SeaTools is a computer hard disk analysis software developed and released by Seagate Technology. It exists as a version for DOS (bundled in a bootable medium with FreeDOS) and Microsoft Windows. It can perform short and long drive self-tests and read/write tests, extract S.M.A.R.T. indicators and drive information, and perform advanced tests. It was created by Seagate in response to the fact that more than one third of all drives sent in for repair were actually not defective at all, thus creating unnecessary costs for retailers and the company by having to ship and analyze such disks. SeaTools for DOS comes in a package with the FreeDOS operating system. It can be downloaded as a bootable ISO image from the Seagate website. The Windows version of SeaTools supports any hard disk regardless of manufacturer. It supports analysis for disks connected via PATA/ SATA, USB, IEEE 1394, SAS and SCSI. The enterprise edition is still provided as a legacy version for Seagate hard disks only. It supports only SCSI or Fibre Channel drives and is designed for use with servers and workstations by supporting tests of multiple drives simultaneously as well as sequentially.Taking care of your drives ensures that they will perform for years to come, and serve you and your data well. However, that does not exclude data loss events from occurring, but it's nice to be proactive. Being proactive helps, and checking your drives for errors and bad sectors, as well as making periodic backups, is something that may help you in the long run.ĭrive manufacturers often have their own software to offer to help with that, and Seagate SeaTools is an offering from one such manufacturers. I don't wish to have multiple smaller partitions on this HDD, so it will only be used with the Win7 64-bit HTPC.It allows users to test their drives in various ways, and it also offers a few options for formatting/erasing one's storage, among other things. Conclusion: having a 4TB volume/partition is a no-go for WinXP 32-bit. But this should work too, since 4096KB is divisible by 512 with a remainder of 0. But what about attaching to WinXP? WinXP only knows 512 byte sector boundaries. This will allow the drive to have no performance issues with Win7. If I create and align a single partition on the 4TB HDD, it needs to be properly aligned on a 4K (4096KB) advanced sector boundary, as fritzi correctly points out. The other is a desktop running WinXP Pro SP3 (32-bit). One is a HTPC running Win7 Professional SP1 (64-bit). There are two PCs that I'd like the option to attach to the 4TB HDD. I use this arrangement to move and access data across PCs. This 4TB HDD will actually be inserted in a Thermaltake BlacX docking station, and connected via eSATA to a host PC. Actually, this brings up an interesting point. Parted Magic can correct alignment if necessary). Seriously.Īre your computer details correct? You're using XP? If you format with XP, you'll need to check the alignment afterwards on that advanced format drive. Thank you, Seagate.Īnd please, Hitachi, get your Drive Fitness Tool updated to run on your own high capacity advanced format HDDs. Additionally, the tool can run all the available tests on it, even though it is not a Seagate product. I booted from the CD and it correctly identified the Hitachi 4TB HDD and reported its full 4TB capacity. Then I went to Seagate and found their SeaTools for DOS program, and burned it onto CD-R. So I next tried WD's verification tool (can't recall the name), but it wouldn't work because it only operates on WD HDDs. I looked on Hitachi's website and found their disclosure that the Drive Fitness Test tool does not work with HDDs 3TB and up. When I first launched Hitachi's latest version of their Drive Fitness Tool (via a boot CD) to test the 4TB HDD, it detected the 4TB HDD (correct model number) attached to the system, but incorrectly reported that the HDD was 1.8TB in capacity. Even their 2TB HDDs were made with the older 512 byte sector format. The reason, apparently, is that Hitachi is behind WD and Seagate with respect to manufacturing HDDs with Advanced Sector formatting (4K sectors). It's funny that Hitachi releases the first 4TB 3.5" internal HDD for desktops with no way for its users to verify the drives prior to first use. Seagate's SeaTools for DOS (a boot CD created from a downloadable ISO on Seagate's website).
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