![]() You can either clone your system or use either of these free online solutions in case your hard drive dies…and it will, most likely at the worst possible time. No matter what though, you should be backing up your data thoroughly. Also, don’t think if you’ve got a new hard drive you’re immune to failure, drives can be especially susceptible to going bad in the first few months of use. ![]() They won’t be able to detect all failures but the added bit of warning can be useful if you can’t get around to computer stores very often. Almost all of the Mac computers and laptops produced within the last few years and most newer PCs work with SMART and it can’t hurt to download these programs to find out. These monitors won’t work if your drive isn’t using SMART technology or if your BIOS doesn’t support it. More importantly, you can configure Hard Disk Monitor to send an email if it detects and major errors on the drive that could indicate it’s time for a replacement.ĭrives Go Bad When You Least Expect It – Be Prepared Hard Disk Monitor tells you more than you ever wanted to know about your hard drive including the history of the drive’s operating temperatures and total number of cylinders. (Self-Monitoring Analysis and Reporting Technology) is a technology built into most modern hard disk drives that acts as an. This SMART hard drive monitoring program works much like SMARTReporter for Windows machines, although it compiles more data. SMARTReporter is a free application for Mac OS X that can warn you of some hard disk drive failures before they actually happen It does so by periodically polling the S.M.A.R.T. Otherwise SMARTReporter just sits in your menubar with its green icon reminding you that your hard drive is spinning away Hard Disk Monitor (Windows) ![]() The program is also capable of launching specific programs (like backup software) when things aren’t looking good. SMARTReporter can be set to email you or show a pop-up when your drive starts showing problems. You can set SMARTReporter to poll your hard drive at intervals of your choice, although the default is every 60 minutes. There are two good free programs that can use the SMART data to warn you when things aren’t looking good and it’s time for a replacement drive. Hard drives are usually only designed to last anywhere from 3-5 years (although can go bad anytime) and if you’re on the road traveling it can be useful to get an early warning the end is near. Most modern hard drives are equipped with Self-Monitoring Analysis and Reporting Technology (S.M.A.R.T.) which monitors and scans hard drives looking for signs of impending failure.
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