My brother bought an external HDD (closed case + notebook HDD) on aliexpress but he thinks this HDD is used but he opened SMART or some HDD program and it shows no badblocks, no hours of use indicating that it is a new unused HDD
When connecting the HDD to the PC, Kesu (E:) appears
Is there any software to analyze whether the original firmware and original smart were changed by the Chinese to show that it is a new HDD?
Doubt HDD aliexpress
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hdsentinel
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Re: Doubt HDD aliexpress
No, I'm afraid it is not possible.
Disk drives do not have any "log" or "record" about firmware updates, so we can't know if the firmware is the original or updated/changed in any ways.
You can use Hard Disk Sentinel to verify the S.M.A.R.T. data: check the Power on time,Start/stop count (displayed on the Overview page) and other attributes on the S.M.A.R.T page (for example Load/unload cycle count, Drive power cycle count and so).
These should suggest if the drive is really new, unused.
In addition, you can use Disk menu -> Device Specific Information to get additional status/statistics from the internal logs of the drive. These may show suspicious values, for example
- disk self tests completed in the "future": for example if the drive seems new but there were disk test(s) completed at power on time 10-20 days or more
- high values in the Device Statistics data, like Spindle Motor Power-on Hours, Head Flying Hours and so
Not all of the above attributes, values supported by all drives - so these are only generic thoughts.
Maybe you can use Report menu -> Send test report to developer option as it can help to check.
Disk drives do not have any "log" or "record" about firmware updates, so we can't know if the firmware is the original or updated/changed in any ways.
You can use Hard Disk Sentinel to verify the S.M.A.R.T. data: check the Power on time,Start/stop count (displayed on the Overview page) and other attributes on the S.M.A.R.T page (for example Load/unload cycle count, Drive power cycle count and so).
These should suggest if the drive is really new, unused.
In addition, you can use Disk menu -> Device Specific Information to get additional status/statistics from the internal logs of the drive. These may show suspicious values, for example
- disk self tests completed in the "future": for example if the drive seems new but there were disk test(s) completed at power on time 10-20 days or more
- high values in the Device Statistics data, like Spindle Motor Power-on Hours, Head Flying Hours and so
Not all of the above attributes, values supported by all drives - so these are only generic thoughts.
Maybe you can use Report menu -> Send test report to developer option as it can help to check.
-
hdsentinel
- Site Admin
- Posts: 3019
- Joined: 2008.07.27. 17:00
- Location: Hungary
- Contact:
Re: Doubt HDD aliexpress
Please note that on aliexpress many sellers offer useless disk drives for very low prices. Many of them are generally fake pendrives, SSDs: showing high capacity but can't be used for actual real storage.
These explained at
https://www.hdsentinel.com/how_to_detect_fake_pendrive_memory_card.php
So generally (independently from the S.M.A.R.T. values) it is recommended to use the test functions, exactly to verify/confirm that the drive is working correcly - or reveal if it is problematic.
See 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
These explained at
https://www.hdsentinel.com/how_to_detect_fake_pendrive_memory_card.php
So generally (independently from the S.M.A.R.T. values) it is recommended to use the test functions, exactly to verify/confirm that the drive is working correcly - or reveal if it is problematic.
See 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
Re: Doubt HDD aliexpress
Kesu brand HDDs on aliexpress buyers show photos and there is actually an HDD inside the case but the Chinese hide the true values of badblocks and errors by changing the firmware and smart to never show any badblocks or errors? So the buyer tests the Smart and it always shows good status