Hard disk test tool

[PaladinOfKaos]

I've got an old-ish Thinkpad T40, and I think the harddrive may be dying - although it may be the disk controller.

I've got a desktop system and a laptop drive adaptor, so I can plug the disk into my desktop and see if it works or not.

I was wondering if anyone could suggest a good tool for verifying the drive. I've already backed up the data I need from it, so a destructive test is OK.

Thanks!
Branan

BTW, I've been running off of a Xubuntu livecd on the laptop for a couple weeks now, no reboots, and no harddrive swap space, (saving to a network drive) and it's still running smooth and stable. 81MB out of 1GB free, and that's with 490MB being used for the disk cache. Linux is just awesome that way =)

[nick_h]

You could start by looking at the smart data using the smartctl command. You could also use fsck and badblocks - see the following link:

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/FaultyHardware

Disk manufacturers also supply diagnostic utilities.

[evets25]

Also, you might want to look around the internet for something called the "uiltimate boot CD". I have one lying around here somewhere in the IT dept. where I work. It's basically a collection of hardware diagnostic tools, including HD diagnostic utilities from almost every HD manufacturer under the sun, as well as a half-dozen partitioners, and a sprinkling of other invaluable programs. No idea where it came from, but I know it's been an invaluable tool for me in diagnosing computers that are brought in.

[nick_h]

Also, you might want to look around the internet for something called the "uiltimate boot CD".

A good suggestion.

http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/

[Darkspark]

You could also download "Drive Fitness". That is the tool I use to check the dependability of a hard drive.

[evets25]

hey yeah, that's the one! neat, now I know where it is on the internet!

[phoinx]

You could start by looking at the smart data using the smartctl command. You could also use fsck and badblocks - see the following link:

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/FaultyHardware

Nice tips! Thanks!