Restoring a Seagate hard drive using SeaTools for DOS utility

Hello, friends! In this article we will understand the topic - Hard Drive Diagnostics. The reason for writing this article was a message from relatives - our operating system has been installed for a maximum of two months, after which glitches begin and we have to reinstall it. Even after I installed Windows 7 for them, complaints began. I had no doubt about the operating system. It was already installed on more than 10 computers. I tested the RAM, replaced the thermal paste on the processor, cleaned the system of dust - nothing. Then I tested the entire system using the system stability test (functions of the AIDA64 program). Everything is okay.

After repeated successful testing, enlightenment came. Completely slipped my mind hard check disk. I diagnosed the HDD first with a third-party program HDD Regenerator. Having discovered errors (8 unreadable sectors), I ran the check again using a program from the manufacturer Western Digital. The latter confirmed the malfunction and the hard drive went into service center under warranty. How to diagnose hard drive read on...

Diagnostics using the operating system is what can and should be used first. To do this, open the main Start menu and select Computer. Right-click on the partition and call context menu and select the item Properties

Disk Properties opens. Go to the tab Service and in the section Checking for errors press the button Check

This will be Data Lifeguard Diagnostic for Windows.

The WinDlg_v1_28.zip archive will be downloaded, which can be opened using the 7-zip or WinRar program in the same way as a file with the rar extension. Unpack and run the Setup.exe file.

When finished, click Ready

Launch the SeaTools program again

Searches for supported drives. Need to wait a little

Then, accept the license agreement again

To diagnose a hard drive, the Short and Long universal tests are sufficient

To be safe, choose Long lasting universal and wait for it to finish. If the test does not pass, follow the instructions and if the program does not fix the disk, bring it under warranty.

In the Basic tests menu there is an item Repair all. This function I haven't tried it. I’ll try as soon as I get a suitable hard drive.

Restoring the Seagate HDD

10_21_2013 A few months ago, bring a 160 GB Seagate hard drive without warranty. A long-term universal test produced an error. When connecting to another computer, I was able to copy all the important information from this disk without any problems.

To restore functionality we used Additional tests

A warning window opened saying that you can activate Additional tests using the key F8

By clicking on F8, the window closed and the Additional tests section appeared. Since our data was saved, I chose Full erase (SATA)

Another warning popped up

Scrolling the screen in this message with the slider, it was discovered that to start a complete erase, you need to press F8. After pressing, erasing started.

When the process was completed, I ran the Long-Term Universal Test again. The test was passed. After that we reinstalled the image working system using Norton Ghost. And until this moment no one complained.

Conclusion

In the article hard drive diagnostics you learned how to check your hard drive (HDD) for errors. Here we looked at two methods: built-in checking using Windows and check special utilities from manufacturers. In a combat situation, I like to use diagnostic utilities. Since this, for me, is 100% an option. If the disk passes the test, everything is fine. Otherwise, we will take it for repair under warranty. This is why in the article on choosing a hard drive I attach such importance to the warranty. It is necessary that she be 3 years old. This is a whole 3 years without a headache. Naturally all necessary guarantee period It is good to handle the hard drive, as the service center takes a close look at scratches.

The main thing I want to convey to you is. Hard drives are consumables. Like cartridges for a printer. You need to have at least two copies of your important data on two different drives. For example, on an internal and external hard drive. One fails, buy a new one, restore the data from the backup one and you are happy again. In order not to buy often, look at the same guarantee. I wish it was longer. Another great option is to use Windows 7 archiving.

WITH hard drives I have not come across Samsung. I couldn't find any utilities specifically for these disks. If anyone has information, please share in the comments. For now I will check them with a utility from Seagate or WD.

If you suspect that the hard drive is not functioning correctly or HDD started working with some sounds or just wanted to find out HDD status, you can use special programs.

Exists a large number of applications for these purposes, which can fix many problems and scan the hard drive. Many users, when having problems with their hard drive, use the application Victoria HDD, however, for most users it will be much more convenient to work with Seagate utility SeaTools. Wherein this software has Russian-language localization and supports not only Seagate hard drives, but also other media.

Working with Seagate SeaTools

This free application is capable of scanning hard drives for errors and, if necessary, eliminating sector faults. You can download the utility from the developer’s resource. Application SeaTools for Windows is designed to work with hard drives running Windows. The Seagate for DOS utility is an iso image that allows you to create boot disk, and using it you can scan your hard drive and eliminate errors.

Applying DOS version, can be eliminated different problems, which may appear during Windows scan. After activating the application, a list of hard drives that are available in the system will appear on the screen. With it you can carry out necessary tests, familiarize yourself with the SMART data and perform resuscitation of defective sectors in automatic mode. These functions can be run in the Basic Tests section. In addition, the utility has detailed instructions in Russian, which can be found in the “Help” tab.

Western Digital Data Lifeguard Diagnostic

This is a free application that only supports Western Digital hard drives. And most domestic users work with similar hard drives.
Like the software described above, this utility can only work on Windows operating systems and as an installation ISO image. Using this application, you can view SMART data, scan hard drive sectors, rewrite the disk and see final result. You can download the application from the developer's resource.

Working with built-in Windows tools

New versions of the Windows operating system are capable of scanning the hard drive, including checking the surface and eliminating problems without using additional utilities. To do this, you need to go to Explorer or open “My Computer”. After this, you need to right-click on the disk that should be scanned and select “Properties”.

Then you should go to the “Service” section and click “Check”. Next, you just need to wait for the scanning to complete. This is not the most effective method, however, it will be good to know about it.

HDD Scan

A freely distributed utility that can check the HDD. Using this application, you can scan the hard drive sector, get acquainted with the SMART data and test HDD different ways. The utility can work not only with IDE hard drives, SATA and SCSI, but also with USB drives, RAID and SSD. With its help, you can identify hard drive malfunctions and eliminate errors. Detailed information about using the application can be obtained on the official website. You can also download the utility there.

Victoria HDD

This application is the most popular among this kind developments. Using it, you can scan your hard drive for errors and identify bad sectors. In addition, the application allows you to mark broken blocks and try to revive them. The utility is distributed in two forms. There is a version for Windows and for DOS. In addition, it is possible to create installation flash drive using this application. You can download it from official page developer.

One of the main elements of the program for the Windows operating system is the Tests section. By specifying the hard drive in the first partition and running a scan, you can obtain detailed data on the performance of all sectors of the hard drive.

It is worth noting that when green and orange sectors appear, their access times range from 200 to 600 ms - this is a bad indicator. This means that sectors are beginning to fail. On the same page you can set the Remap checkbox, as a result of which all sectors with failures will be marked as non-functional.

In general, if bad sectors or bad blocks, then the best option in this case would be to save all the information from the hard drive and replace it with the same new one in the near future. This will help you save all your important data without resorting to an expensive procedure for recovering information from a specialist.

SeaTool for DOS is a comprehensive, easy-to-use diagnostic tool that helps you quickly determine the cause of your inability to access data on your computer or laptop. It has several tests to study physical media in a Seagate or Maxtor disk drive, as well as in drives third party manufacturers. Here we consider the old (text) and new (graphic) versions.

To use SeaTools for DOS, you need to download an image for a floppy disk or bootable CD.

Creating a floppy disk

To create an image on a floppy disk, you will need one 1.44 MB floppy disk. Click the .EXE file you downloaded from the Seagate website and follow the onscreen instructions.

Creating a bootable CD with an .ISO image file

This utility does not detect external drives. For these, use SeaTools for Windows.

SeaTools for DOS, graphic version
The download will open the End User License Agreement.

To continue, simply click the I accept button.
The main menu page will open.

In the Basic menu:

• Short test- start DST test Seagate drives. If the drive does not support DST, Seatools runs a read check. Testing takes approximately 2 minutes.
• Long test
• Acoustic test- reducing the disk speed, which makes it possible to understand whether the noise in the system is related to the disk or something else.

Advanced Features

Below is a screen showing the progress and results of the process.

1. Model number and serial number selected drive.
2. Disk status and supported features.
3. POH - operating time; and disk temperature in Celsius.

Click the View log button to open the log file after testing is complete (there isn't much more information than there is on this screen).

Text version
After downloading SeaTools, the license agreement will open.

Read it and press Y (Yes) to accept or N (No) to close the program. Use the Page Up and Page Down keys to scroll.
After accepting the terms of the agreement, the testing screen will appear.

• D or 0-9- switching disks - selecting disks to perform actions (see the number in the device area).
• S - short test- launching self-test (DST) of Seagate drives. (If the drive does not support DST, Seatools runs a read test.) The test takes about 2 minutes.
• L - long testing- launch full scan disk. Typically used to find and fix bad sectors.
• Z - delete all- erasing data from the disk. Good for removing damaged or irregular partitions. ALL partitions and data are deleted from the disk. Fast and slow deletion is supported.
• A - decrease disk speed (for acoustic testing)- reducing the disk speed, allowing you to check whether the noise in the system is related to the disk or something else.
• C - container installation- allows you to set the disk capacity and bypass the usual limits of 32 GB and 137 GB. It is also used for disks whose capacity is reduced by a chip.
• V - view log file- extract the log file for viewing.

This is followed by explanations of the colored text at the bottom of the screen.
White text: device (for example, device 0) and its model and serial number.
Text highlighted in yellow: motherboard with chipset.
Sea green text: Does the motherboard support 48-bit logical block addressing and maximum amount The LBA for this drive, as well as its capacity.
S.M.A.R.T. state. If SMART is disabled, testing is not necessary. Replace the drive.
Green text: DST (Disk Self Test) support status. If DST support is available, it is used for testing.
Text highlighted in blue: operating temperature - current and max. Logged Temperature - Useful to see if overheating is causing a problem or failure of the drive. Normal operating temperature see product manual. Worst Temp - the most heat during disk operation.
The most commonly displayed value is 253 degrees Celsius; this means that the drive simply does not support temperature reading. There's nothing to worry about.
POH = operating hours- the total operating time of the disk over its entire service life.

Acoustic testing

If you select this function, the rotation of the disk will begin to slow down, and it will be possible to understand whether it is making noise or other components (for example, a computer fan). The disk will slow down until the user presses the button.
The pop-up window will remain on the screen for a few seconds until the drive reaches its original speed.

Installing the container

• S- setting the capacity to 32 GB: used when using ATA drives with older motherboards, which are blocked if the disk has more than 32 GB. This command sets the disk size to 32 GB. If capacity losses are too great, consider installing an ATA controller that provides full support for drives larger than 32 GB.
• R- return to maximum capacity: used to return ATA and SATA drives with reduced capacity (manually or spontaneously) to the maximum size.
• M- manual installation: often used for ATA and SATA drives as an alternative unsuccessful attempt return to maximum capacity. Sometimes used to install a single disk capacity in RAID array(set the size as a specific number of sectors on the disk).
• Q- return to the main menu.

Complete data deletion
Main menu commands: Z-Erase Drive - this is a command for completely erasing data.

In the Zero Fill submenu there is following commands.

• Z- fast complete removal(the first 63 sectors of the disk are cleared instantly).
• A- complete removal (all sectors of the disk are cleared, the process can take many hours).
• F- complete deletion by time, where T defines the time.

Disk information
Yellow text at the bottom of the main menu window.

List of detected hard drives

• Device number(Device number) - allows you to select a disk to scan.
• Model number
• S.N.- serial number
• FW- firmware version - applies to SCSI and SATA products and new ATA products.
• Controller(Controller) - the chipset to which the disk is connected. Used to solve some SATA and capacity problems. On older chipsets, there may be a 28-bit LBA limit due to which only SATA1.5 Gbps transfer rates are supported.

If the drive does not appear in this area, turn off your computer and make sure it is installed correctly.
About configuring drives various types see the installation help page.

Log file
The log file is stored on bootable media, if it can be written to, or (when loading from a CD) in memory. Format: serial number.LOG
Example: 5NF0R4RC.LOG
To view the log in the program, press V.
To close the Log Viewer, press Escape.

Status Check (During DST)

When testing, a progress indicator is displayed at the top of the screen, and the results are displayed in the middle.
After testing is completed, the results remain in the middle part, and commands appear at the top.

Fixing bad sectors (long testing)

If at long testing damaged blocks are found, a window will appear asking you to select further actions.
The following window appears at the end of the scan or after the user stops testing if bad sectors are found on the disk.

Seagate hard drives, like any other, are not immune to trouble. As a result of errors, malfunctions or viruses, the information on them may be at risk.

What to do if necessary files have become inaccessible? They can be returned using special programs, some of which we will look at in this article.

Photo: hard disks Seagate

Problems with HDD

Hard drive failures can occur for several reasons. They can be divided into two groups - mechanical and logical. Whenever mechanical problems most optimal solution will contact a service center, because they can be quite serious.

Signs of such problems are:

• instability of the hard drive;
• increasing its loading time;
• the appearance of grinding, knocking and clicking noises during operation.

Logical (software) failures also lead to a variety of errors, including loss of information stored on the disk. Let's look at two of the most common problems.

HDD formatting

Formatting can be either accidental, caused by negligence by the user himself, or as a result of a system failure. This leads to the loss of all files stored on the hard drive. In this case, do not despair - the data can still be restored. The main thing is to isolate the hard drive and not save new data to it, as this can lead to the complete loss of previously recorded files.

Boot block failure

As a result of this failure, the installed operating system stops starting, which makes the information stored on the hard drive inaccessible. It arises as a result critical errors OS that may be caused by malware. IN in this case data can also be recovered.

SeaTools is a specialized program

To test and restore Seagate HDDs, a software package called SeaTools was created. This universal remedy to scan the disk for various types of errors and subsequent data recovery.

Composition of the utility

SeaTools is a package of programs, each of which can be downloaded separately.

It includes:

• facilities HDD diagnostics for Windows, allowing you to check disks with SATA interfaces, USB, ATA and SCSI;
• HDD diagnostic tools for DOS, which will help you check SATA hard drives and ATA using a boot disk;
• Seagate File Recovery– a utility for data recovery.

Note! Seagate File Recovery was developed primarily as a tool for working with Seagate drives, but this does not mean that the program only supports this brand of hard drive. It works not only with hard drives from other manufacturers, but also different types media – flash drives, memory cards, external HDDs.

Video: seagate restoration

Program installation

Let's look at the extremely simple process of installing the utility on a PC:

1. download installation file for Windows (you can do this on the official website);
2. save it to the folder selected on your computer;
3. after the download is complete, double-click on the file to start the installation;
4. follows the installer's instructions - select the directory where the program will be saved, confirm the choice;
5. We are waiting for the process to finish.

Disk check

After installing the program, launch SeaTools. The utility will detect connected hard drives and offer to perform various tests.

After scanning, if there are errors, you can perform automatic recovery bad sectors, and also get detailed information about each of them.

All of these features are available from the Basic Tests menu. If you have questions about working with the program, you can use the built-in help in Russian.

Recovering information using Seagate File Recovery

1. So, let's start restoring files:
2. launch the utility;
3. go to the list of specific devices (hard drives, flash drives, etc.); press right key mouse on the media of interest and select;
4. "Scan" in the window that appears, click again"Scan"

and wait for the process of searching for deleted or damaged files to complete; Important! This search process may take long time

, depending on the amount of information being scanned. During this time, do not close the program or turn off the power.

Attention! Recoverable files cannot be saved to the original device. For them, you need to allocate space on another hard drive or flash drive.

Other Seagate HDD recovery tools

In addition to SeaTools, there are many other universal programs that serve this purpose. Let's look at some of them.

Recuva Recuva – powerful and simple utility

from the creators of such a popular product as CCleaner.

Let's start working with it:

R-Studio Another one popular program

for operations with damaged files.

Working with it looks like this:

Important! The scanning and recovery process may take a long time.

A utility similar to the previous ones, with a wide range of tools. With its help, you can find damaged partitions that are not detected automatically, scan, restore and save the necessary data.

If your choice fell on her, then:

PhotoRec 7

Despite its name, PhotoRec 7 is used to recover not only photos, but any data in general. It works with both hard drives and other media.

In general, returning information lost for one reason or another on Seagate hard drives is no different from working with hard drives from other manufacturers. To do this, you can use both the specialized SeaTools utility package and other universal programs. The process itself is not particularly complicated and is quite doable for regular user. We hope our instructions helped you with this.

Most old hard drives contain erroneous records, etc. . Some of them lead to sad consequences; when will this happen to you hard drive- It's a question of time.

Windows OS offers tools for finding errors on the HDD, but they are not intended for diagnostics and testing. We invite you to familiarize yourself with much more effective tools.

So, how can you check your hard drive for errors? Here is a list of recommended programs:

HDD Regenerator – a program for testing your hard drive and treating bad sectors

HDD Regenerator is a utility for checking your hard drive, a professional tool for diagnosing, finding and fixing errors. The word "Regenerator" clarifies: the program is not only capable of detecting possible malfunctions, structure errors and bad sectors, but also suitable for correcting them.

HDD Regenerator program interface

HDD Regenerator is a program for checking your hard drive and fixing errors. Can also be used as a full-fledged tool for . If the information is not readable, regeneration will allow you to bypass bad blocks and read problematic files.

In order to determine the condition of the HDD, you must pass a special test. Additional information allow you to extract . HDD Regenerator has the corresponding tools.

Other features of the program:

• File files are supported FAT systems and NTFS, however, when testing the system type does not matter
• Displaying detailed statistics about the operation and status of the hard drive
• Creating a bootable regenerating flash drive or CD/DVD based on HDD Regenerator
• Prescan mode: quick diagnostics hard drive (surface scanning)
• HDD monitoring in real time
• Data security: the program works in read mode (with the exception of overwriting bad sectors)

The cost of the PRO version of HDD Regenerator is $79.99/year. There is a free trial version available that allows you to restore 1 bad sector for free.

Hitachi Drive Fitness Test (WinDFT) – a program for testing and checking the condition of the hard drive

Hitachi Drive Fitness Test is a program for diagnosing a hard drive and finding read errors. The utility allows you to quickly check the status of internal and external hard drives supporting G-Technology.

Seagate Seatools for Windows: Testing Drive Performance

Seatools from Seagate is a free HDD diagnostic tool for Windows and DOS. The utility will allow you to identify some problems on the HDD before contacting the warranty service to repair the disk (In our realities, instead of repairs, you will be offered a replacement device, as a result of which you will lose all saved data).

Note. The program is not compatible with all HDD models; it is only relevant for hard drives from Seagate.

Problems that the program can detect:

• Violation of the structure file system HDD
• Bad sectors and read errors
• Driver and system errors Windows problems
• Equipment incompatibility
• Windows bootloader (MBR) corruption on the disk
• Presence of viruses, keyloggers or other malicious applications

Seatools works as follows: the user selects tests for diagnostics, runs them, and as a result receives a detailed report. If the test is passed, the PASS mark will be displayed, otherwise FAIL. Please note that HDD testing can take up to 4 hours. To save time, you can choose one of three testing modes.

Seagate Seatools can also be used to “treat” your hard drive. That is, the program is able to detect bad blocks and try to restore or overwrite them with zeros (this method allows you to subsequently ignore problem blocks when reading/writing the disk structure).

HDD Health program: checking the disk and reading SMART attributes

HDD Health is another one free program to test the hard drive and monitor its performance. The utility checks the hard drive for errors (SSD / HDD) and makes a forecast (Health indicator as a percentage).

Preliminary check of the disk for errors using basic SMART indicators. HDD Health program interface

The main program window displays the following information:

• manufacturer, model, firmware version
• current HDD temperature(SSD) (accessible via notification area)
• general condition of the disk structure
• other attributes (via the Extended info menu)

Similar to other diagnostic tools, HDD Health reads S.M.A.R.T indicators, which allows you to clarify the current hardware performance. The program does not have any other tools for calculating errors or checking for bad blocks.

HDD Health 4.2: check SSD status disk

Thus, the tools of the HDD Health program will be useful to those for whom S.M.A.R.T. indicators are sufficient to check the condition of the hard drive (and if the condition of the device is not critical). Fortunately, the latest HDD/SSD drives have S.M.A.R.T technology. implemented.

HDDScan - a program to check your hard drive for bad sectors

HDDScan is a free program for hard drive diagnostics, reading S.M.A.R.T. and other parameters. After testing, you will receive a detailed log file detailing the disk status.

HDDScan supports different kinds storage devices:

• RAID arrays
• HDD drives with IDE/SATA interface
• SATA/ATA SSD
• USB flash drives

Let's note the most useful functions of HDDScan:

• Checking the hard drive for errors that are not detected by standard Windows utilities: bad blocks and bad sectors
• Hard testing Disk (Read/Clear)
• Checking the temperature for all hard drives connected to the PC
• Export any information as a custom report

CHKDSK is a Windows OS utility for checking errors and fixing bad blocks

You can check your hard drive for errors without installation third party programs. operating room Windows system allows you to do this through the service Check programs Disk.

The CHKDSK utility appeared in DOS. It not only searches for, but also corrects basic file system errors. It should be clarified that it is not intended to search for all types of errors and is not a HDD diagnostic tool.

However, with using CHKDSK you can correct errors on various devices storage: not only on the hard drive, but also on a flash drive and SD card. Starting with Windows NT, it fixes bad blocks (physically bad sectors) by marking them accordingly. Subsequently, these areas are bypassed by other programs when reading/writing.

HDDLife - a program for monitoring the status of your hard drive

Usually the heart of a computer is called the processor or motherboard. But they serve faithfully for several years, and then the hard drive suddenly fails. In terms of loss, no component can compare with it.

The hard drive is computer memory, which, of course, needs to be protected. To prevent sudden data loss, you should regularly perform backups data to another HDD or storage media. However, if you want to prevent hard drive failure in advance, you need to determine its current condition. The HDDLife program will help with this.

HDDLife has several very useful functions. First of all, tracking state of hard disk. The “health” of the HDD is shown as a color scale. If everything is in order, the scale has green color, if the disk has worked for a decent period of time, the color is yellow. The red scale is already a signal of a pre-emergency condition: the hard drive has worked and is ready to retire. In this case, it is better not to take risks and promptly replace the component. In the pro version of HDDLife, you can configure pre-failure notification state of rigid disks by email. If there are a lot of computers on the network, then the diagnostic option will come in handy. The status graph also informs you how long the disk has been working. This is worth paying attention to, especially if you are buying a used drive or just want to make sure it is new.

The second important section is displaying the disk temperature. Any electronics works, or rather wears out faster, at elevated temperatures. And too high a temperature, as a rule, leads to disastrous consequences. If the indicator text is green, then everything is in order and the disk is in good thermal conditions. Otherwise, you need to buy special cooling or check the ventilation of the slot in which the disk is located. On some HDDs, the program allows you to adjust the noise level and performance. This is done using a slider that determines the relationship between the characteristics. Either this is the possibility of a special version for a laptop, or a limitation of the trial version - however, the option was not available for us. Some HDDLife functions cannot be called unique: for example, the indicator available space. If there is not enough space on the partitions, the now familiar warning is displayed. Free space monitoring is available in Windows, as in almost any OS, so the message is more annoying than informative.

The program is distributed in three versions: free, HDDLife Professional and HDDLife for Notebooks. The differences can be found on the page http://www.hddlife.ru/rus/compare.html.

Answers to readers' questions

I often resort to system recovery due to a crash. Frequently freezes, constant CPU overload, already deleted unnecessary programs. I closed everything as much as I could background programs. Experts say that you need to change the hard drive, they say, there are many damaged (broken) sectors. I want to try this program to check sectors. How to check your hard drive for errors?

Answer. Indeed, if the problems described by you in the question are observed, check the hard drive for bad sectors not prevent. At a minimum, we recommend scanning the disk using applications such as HDD Regenerator and Victoria. You can find out how to check your hard drive for bad sectors directly in the documentation. Whether it’s worth it or not, the wording is not very correct. You should check your HDD for errors regularly if the data is of even minimal value to you.