BleepingComputer.com: Hard Drive Dying

I get a S.M.A.R.T message at boot that the HDD is dying. I smell it and it's overheating.


I need to GHOST it right away. What is the best "cloning" program available as freeware?

Thanks

Edit: Moved topic from XP to the more appropriate forum. ~ Animal

Have a look in this topic.

In my opinion the best of breed is Acronis True Image, but it is not free. The best free alternative is Macrium Reflect.

Thank you both!

There is good news in that I was mistaken about the odor. It is no longer apparent. The drive is a Seagate ST3250620A and is still under warranty. I have been maintaining a backup drive right along, and last backup performed was yesterday. Yesterday I ran the SeaTools free app, and I see that the HDD temp is a cool 91 degrees Fahrenheit. I also downloaded Seagate Disc Wizard, which I'l use to clone the HDD before I send it back for a warranty replacement.

I'll admit that I panicked when I saw the SMART warning, especially since this was coincident with an exorcism of a nasty Trojan which had been resident, unknowingly, for awhile. THIS IS DESPITE THE FACT THAT I HAVE MULTIPLE ANTVIRUS SCANNERS INSTALLED.......................NONE OF THEM PICKED IT UP. KASPERSKY VIRUS REMOVAL TOOL FOUND IT, PLUS THREE PERSISTENCE (RENEWAL) FILES ON THE SYSTEM VOLUME.

I ran a chkdsk /p and chkdsk /r both from the command line, but was inconclusive, since a second running of chkdsk /p after running the chkdsk /r showed no errors on the drive..............leading one to believe that the drive errors were successfully repaired. SeaTools confirmed a SMART failure, and a "short test" failure.

This computer has no battery backup, and has had numerous "hard shutdowns" over the last 2 1/2 years. MY GUESS IS THAT AT EACH "HARD SHUTDOWN" A NUMBER OF CLUSTERS ARE DESTROYED, AND THIS LAST "HARD SHUTDOWN" A FEW DAYS AGO EXHAUSTED THE ALLOWED RESERVE CLUSTERS AND TRIGGERED THE SMART WARNING.Is that a reasonable guess? I must also assume that if one or two more hard shutdowns occur before I replace this drive, that it will become unreadable and failed. Is that also a reasonable assumption? In other words, I must replace it ASAP, and before another hard shutdown might occur. Absent any hard shutdowns (due to power interruptions) this HDD could possibly last a very long time.

I'll get with Seagate today and arrange a warranty replacement. I don't see any provision on their part which allows a transfer from the old to the new drive BEFORE returning the old drive in order to get the replacement. This is important.


Joe