Hard Disk Sentinel says my HDD health is at 67%.

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YoukimKudoh
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Joined: 2021.04.22. 11:23

Hard Disk Sentinel says my HDD health is at 67%.

Post by YoukimKudoh »

I've been using a Seagate Barracuda 2TB HDD for just shy of 2 years as my dedicated games drive. Several months ago, HDS reported that the drive was at 80% health, yet a few days ago it dropped all the way to 67%. The thing is that the temps are fine (36C) and performance is apparently still at 100% (though I've noticed some minor stuttering in games). It also states that the drive still has 534 days remaining.

How accurate is the "expected remaining lifetime" value? Also, should I look into replacing the drive based on its health? Thanks.
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hdsentinel
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Re: Hard Disk Sentinel says my HDD health is at 67%.

Post by hdsentinel »

The "estimated remaining lifetime" (as its name suggests) is an estimate. It is not a strict countdown to sure failure but a hint about how long the hard disk will work assuming that it has stable operating environment AND constant health value.

As described in the Help, the "estimated remaining lifetime" is calculated by using the amount of power on time and (more important) the actual Health % value. Lower health causes quick and immediate drop in the "estimated remaining lifetime".

As you noticed the health of your hard disk already decreased two times. Even the first situation would immediately trigger that there can be currently undetected issues and it is recommended to perform a backup and test, just to be sure: to confirm that things are stable now OR reveal and (if required) stabilize problems, as described at Support -> Frequently Asked Questions -> Hard disk health is low or recently changed or I just installed a new (used) hard disk. How can I perform a deep analysis?
https://www.hdsentinel.com/faq.php#tests

The same is even more important now when the hard disk health dropped again: it is expected to have more issues.
(generally problems may remain undetected for months/years, until the hard disk attempts to read/write the affected sectors. A very common case described at: https://www.hdsentinel.com/hard_disk_ca ... ectors.php )

So the question is not "how accurate" but "how LONG it would remain at this value"?

If the test shows no issues, confirms that the hard disk is now stable, then you can expect that that the hard disk can still be used for longer time and you may consider replacement in 500+ days only.
But if the health drops again, then you'd immediately see much lower "estimated remaining lifetime" and a replacement may be required much sooner.

Considering that the health decreased two times already, I'd plan replacement - but (after backup) I'd perform the tests, exactly to verify/confirm the status, just to be sure.
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