CrystalDiskInfo Using Guide, S.M.A.R.T info Meanings, Hard Disk Health Learning. Reallocated Sectors Count, Current Pending Sector Count, Uncorrectable Sector Count
Contents
CrystalDiskInfo
CrystalDiskInfo, S.M.A.R.T. (Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology) is a free and Turkish program that offers a lot of information about your disk. It helps you detect and prevent future disk surface errors so you can take timely action before data loss becomes irreparable.
The first thing you’ll see when running CrystalDiskInfo is a clear and simple interface that displays all the detailed information about your main hard drive: from make and model to buffer size and cache, as well as serial number and even firmware. With one click you can browse any other hard disk connected to PC. And again, you can instantly see data like temperature or the time it’s been turned on.
The software uses a color scheme to warn you that the disk condition is dangerous. By default, if all goes well, the most important information on your hard drives will appear in green or blue depending on the style you are using. That way, if you see the temperature or any other parameter turn yellow, you know you need to be careful and watch out for a potential problem.
CrystalDiskInfo Using Guide
With CrystalDiskInfo, there is a small adjustment you need to make without knowing your Disk health. This setting allows you to see Raw Values as Normal numbers. To do this: While in CrystalDiskInfo, select “Function” menu and then “Advanced Feature” > “Raw Values” > “10[DEC]”.
What Do CrystalDiskInfo Terms Mean?
- Firmware: Shows the software version of your disk.
- Serial Number: Each disc has a serial number. Here you can find the Serial number.
- Interface: Indicates the disk mount. such as ATA or PATA
- Transfer Mode: Indicates the interface connection type, such as Serial ATA (SATA).
- Drive Letter: The letter the disk is receiving in Windows.
- Standard: Indicates the standard owned.
- Features: Shows the properties of the disk. (SMART, NCQ etc.)
- Buffer size: Indicates the cache size, which determines the processing capacity of the disk.
- Rotation Rate: Displays the number of rotations per Minute of the disc. (5400 RPM makes 90 revolutions per second. 7200 RPM is 120 rounds.)
- Power On Count: Indicates how many times the disk has been initialized. Every start after stopping.
- Power On Hours: The time the disk has been running to date. (Not the data copy time. The time it stays active)
- 01 Read Error Rate: Number of errors while reading data from disk.
- 03 Spin-Up Time: The Spin-Up Time is the time, in ms, for the drive to spin up and become operational. Spin-Up Time is the time from 0RPM to stable speed and operation. As long as this Value is above the threshold, your disk’s acceleration time is good. So it’s good that this number is high.
- 04 Start/Stop Count: Shows the number of starts and stops of the disc to date.
- 05 Reallocated Sectors Count: Bad sectors of the hard drive that can no longer be trusted to securely store data. When a hard disk encounters a read/write/data validation error, it marks that sector as “reallocated” and transfers the data to another spare sector to avoid the risk of data corruption. In short, it is the information known as the Bad Sector number.
- 07 Seek Error Rate: Arama Error Rate is a SMART disk that indicates a serious problem with the drive is a mistake. This can be caused by severely bad sectors, mechanical problems or overheating and servo damage. The higher the Scan Error Rate, the higher the probability of driver search failure.
- 09 Power-On Hours: The amount of time the disk has been open to date. This information is in hours.
- 0A Spin Retry Count: Indicates the number of attempts to reach the average rotational speed of the disc. The disc can be used normally when it reaches the number of revolutions. Sometimes this cycle start is unresponsive and another attempt is made. This information also shows the number of attempts made. Sometimes there may be engine or readhead problems, although not a major issue.
- 0B Recalibration Retires: The number of attempts to calibrate a drive. Indicates a major problem with the motor, bearings, or power supply. The click you hear on a failing hard drive is a retry of the calibration as the drive can’t see where it is. This is due to faulty heads/plates.
- Power Cycle Count at 0C: Indicates the number of hard disk on/off cycles. It is the number of times the hard disk shaft starts to spin and stops spinning. This spindle turns on and starts spinning every time the drive is powered on or wakes from sleep mode.
- C0 Power-off Retract Count: This parameter displays the number of power-off cycles. It also displays the immediate Retraction Cycle Count. The Power Down Recall Count attribute usually increases during non-standard power OFF cycles, for example, caused by a sudden power failure, power loss, or hard reset. This is usually lower than the number of starts/stops, ideally 0.
- C1 Load/Unload Cycle Count: The Load/Unload Cycle Count indicates how often the actuator arm is parked in the load zone. The actuator arm holds the head that reads/writes the disk.
- C2 Temperature: Displays the internal temperature of the disc. High temperature will decrease performance.
- C4 Reallocation Event Count: This parameter displays the number of remap operations (transferring data from a bad sector to a dedicated disk space – spare space). The raw value of this attribute represents the total number of attempts to transfer data from reallocated sectors to a spare area. Unsuccessful attempts count as successful.
- C5 Current Pending Sector Count: The current number of sectors waiting to be moved is a SMART parameter that indicates the current number of unstable sectors on your disk that need to be remapped. And if these sectors are then successfully read, the count will decrease. Even if the read fails, The Number of Repositioned Sectors will increase.
- C6 Uncorrectable Sector Count: The uncorrectable sector count is an S.M.A.R.T parameter that indicates many unreadable errors while reading or writing a sector on the hard drive. If the hard drive has too many Uncorrectable Sector Counts, it means that the hard drive will fail, resulting in data loss.
- C7 UltraDMA CRC Error Count (UltraDMA CRC Error Count): Indicates the number of unreadable data. This may not be a constantly received read error. It does not indicate that the sector in which the data is located is corrupt, only the number of bad reads. The relevant data is corrupt or unreadable.
- C8 Write Error Rate: This parameter displays the total number of errors that occur when saving data to a hard disk. This can be caused by problems with the disk surface or read/write heads.
Disk SMART is a system that provides information about your disk. Bad sectors and errors here indicate that it’s time to replace your disk and that you need to back up your data.
When should a disc not be used?
- If the disk has started to slow down.
- The disc temperature is too high.
- If Windows started to crash frequently (Blue screen errors).
- If different sounds are coming from the disc.
- If there are too many Bad Sectors, it indicates that the disk is nearing the end of its life.
