Hard Disk Sentinel - update and discussion

Discussion in 'other software & services' started by FanJ, Feb 5, 2014.

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  1. FanJ

    FanJ Updates Team

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    http://www.hdsentinel.com/

    Maybe it is good to have a thread for this program. Time will tell.
    The thread can be in several forum sections; I have to leave that decission to the mods.

    I am not familiar with it.

    The latest update is version 4.50 - 30 Jan 2014
    Thanks to chachazz for the post at DSLR.
     
  2. ams963

    ams963 Registered Member

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    I use HD Sentinel Pro. It's very useful. I can have a peace of mind about my HDD.:)
     
  3. roady

    roady Registered Member

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    1 of my best software investments...!...:thumb:
     
  4. subhrobhandari

    subhrobhandari Registered Member

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    Using it for a very long time, satisfied with the program and the support is very very helpful.
     
  5. starfish_001

    starfish_001 Registered Member

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    Same here ... very good witha nice dev who is very helpful
     
  6. Tarnak

    Tarnak Registered Member

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    I only got this program six months ago...very happy with it.

    It updated recently, straight over the top. No reboot was necessary.

    ScreenShot_HardDisksentinel_v4.50_update_03.gif
     
  7. roady

    roady Registered Member

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    While most people on this forum are more concerned about software based backup solutions,for me personally, it's also important to know the status of my harddrives.
    Although I also use a software solution to backup my system drive on a regular base,I don't do that daily or weekly for my storage section,as that would cost to much time.
    But HDSentinel is monitoring,and when I see some degradation,I know it's time to buy a new drive and transfer my files....:thumb:
     
  8. FanJ

    FanJ Updates Team

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    Hi folks,

    Thanks for your replies!

    As I wrote, I'm not familiar with it. So, I have a question:
    Let's say a person has a SSD, let's say for example a Samsung 840 (Pro or Evo). Someone posted recently a link to the Samsung site where you can download its TRIM program (I forgot which link it was; anyone?).
    Now my question: which extra functions does HD Sentinel gives you over such a TRIM program?
    (I guess you can see that I don't know much about these things).

    Thanks in advance.
     
  9. Tarnak

    Tarnak Registered Member

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    @ FanJ

    When I installed this software, I sent a 'Test Report', which was a feature of the program.

    The developer responded to my sending this report, and it was highlly appreciated by me.

    You can contact the developer, Janos Mathe at info[at]hdsentinel.com

    I am sure he would like to hear from you direct, and perhaps you can point him to this thread. :)
     
  10. roady

    roady Registered Member

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    The possibility to get email alerts when you're not at home and something is going wrong.
    Another option I LOVE,description directly from the helpfile:
    It is possible to connect project execution to different events like on the schedule page. For example, if the health value of any hard disk is too low or the temperature is too high a project can be executed. The user needs to enable the different problem types when a project should be started on the Alerts page.

    It is possible to specify a general project list. All projects on this list will be executed if any hard disk have a problem (and "panic backup" is enabled for the corresponding problem on the Alerts page). Moreover, the user may create different project list for each hard disk installed. This way it is possible to specify that the data should be archived from the first hard disk to the second regularly and in case the first hard disk have a low health value; and if there is a problem with the second hard disk, the data should be copied to an external disk or to a remote server.
     
  11. roady

    roady Registered Member

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    You can ask Janos directly here:

    http://club.myce.com/f197/

    He's a nice guy,and other users may learn from your questions too... :)
     
  12. FanJ

    FanJ Updates Team

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    Thank you again, Tarnak and roady !
     
  13. Robin A.

    Robin A. Registered Member

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    I have used HD Sentinel sporadically for years. It´s good for getting detailed info about disks. But I don´t use to try to predict or anticipate a disk failure. I just assume that a disk can fail suddenly anytime, be it new or old, and I am always prepared to change it.

    Besides, the computer firmware and Intel RST report problems in the disk when they detect them.
     
  14. hdsentinel

    hdsentinel Registered Member

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    If you mentioned TRIM: Hard Disk Sentinel verifies if TRIM is *really* active or not. Even manufacturer-specific tools may use wrong methods to report TRIM status (as they simply rely on fsutil) which may be a false assumption (as that method says TRIM is working even if no SSD in the system).
    Maybe interesting to check: I believe TRIM is enabled (fsutil shows that), but Hard Disk Sentinel shows it is DISABLED. Why?

    Also Hard Disk Sentinel can verify the health status (the possible erros, memory cell wearout, total and daily average reads/writes) of the SSD and keeps statistics about these fields. These can be used to determine how long the SSD may be working.

    Hard Disk Sentinel can display if the partition if aligned correctly, as it is required to have highest possible SSD performance and endurance.

    Hard Disk Sentinel has numerous tests to verify if the SSD is working correctly - to reveal (and fix) possible problems.

    Hard Disk Sentinel also monitors and displays temperature values reported by the devices (Samsung 840 has temperature sensor - while some SSDs have none. Most hard disks also have such sensors).
    This may be not as relevant for an SSD - but if you notice (or even get a warning automatically by Hard Disk Sentinel) then it may indicate a bad/failed FAN and less cooling - which can even damage the system.

    And if you have additional hard disks, internal / external drives connected - or just your friend brings a portable external hard disk, these can be also checked quickly and easily.

    So in a single tool you can monitor all hard disks, SSDs, perform automatic "on-problem" and/or schedled backup functions, get alerts about the status, its (even minor) change, get detailed usage statistics and trends - and you can even get information from remotely by any PC / tablet / mobile phone (see Configuration -> Integration -> Enable WebStatus).

    So I'd more ask: what the "TRIM program" can do from the above (or over these) functions ;)

     
  15. hdsentinel

    hdsentinel Registered Member

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    Yes - they may fail any time if an unpredictable event (over-voltage, power supply failure, mechanical shock/damage, etc.) happens.

    But almost all problems can be diagnosed and predicted previously - just it may be worth to spend some time to perform deep testing with Hard Disk Sentinel before storing important data on the hard disks.
    This is strongly recommended: ( Hard disk health is low or recently changed or I just installed a new (used) hard disk. How can I perform a deep analysis? ) upon installation and/or on change of the hard disk health - to reveal and fix any possible problems, long before they can lead to disk problems and data loss.

    Yes, it's true - when the hard disk is *totally* useless.
    That point you can discard the drive (or ask for warranty replacement if applicable) but then you already lost all data on the drive - or may ask a data recovery company to perform recovery, which can be extemely expensive task (if possible).
     
  16. FanJ

    FanJ Updates Team

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    Hi hdsentinel,

    Welcome to the forum! I guess you are Janos (the CEO & leading developer); right?
     
  17. hdsentinel

    hdsentinel Registered Member

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    Hi FanJ,

    Thanks for your kind words, yes, it's me: Janos Mathe, leading developer of Hard Disk Sentinel ;)
    I registered and posted some information (hope there were not too boring) as I try to help in all possible ways ;)
     
  18. ams963

    ams963 Registered Member

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    Hey Janos, great to have you on Wilders forum. I think you should have a 'Developer' title under your username.:)

    Oh um I hope you're still considering the addition of CPU temperature and health monitoring features to HD Sentinel, like we had discussed in email. I sent a test report for information detection just like you had asked to.:)
     
  19. FanJ

    FanJ Updates Team

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    Hi Janos,

    Welcome again here at Wilders! :D
    No, your postings are not boring, not at all ! I'm actually glad that you came over here :)
     
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