HDD Control

SMART Values (RAW)

Ashampoo HDD Control 2 is interpreting the values for you! Once you’ve selected Show SMART Data a menu opens containing up to 20 SMART values (the number depends on the hdd model) of your hard drive. Click on any value and Ashampoo HDD Control 2  will explain and evaluate it.

To quote an example: Click on a value and an explanation will appear below the list.

This explanation (see picture below) contains the essential information about this SMART value, its meaning, the consequences and some technical explanation. With a short view you’ll be SMART Pro!   

There is no information for an attribute

SMART is a standard that many hard drive manufacturers have agreed to comply with but it is not absolutely binding. Therefore, certain values may be unique to your drive but not ‘understood’ by Ashampoo HDD Control 2. In this case, you can create a report and inquire with your hard drive manufacturer for more details.

Flags

Flags (see picture below) are a kind of additional info of the SMART data. One character represents a special characterization of the attribute. Let’s have a closer look at the meaning of the flags.

W = PRE_FAILURE_WARRANTY
O = ON_LINE_COLLECTION
P = PERFORMANCE_ATTRIBUTE
E = ERROR_RATE_ATTRIBUTE
C = EVENT_COUNT_ATTRIBUTE
S = SELF_PRESERVING_ATTRIBUTE
 
W: Means that the manufacturer considers this attribute as critical. If an attribute falls below this threshold and the hard disk is still under guarantee, the manufacturer might replace it (contact manufacturer’s support). Please keep in mind that the manufacturer’s guarantee is meant, not national rules and regulations of guarantee.
 
P: Means that the manufacturer considers this attribute as non-critical and only refers to the performance. The software might evaluate this differently depending on the attribute.

 
E: Means that the manufacturer considers this attribute as error failure rate.

 
C: Means that the manufacturer considers this attribute as a counter. Usually the RAW-value is identical to the number of events that are connected to this attribute.
 
O: Means that this attribute can only be updated, if the hard disk is not idle.
 
S: Means that this attribute can even be updated with deactivated SMART functions (which may be caused by BIOS settings). The software cannot read this attribute, but the hard drive will refresh it anyway.

Info

The monitoring function is not supported by all USB and Firewire devices. The necessary S.M.A.R.T. functions are not supported by hard drives accessed via the AHCI interface or by drives configured in RAID arrays. Usually hard drives in so called software RAIDs and those, which are configured as single hard drives in connection with RAID controllers,  are an exception to this.

Maximum security

Ashampoo HDD Control 2 minimizes the risk of a sudden hard drive crash. Studies have shown that, for the majority of hard drive failures, there are clear signs in advance that could have been discerned in the SMART data. The SMART values provide valuable information on whether a hard drive is reaching the end of its life cycle. But even the hard drive manufacturers themselves are not able to provide exact information on when a hard drive will crash. Most crashes can be detected in advance through a decrease in performance, slower reaction times or increasing error values. Still, it is impossible to guarantee that even a hard drive with good values will never crash. Ambient temperature increases, vibrations or voltage peaks are a few good examples of sudden changes to external conditions that can cause a hard drive to fail. “As safe as possible,” is probably the best recipe. Important: Please backup your files, if the health of your systems gets worse!