) so as to make space for (say) an expanded FAT which may be needed if you are increasing the partition table. You can resize (expand or shrink) or move FAT partitions (including FAT32 partitions) and move NTFS partitions (though not resize). The program is a DOS program, and you can put it on a startup disk, reboot to it, and work on your system from there.

7. NTFS Resize
NTFS Resize is a Linux program that non-destructively resizes NTFS partitions (enlarges and shrinks). It supports all NTFS versions, including those created and used by Windows NT, 2000, XP (both 32-bit and 64-bit versions), 2003 and Longhorn.

8. TestDisk
TestDisk is a tool to check and undelete partitions. It essentially searches for lost partitions, and allows you to repair errors in the partition table, create a partition table, create a new MBR, etc. It works with FAT32, FAT16, FAT12, NTFS (Windows NT, If you have accidentally lost (or deleted) a partition, you might want to try TestDisk to see if it can find the partition and recover it. 2000, XP), ext2, ext3, BeFS (used by BeOS), BSD disklabel, CramFS, IBM Multiboot, JFS, Linux swap (versions 1 and 2), NSS (Netware), ReiserFS 3.5 and 3.6, and XFS. The program runs under DOS, Windows 9x/NT/2000/XP/2003, Linux, FreeBSD, and Sun Solaris. It is licensed under the GNU GPL.

9. Extended FDISK
Extended FDISK allows you to create and delete partitions and logical disks on your hard disk. It appears to come with a boot manager (that allows you to choose between multiple operating systems when you boot).

10. EASEUS Partition Master
Current version: 3.0
EASEUS Partition Master Home Edition is a FREE disk partitioning utility that offers a powerful range of functions such as resizing partitions, copying partitions, creating new partitions, deleting partitions, formatting partitions, hiding partitions, changing drive letters, setting active partitions, and a handful of other functions.

it works perfectly with hardware RAID and Windows 2000/XP/Vista (32 bit) Operating Systems. ONLY supports 32 bit Windows systems。

If you wish to create more partitions from the existing one that you already have on your hard disk, these tools will allow you to resize the existing partition to make space for more partitions without losing your data that is currently on your existing partition. They can also assist you in creating, and sometimes also formatting, new partitions. Some of the tools may have the ability to slide your partition, that is move your existing partition from one location on the disk to another location, without losing data, as well as convert a partition from one type to another (for example, converting from NTFS to FAT32 or vice versa). Still others may be able to help you recover partitions that you have already deleted, that is unerase or undelete partitions.

11. Partition Wizard Home Edition
Current version: 1.0
Partition Wizard Home Edition is a free partition manager designed by MT Solution Ltd. It supports 32/64 bit Windows Operating System including Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7. Home users can perform complicated partition operations by using this powerful but free partition manager to manage their hard disk partition such as Resizing partitions, Copying partitions, Create partition, Delete partition, Format partition, Convert partition, Explore partition, Hide partition, Change drive letter, Set active partition and Partition Recovery.Partition Wizard Home Edition is designated for home user only, to use Partition Wizard in a business envirnoment, Partition Wizard Business Edition is required.