Hard Disk Sentinel

Overview

Hard Disk Sentinel (HDSentinel) is a multi-OS HDD/SSD monitoring and analysis application. Its goal is to find, test, diagnose and repair disk drive problems, report and display SSD and HDD health, performance degradations and failures. Hard Disk Sentinel gives complete textual description, tips and displays/reports the most comprehensive information about the hard disks and solid state disks inside the computer or in external enclosures (USB / e-SATA). Many different alerts and report options are available to ensure maximum safety of your valuable data.

The software monitors hard disk drive / HDD status, including health, temperature and all S.M.A.R.T. (Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology, built in most hard disks and solid state disks today) values for each disks. Also it measures the disk transfer speed in real time which can be used as a benchmark or to detect possible hard disk failures, performance degradations.

HDSentinel is the perfect data protection solution: it can be effectively used to prevent HDD failure and SSD / HDD data loss because it has the most sensitive disk health rating system which is extremely sensitive to disk problems. This way even a small HDD problem can't be missed. The Professional version has scheduled and automatic (on-problem) disk backup options to prevent data loss caused by not only failure but by malware or accidental delete also.

How does Hard Disk Sentinel work?

HDD Sentinel runs in the background and verifies SSD / HDD health status by inspecting the SMART status of the disk(s). If an error is found or unexpected behaviour is detected, it warns the user about the current situation and also can perform appropriate actions (for example, start an automatic backup).

Usually, hard disk health status may slowly decline, from day to day. The SMART monitoring technology can predict HDD failure by examining the critical values of the disk drive. Compared to other software, Hard Disk Sentinel detects and reports every disk problem. It is much more sensitive to disk failures and can display better and more detailed information about hard disk expected life and the problems found (if any). This is a more sophisticated way to predict failures than the "traditional" method: checking S.M.A.R.T. attribute thresholds and values only. For more information, please read how S.M.A.R.T. works and why Hard Disk Sentinel is different.

The software displays the current hard disk temperature and logs maximum and average HDD temperatures. This may be used to check the maximum temperature under high hard disk load. For the importance of the hard disk operating temperature, see the F.A.Q. section. Please click here to see the list of features.

Do I need Hard Disk Sentinel?

If you are using a computer equipped with at least one hard disk or solid state disk and you want to ensure that your data will be available any time, then the answer is YES. Hard Disk Sentinel is especially designed to you if

· you are using more hard disks in your computer (IDE / Serial ATA (S-ATA, e-SATA) / SCSI / USB) or in an external enclosure (list of compatible hardware)

· you are using a mobile rack with a hard disk inside

· you are using notebook computer

· you are using server or desktop computers with high disk load

· you want to maximize system stability, HDD performance and overall integrity, receive HDD alert on high temperature or low health

· you do not want to lose your sensitive and valuable data, do not want to pay for HDD recovery

It is much better to avoid HDD failure than use HDD recovery. Be alerted and prevent HDD data loss with HDSentinel ! Be your HDD life healthy.

List of main features

Download and freely try Hard Disk Sentinel Software Now

Download HDD Software / download disk software

Solid State Disk (SSD) Support

Solid state disks do not contain any moving parts. Because of this, they may tolerate physical vibrations and shock better than hard disks. But they have other kind of problems: write cycles wear the electronic parts so lots of delete and write operations may also damage them. Wear leveling feature can help in this situation but the problem is not fully eliminated.

Current SSD technology also has another problem: solid state disks may "forget" data with time. To prevent this, periodic complete overwrites can refresh the storage device - but because of its nature this also reduces the lifetime of the solid state disk.

From the viewpoint of the computer and software, SSD devices act like hard disks. They support many features of hard disks, including S.M.A.R.T. and this allows Hard Disk Sentinel to detect and display health and lifetime also for solid state disks. This is true for most modern SSD devices from Intel, MTron, OCZ, Samsung, etc. Check the Solid State Disk Compatibility for more details.

Hard Disk Sentinel can detect and display SSD health also. This may help to identify when the SSD needs to be replaced to prevent data loss from it.

Further SSD support is constantly added to new versions. If you are using any type of solid state disks or hybrid disks, please use the Send test report to developer option. All reports help in future development to display solid state disk health of different type of SSDs also.

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New Trends in ICTs Development Making Life Easier for End-users

From the time of machine code programming and mechanical adding machines through vacuum-based systems to very large integrated circuits and very high level programming languages, the main trend and focus has been the same over time – empowerment of the end-user. Recent developments have seen this initiative even improve further with several advancements being made on how we perceive the computer in the workplace.

The shift from command-driven to Graphics User Interfaces (GUIs)

In the past, the end-user was required to literally understand the command set of many software packages in the market like Dbase III+, Lotus 123, and WordPerfect 5.1. Operating systems such as MS-DOS made extensive use of the command prompt. MS-DOS had a host of both internal and external commands that the end-user was required to master in order to use the computer competently. Their syntaxes, switches, parameters and the like had to be understood. This sidelined many with the urge to use the computer but the inability to master the intricacies of software use. With the advent of Windows and Windows-based software, the user was given more flexibility and power to make maximum use of the computer. This saw many end-users begin to appreciate computers in the workplace because easy to use GUIs demystified them. All that end-users needed to know were the icons and menus to initiate processes and suddenly they would be involved in initiating complex processes such as linear and multiple regressions, document merging, spell-checking and so on at the mere click of a mouse button, giving them control over otherwise mysterious processes.

The GUI has removed the need to know the underlying command sets needed to achieve a task by providing an interface that is user friendly and easy to learn. The interface uses normal English to request users for information that would be required to complete a complex task. Now end-users need to only master a few basic processes to invoke very complex instruction sets that perform highly complex operations. The banker, for instance, no longer needs to master let alone know COBOL to input customer transactions! This is easily achieved now through a user-friendly window form thereby reducing time consumed in punching out data sequences!

The emergence of Object-Oriented Programming (OOP)

From the days of machine to high level languages, programming has seen significant developments all geared towards enabling the end-users achieve targets in the shortest time possible – especially in these times of highly capitalistic and competitive economies where time is money. By moving from binary notations to mnemonics and finally to object oriented programming where users only need to drag and drop pre-written self-contained, reusable components, software design is no longer entirely the preserve of specialists – it has come closer to end-users. A computer operator can now use such objects to enhance the performance of application software in the workplace through customisable tasks made possible by macros. Talk of Rapid Application Development (RAD) come home to roost!

By quickly glancing at the source code of a program, one can easily make head and tail of the concept being developed – thanks to very high level programming languages. The end user no longer needs to spend hours coding sub-routines and functions that are part of a very lengthy and tedious procedural activity, they only need to conceptualise the problem at hand and communicate this appropriately to the computer and leave the tedious work to the Control unit.

The birth of mobile computing

Gone are the days when end-users could not conceptualise finalising an important project proposal without going to the office - because that was where the computer was! With the advent of laptops, mobile phones, wireless networks, and so on, company targets can still be achieved even when people are separated by geographical boundaries from their workplace. This has given the term ‘office’ a new meaning. The concept of the home office has been made a reality and now the corporate manager can still compile his reports in time and watch his favourite TV show at the same time. This concept of enhancing mobility has greatly empowered the end-user. With wireless communication, executives can get on-the-minute updates on stock trends and country profiles of prospective investing grounds long before their planes touch ground on their way to an investors’ meeting. This is made possible via internet connectivity.

The emergence of new information technology infrastructures

Computing is no longer looked at in isolation. The present day end-user perceives a computer in a different perspective. The mention of a computer brings to mind inter-connectivity and remote accessibility of pooled resources. This concept of networking has been there for sometime and the terms LAN, WAN, CAN and MAN are common. Now a new concept in this area promises even greater collaboration and networking – the new IT technologies take the concept of networking a level further by combining several systems together to come up with a collection of interlinked heterogeneous systems. Points Of Sale (POS), PDAs, cellular phones, LANS and mobile computing devices all operating on varying transmission protocols are inter-linked together with the sole objective of placing information at the end-users’ palm. The end-user can now request for ambulance services by filling out and sending an online form that is relayed to a hospital database or emergency mobile unit that dispatches the nearest assistance within a fraction of time. In the comfort of a home PC the end-user can shop on-line without a problem – a process that involves collaborative linkages with his bank, the supermarket, ISPs and security agencies that ensure a clean transaction is facilitated.

The arrival of the Internet.

With the development of the Internet, the so-called information superhighway, the end-user can not only communicate cost-effectively, but he can engage in hi-Tec teleconferencing where persons are pooled together in board meetings in virtual space. Technologies like Usenet, Internet Relay Charts (IRC) and e-mails have made communication so cheap and effective thereby transforming the world into a global village. With the use of very user-friendly GUIs, users can navigate through hypertext with ease obtaining very valuable information about the world in their living rooms. The internet has allowed organisations and corporations to start thinking beyond their offices and local markets – it has broken geographical boundaries allowing greater collaboration, communication, bi-lateral and multi-lateral trade. At the end of the day the end-user gains the power of communication in a way never imagined before. Gone are the days of unreliable snail-mails that took ages and were more costly and often times plagued by theft.

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How to save your files and your sanity

How to save your files and your sanity

Even before you save a single document on your computer, your hard disk is bristling with files.

Your operating system – Windows – consists of hundreds of files placed in a tree of folders at installation time. Similarly, every application installed on your computer – whether it's a word processor, spreadsheet, Internet browser, game, graphics editor or anything else – consists of one or more files occupying their own folders.

Once you start working, surfing or playing you adds to these hundreds, possibly thousands, of files, until your hard disk is awash with files.

No wonder, then, that a file occasionally goes astray. It's easy to forget what name you've given a document, or which folder you placed it in.

No need to despair. In fact, it's pretty hard to lose a file completely unless you delete it (even then you can often recover it) or copy another file with the same name over the top of it. Windows comes with an effective file snifferdog and, in addition, you can do a lot of things yourself to prevent files going astray in the first place.

Computing Rule #1

Most files go missing because you fail to pay attention when you're saving them, or because you saved them so long ago they've become no more than a faint echo in your memory banks.

For computing newcomers, noticing exactly what you do when you save a file is crucial. And really, it's very simple to do. It comes back to the number one computing rule for beginners: read the screen!

From observing many new users in action, my guess is the first dozen times most people save a file their heart rate accelerates, their eyes glaze over, and they're reduced to a state where they hit buttons and pray.

There's really no need for this level of terror, because sitting in front of you – in the file save dialog box you use to save a file – is all the information you need.

The Save dialog box

When you click the Save icon in a program, a Save As dialog box appears. The dialog box can take on various forms, but most programs use the standard Windows 95/98 dialog box with slight variations.

Take a close look at the dialog box shown here (click the picture to see a full-size version). This is a dialog box from Microsoft Word 2000 and, while it has a couple of new features, most of what you see here is what you'll find in most Save dialog boxes whether in a Microsoft product or a product from any other developer:

• A File Name box where you type the file name.
• A Save As Type box where you can choose the format in which to save the file.

For instance, a graphics program will let you save graphics files as bitmaps (BMPs), or GIFs or JPGs (used on the Internet), as well as in many other formats. You choose which format you want from the Save As Type box when you save the file.

Similarly, a Save dialog box for a word processing program will let you save your documents in native or default format, or as plain text, as HTML, or in a variety of other word processing formats. 'Native' or 'default' means the program's own preferred style. Microsoft Word 97, for example, saves files by default in Word 97 format. It also lets you save files in Word 95 format, Word 2 format, Word formats for the Macintosh, WordPerfect format, and so on.

• A Save In box at the top of the dialog box, where you select the folder and drive in which to save the file.
• Additional folder management icons. To the right of the Save In box there are several icons which let you quickly move to the folder above the one you're currently in, create a new folder, and switch between list and detail views of your files. Some programs, such as Microsoft Office, add additional icons and buttons for added flexibility and power, but you'll always find these standard components.
• A Save or OK button (they're equivalent in this context), and a Cancel button which you use to wriggle out of saving a file. Some dialog boxes have additional buttons, such as an Options button.
• This Save dialog box also features a series of shortcut buttons down the left-hand side. These buttons let you quickly jump to frequently used folders where you save your documents, such as the My Documents folder or the Desktop. These shortcut buttons are new in Microsoft Office 2000.

While there are many variants on the Save and Save As dialog boxes – such as WordPerfect's supercharged dialogs – the features mentioned above are almost universal. Get accustomed to looking for them.

Save it

When it comes to saving a file, take the time to read the dialog box. First, choose where you want to store your document – this is the key to not losing your file in the first place.

To select where to save your file, click the little arrow at the right of the Save In box to move through folders, drives and the desktop. You can also double-click on folders in the folder and file list to open them. Practice moving about so you get to know your way around.

Once you've chosen where you're going to store your file, choose a name for the file and type it into the File Name: box. If you want to select a different file type from the usual one your program uses, select that from the dropdown list provided.

Then, click OK or Save and you're done.

When you go to open a file, the Open dialog box will look pretty familiar. Use the Look In: or Directories: section to locate the folder where the file was saved, make sure you've chosen the correct file type to display, and then select the file from the list displayed and click OK or Open.

If you take enough care in this process, you'll rarely lose a file.

Preventative measures

Apart from taking things slowly and carefully when you're saving files, you can use a variety of preventative measures to ensure you know where your files are lurking.

The first way is to get your folders organised. My esteemed colleague, David Flynn, who is the personification of organisation (I am in awe of this fella, who even has a classification system for his pencils) has a very neat way of doing this.

He has one folder, called Docs, where he stores all his documents. They don't all go in higgledypiggledy, of course. He creates sub-folders within this single Docs folder where he stores different types of documents.

Sound familiar? If you're using Windows 98 or later you'll already have a My Documents folder created for you and conveniently located on the Desktop (in Windows XP it's hidden away, but you can always drag a shortcut to the folder onto your Desktop). Windows 98, Me and XP also make the My Documents folder easy to access from most standard dialogs. Microsoft probably swiped this idea from my friend David.

The advantages to this system are obvious: there's only one folder (and its contents) you need to search to find any document you create and, when it comes to backing up your documents, you can do it by specifying that one folder.

This makes a lot of sense, and if you have any degree of organisation, I urge you to follow in Mr Flynn's steps and take advantage of the My Documents folder (or create your own if you're using Windows 95).

Strategies for file slobs

Not all of us are so organisationally blessed. Despite good intentions, the file slobs among us end up with files all over the place – in our carefully created Docs folder, on our Desktop, in whatever folder a program uses as its default folder, all over the place. Sometimes this is deliberate, at other times we simply go with the flow, and end up with a document maelstrom.

If you belong to the latter group of people and have files stashed all over the place, you can still increase your chances of keeping track of files by using consistent file naming conventions.

Strangely enough, this was probably easier in the days of DOS and Windows 3.1, when we were restricted to files with a maximum of eight characters in the filename and a three-character extension. This rigidity had a payoff in forcing us to work out strict naming conventions that made it possible to identify the file contents.

With the generous long filenames introduced in Windows 95, it's much easier to get into trouble. You might find yourself naming one file 'Letter to Mary about the problems we're facing in inventory control', and then later sending another letter to Mary about the same subject, but calling it 'Stock tracking probs'. When it comes time to find all the correspondence dealing with your inventory control woes, you may well find you've developed a file tracking problem into the bargain.

Try to keep some consistency in your file naming, and you'll drastically reduce the chances of losing track of a file.

Saving and Saving As

What's the difference between the Save option and the Save As option found on most file menus?

The Save As option is used the first time you save a file. It lets you choose a filename and location for the document you're saving.

The Save option saves a document you've previously saved, writing directly over (and obliterating) the earlier version. Basically, it's like updating the saved copy of a document. When you Save a file, you normally won't be presented with a dialog box.

However, there's an exception. The first time you save any file, whether you use the Save or Save As options, you'll be presented with the Save As dialog box, so you can initially give the file a name. In this case, the two commands are identical.

You can also use the Save As option to make a copy of an existing document. Say, for example, you've finished writing a report and saved it on your hard disk. You can use the Save As command to make a copy of this document in a different location, such as on a floppy disk, or with a different name.

When you use Save As in this manner, it's important to keep track of which file you're working on so you don't end up editing the document on floppy and leaving your original out-of-date. One way to ensure you don't edit the wrong version is to change the name of the copy of the document.

For instance, say you create a budget using Microsoft Excel and save it on your hard disk with the name Budget for 2000. You can create a copy on a floppy disk by placing a floppy in the drive, opening the File Menu and choosing Save As. In the Save As dialog, click the down-arrow beside the Save In box and select your floppy drive from the list. In the File Name box, instead of keeping the name Budget for 2000, type something like Budget for 2000 on Floppy. Then click the Save button and close the worksheet. If you want to make more changes to your original, you'll be able to recognise it immediately by its name.

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How can Recover the deleted File

Ack! The computer ate my term paper! We've all been there at some point. You delete an important file, somehow it skips your Recycle Bin altogether, and for all practical purposes, it's disappeared into the ether. But before you hit the big red panic button, there's a very good chance that your file is still alive and kicking somewhere on your hard drive—you just need to know how to find it. With the right tools, finding and recovering that deleted file can be as simple as a few clicks of your mouse.

Part I: The Overview

Ok, so you've lost an important file. Don't panic. Take a breath, and let's see if we can find it. Before you go into full-on file recovery mode, make sure you double-check the folder you had saved it in and the Recycle Bin or Trash. Still nothing?

1. Stop What You're Doing

When your operating system deletes a file, all it really does is mark the space on your hard drive that your file occupies as free space. It's still there, but your computer is now perfectly happy to write new data on top of it—at which point the file recovery process becomes a lot more difficult. That means you should do as little computing as possible until you find the file you're looking for, since every time you save a new file—every time your computer writes information to your hard drive—your chances of recovering the file go down.

2. Find the Right File Recovery Program

Windows: You've a lot of really great freeware options for file recovery if you're running Windows. Notable apps include Undelete Plus (original post), PC Inspector File Recoveryoriginal post), and Restoration (original post). Undelete Plus is the most user-friendly option of the bunch, with advanced filtering options that make it easy to find your needle of a file among the haystack of deleted garbage, but in my tests I found both Restoration and PC Inspector File Recovery to be more effective at recovering files. (Of course, your mileage may vary.) As an added bonus, the bare bones Restoration is portable, which makes it an excellent addition to your thumb drive. (

UPDATE: Per several readers advice, you may also want to check out Recuva (original post), another freeware Windows file recovery tool.

Mac: If you're on a Mac and aren't afraid to lay down a few bucks in the name of data recovery, the $99 Data Rescue II is the go-to application for file recovery with a friendly graphical interface.

All Platforms: If you're not afraid to crack open a terminal window or command prompt, the free, cross-platform command-line tool PhotoRec (original post) is a crack shot at recovering photos (as the name implies) as well as virtually any other file type from your removable media or hard drives.

3. Recover Your Files

Once you've picked a tool, it's time to scan your hard drive for your lost file or files. This process varies depending on the app you're using, but it's basically the same for all of them: Just point the program at the hard drive or folder that was holding your missing file and start your scan. Once the scan is complete, you're going to see a big list of jumbled file names. Often most of these files are nothing more than system files that your operating system has created in the course of basic operation, and you won't need to worry about them. You're just looking for the file type and name that matches what you've lost.

Once you find what you're looking for, saving it is a matter of right-clicking the file and choosing where to save it.

Went through steps one through three and still aren't having any luck? It might be worth trying again with a different application, since there can be a lot of variation between apps. If you're still not having any luck, part two discusses a few other ways you can try addressing more specific problems when your data goes missing.

Part 2: More Specific Problems

Above you got a basic overview for recovering deleted files from your computer. Now we'll take a closer look at some more specific problems, methods of data recovery, and tools that may be of help in your quest for your elusive lost data.

Recover Files from a Wiped or Unbootable Hard Drive

So you didn't just accidentally delete a file or two and empty your Recycle Bin prematurely—instead you've got a whole hard drive worth of missing data. You can still use many of the applications mentioned above to recover files from these drives as long as you have or can get the hard drive into a bootable computer. For more details, check out how to recover files from a wiped hard drive with PhotoRec (original post) or how to recover data from a crashed hard drive with PC Inspector File Recovery (original post).

If you can't or don't know how to get your unbootable drive into another computer, a Linux live CD can be perfect for rescuing files. If the Linux route scares you off, give the popular BartPE (original post) a try.

Finally, if none of these options can even read your hard drive, you still might be able to get it working for just long enough with a few tricks of the data recovery trade, like putting the busted hard drive in the freezer.

Recover Lost Photos

If you need to resurrect photos from a damaged flash memory card from your digital camera, you'll be happy to know that most of the applications listed in part one above will do the trick—you just need plug in your camera or insert the card into your computer's card reader before running your data recovery application of choice. That said, you can find other applications, like Zero Assumption Digital Image Recovery (original post), that are focused specifically on image recovery that you may want to add to your data recovery toolbox.

Recover Lost Word Documents

If your lost dissertation was saved as a Word document, you've got a few more interesting options for getting to your lost or deleted documents—read more about them here and here.

Recover Data from Scratched or Corrupted CDs and DVDs

If your munged data is sitting on optical media like a CD or DVD, the recovery process can be slightly different. Freeware application CD Recovery Toolbox (original post) is made specifically to read the portions of a CD that are readable in an effort to rescue as much data as possible from a damaged disc. If that doesn't work, you may want to give a look at the 30-day trial of shareware application CDCheck, as recommended by a reader. Then again, if scratches are the issue, you may be able to get away with simply fixing your scratched CD or DVD yourself.

Part 3: Don't Let This Happen Again

Whatever the cause of your lost file, the best method of data recovery is a good preemptive data backup plan. If you're on Windows, we've taken you step-by-step through how to automatically back up your hard drive so that this sort of thing never happens again. If you're running a Mac, do yourself a favor: Get an external hard drive and flip the switch on the easy-to-use Time Machine. Linux users should check out backup options like FlyBack, TimeVault, or the time-honored rsync.

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