Drive Remaining Life Based On Firmware

[SHAWNM]

August 10, 2023

I'm new HWiNFO64.

I was looking at my hard drives and one noted drive remaining life based on firmware of 11%.


I completed a chkdsk and there were no issues found.

I have completed backups as I'm assuming 11% is not good.

Is the11% number correct based on firmware or can I complete another test to verify the results?

Shawn

 

[Martin]

Try CrystalDiskInfo or HardDiskSentinel if they confirm it.

 

[SHAWNM]

Martin:

Thank you.

CrystalDiskInfo reflects good (no percentage).
HardDiskSentinel reflects Excellent (100%) but notes disk drive has reach end of the designed lifetime.


Shawn

 

[Martin]

Please attach the HWiNFO Report File (Text or HTM) so I can see the exact drive details.

 

[SHAWNM]

Thank you. Please see attached file - Report.HTM. I wasn't sure how much data to include other than the drives.

 

[Martin]

Thanks, that's sufficient. The SMART data for that drive look quite weird and I might need to also see the HWiNFO Debug File.

Anyway, the Device Statistics reports:

Used Endurance Indicator:

89%

Which means there's really only 11% remaining life left.
And Device Statistics is a standardized method of reporting data, so it should be trusted.

 

[SHAWNM]

Thank you.

Can you please review if my understanding is OK?

Even though CrystalDiskInfo and HardDiskSentinel reflect the drive is OK (and I know my explanation is probably not exact), the 11% number is a more accurate state of the drive. It might be that the 11% left is healthy. Again, I'm guessing it is not a one to one comparison.

I understand a drive can die at any time, but is 11% close enough for a new drive? Is there any guidance that says for example, that from 1% - 5%, get a new drive now. At 6% - 15%, get a new drive soon. For example, my local C drive has a 89% Used Endurance Indicator but I'm assuming that is good for awhile.

If you want to review the DEBUG file, please let me know. If any settings are required (other than checking DEBUG) and the default settings, I can change as required.

 

[Martin]

CrystalDiskInfo (for sure) and HardDiskSentinel (probably) don't support Device Statistics information, so they won't report this parameter. Device Statistics is an additional and relatively new standard (compared to SMART) which is much better standardized.
I'm not aware of any guidance that would tell when to replace a drive based on the lifetime left. This certainly isn't something that at 0% the drive would die. But I'd be cautious, watch the drive and perform regular backups.
Yes, I would like to have a look at the Debug File as I'm wondering why some of the SMART data was oddly reported.

 

[SHAWNM]

Thank you.

I reset all settings, enabled Debug mode, closed the software, started it again, clicked on Sensors, and then closed the software. Attached is the file generated.