At 08:27 AM 03/06/98 +0000, you wrote:
>I'm a little out of the loop down here. I've seen a couple of recent
>references to this kind of thing by OEMs:
>
>"The hard drive in this system monitors itself and advises you in the
>event of an impending failure"
>
>Who is making this type of hard drive? Anyone have +/- experience?
Most HD manufacturers make SMART drives, and with a BIOS that supports it
or a program that reads the SMART data from the drive, it works. One
program that I know supports reading the SMART data is Norton System
Doctor - the sensor is called SMART Status(or something similar).
Other utility programs may also read it, but NU Version 2+ I know does it.

I've had two drives where the SMART flag flipped on me; one was a WD
Caviar AC31600 1.6 GB hard drive. On this drive, System Doctor  told
me that the SMART status was bad, but I chose to ignore it in the
hopes that it would go away(stupid, I know!). It didn't, and about 2
weeks later, the drive did die.  My other was a Quantum Sirocco 6.4
GB hard drive, on this system, the BIOS complained about the SMART
status, so I replaced it ASAP! Once bitten, twice shy?

Jamie Furtner

Jamie Furtner <[log in to unmask]>