MY PASSPORT ESSENTIAL AND ESSENTIAL SE
USER MANUAL
CHECKING DRIVE HEALTH
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Checking Drive Health
The data files on your My Passport drive are important to you. The WD SmartWare
software has several built-in diagnostic tools to help make sure that your drive is
performing well. Run one of the following tests if you are concerned that your drive is not
operating properly:
The best time to run the drive diagnostics and status checks is on a regular basis, before
you encounter any problems with your drive. And, because they are so fast, running the
quick S.M.A.R.T. status check and the quick drive test provides a high level of assurance
with minimal inconvenience. Then, run all three whenever you encounter disk error
conditions when backing up or retrieving files.
To run drive diagnostics and status checks:
1.
On the Drive Settings screen (see
), click Diagnostics to
display the Run Diagnostics dialog:
2. Click the button for the test that you want to run:
•
Quick SMART Status
•
Quick Drive Test
•
Complete Drive Test
Diagnostic Tool
Description
Quick S.M.A.R.T.
Status Check
S.M.A.R.T. is a failure-prediction function that continuously monitors key
internal performance attributes of the drive. A detected increase in drive
temperature, noise, or read/write errors, for example, can provide an
indication that the drive might be approaching a serious failure condition.
With advanced warning, you could take precautionary measures, like
moving your data to another drive, before a failure occurs.
The result of a quick S.M.A.R.T. status check is a pass or fail evaluation of
the drive's condition.
The S.M.A.R.T. status check completes within a second or two.
Quick Drive Test
Your My Passport drive has a built-in Data Lifeguard diagnostic utility that
tests the drive for error conditions. The quick drive test checks the drive
for major performance problems.
The result of a quick drive test is a pass or fail evaluation of the drive's
condition.
The quick drive test can take several minutes to complete.
Complete Drive Test The most comprehensive drive diagnostic is the complete drive test. It
methodically tests every sector for error conditions, and inserts bad-
sector markers as required.
The complete drive test can take several hours to complete, depending on
the size and data configuration of your drive.
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