Can't say I am impressed

Gasman · Sep 10, 2025

Installed a Crucial 2TB SSD about 2 years ago in this laptop.
Not heavily used anymore, as now retired.

Due to this Windows/SSD issue, which apparently is due to a certain firmware, I went into Crucial Storage Executive to check my firmware.

Then I see this. :-(

My 2TB hard disk, much older

I will be going back to hard disks.

The_Doc_Man · Sep 10, 2025

Is "Crucial Storage Executive" a Windows feature or a commercial package? I would have LOVED to have had it or known about it a year ago when my SSD died on me, and it was the second SSD to do so.

The first one died within a month of purchase and was inside the 90 day warranty, so my replacement drive was free. Its replacement lasted only about 4-5 years and just DIED on me, except it died raggedly. It did a Windows Recovery and resurrected itself, which gave me time to work.

I made backups of my crucial storage areas and took other precautions, but then I started to get all sorts of other errors - like telling me I was having a controller error on my disk, which was absurd because it was responding correctly to diagnostics. I knew I had to replace the SSD and was looking around for a decent gaming machine, but then the moment came when the system fan died - and that was the death knell. Once the system fan stops, your CPU chip burns to a crisp that make Doritos jealous.

I'm not going to say that the SSD was the cause of the other failures because it WAS an old machine - it had given me 15 really good years ... but my replacement gaming machine came with SSD only so I made sure I had a 2TB HDD added to the mix. Then I used the Windows feature that lets me move the "special" folders - My Documents, My Pictures, etc. - and I immediately moved everything to the HDD.

Gasman · Sep 10, 2025

It is a free download from Crucial.
It does recognise the hard disk as well, so might work on all storage devices?

It is only pure chance that I went into it, as it was just to check the firmware.

Just ordered. 2TB Seagate HD, same model as the other one I have in the laptop

The_Doc_Man · Sep 10, 2025

From your Win 11 (and might work from Win 10):

Start CMD prompt as admin
Type: WMIC DISKDRIVE GET STATUS

It only tells you OK, BAD, or PRED FAIL (predict failure) but at least you can get SOME warnings.

Even though you only type DISKDRIVE (as a singular thing) it checks all disk drives in your system. Doesn't tell you which is which, but it goes in drive letter order.

GPGeorge · Sep 10, 2025

That works on Win10 as well.

Gasman · Sep 10, 2025

The_Doc_Man said:
From your Win 11 (and might work from Win 10):

Start CMD prompt as admin
Type: WMIC DISKDRIVE GET STATUS

It only tells you OK, BAD, or PRED FAIL (predict failure) but at least you can get SOME warnings.

Even though you only type DISKDRIVE (as a singular thing) it checks all disk drives in your system. Doesn't tell you which is which, but it goes in drive letter order.

Well that reports OK on both ATM.
However the SSD is my C: and F: drives where F: is where I keep my data and C: purely for windows and programs, pretty much

The_Doc_Man · Sep 10, 2025

I don't even install programs on my SSD. Windows is there because that is how it was installed. I even tried to put Office on the HDD - but it wouldn't let me. My games, however, are all on the HDD. So is my hobbyist writing and my picture galleries.

Cotswold · 2025-09-19T11:36:41+0100

Have to say I wasn't aware of this issue.

My PCs are the mini box type which are 120mm square with an SSD fitted.
Regarding the HDDs mentioned from what I can see they appear to get their power from the USB. Is that right?

All of the HDDs I've used have had a 4pin male power recessed plug. I still access them from time to time with an IDE & SATA HDD adapter wire with a plug for power. I've kept most of my old HDDs just in case I need something I've forgotten to copy.

GPGeorge · 2025-09-19T13:24:25+0100

Cotswold said:
Have to say I wasn't aware of this issue.

My PCs are the mini box type which are 120mm square with an SSD fitted.
Regarding the HDDs mentioned from what I can see they appear to get their power from the USB. Is that right?

All of the HDDs I've used have had a 4pin male power recessed plug. I still access them from time to time with an IDE & SATA HDD adapter wire with a plug for power.

I've kept most of my old HDDs just in case I need something I've forgotten to copy.

Ah, a developer after my own heart. You just can't have too many backups.

Cotswold · 2025-09-19T14:15:33+0100

GPGeorge said:
Ah, a developer after my own heart. You just can't have too many backups.

You can't be too thin, you can't be too rich and you can't have too many backups.
Been one of my mottos for years. Pity having all three isn't so easy though.

I used to see advice on how to destroy your old hard drive and never could see why it wasn't just easier to keep it.

The_Doc_Man · 2025-09-19T14:54:29+0100

Once - and ONLY once - I assisted in decommissioning HDDs for a U.S. Navy machine. Besides interminable paperwork, which was a burden by itself, we had our choice of three methods and the ONLY method we COULD do involved disassembling the drive, removing the disk, and using a hand-held degausser on the exposed drive, which we had to remove from the housing. In this case, it was a single-platter drive with data on the upper and lower surfaces, so we didn't have to pry apart the platters. The next time we had one of those to decommission, we just boxed it up and handed it over to a Navy courier who drove it to a commercial site that had the required equipment for total destruction of the drive and was certified for that action by appropriate Dept. of Defense (now Dept. of War) agencies. The paperwork was the same but as our hosting site grew, the need for drive disposal increased. Also, our civil service bosses didn't know about the drive disposal company for that first case, but they jumped onto the band wagon for the next case when someone mentioned that place to them.

I have now disposed of nearly a dozen computers. For the last four, I've kept the HDDs. Before that, I had a package that included the ability to do a security erase of the HDD - AND it was possible to do that erase in a decent amount of time. Now, with 1-2 TB HDD, even the 7-pass method would take days, never mind the 13-pass method.

Gasman · 2025-09-19T14:55:55+0100

When I was changing computers for Lloyds bank here in the UK, I had to drill a hole in the hard disk before shipping the computer back.

GPGeorge · 2025-09-19T15:05:27+0100

The_Doc_Man said:
Once - and ONLY once - I assisted in decommissioning HDDs for a U.S. Navy machine. Besides interminable paperwork, which was a burden by itself, we had our choice of three methods and the ONLY method we COULD do involved disassembling the drive, removing the disk, and using a hand-held degausser on the exposed drive, which we had to remove from the housing. In this case, it was a single-platter drive with data on the upper and lower surfaces, so we didn't have to pry apart the platters. The next time we had one of those to decommission, we just boxed it up and handed it over to a Navy courier who drove it to a commercial site that had the required equipment for total destruction of the drive and was certified for that action by appropriate Dept. of Defense (now Dept. of War) agencies. The paperwork was the same but as our hosting site grew, the need for drive disposal increased. Also, our civil service bosses didn't know about the drive disposal company for that first case, but they jumped onto the band wagon for the next case when someone mentioned that place to them.

I have now disposed of nearly a dozen computers. For the last four, I've kept the HDDs. Before that, I had a package that included the ability to do a security erase of the HDD - AND it was possible to do that erase in a decent amount of time. Now, with 1-2 TB HDD, even the 7-pass method would take days, never mind the 13-pass method.

Somewhat different contexts, but I get the point. I've used a hammer to decommission ancient hard drives before disposing of the obsolete computers they were in.

More than once, though, I've been delighted to find a backup of a file last used 12 or 13 years ago on an external hard drive.

On the other hand, I'm not tasked with managing military personnel records, so that's not a factor in my planning.

Cotswold · 2025-09-19T17:40:52+0100

It has happened again, the Access World unexpected digression. So I'll reiterate:

"Have to say I wasn't aware of this issue.

My PCs are the mini box type which are 120mm square with an SSD fitted.
Regarding the HDDs mentioned from what I can see they appear to get their power from the USB. Is that right?"

The_Doc_Man · 2025-09-19T21:18:27+0100

It is part of the standard of USB connections that power would be available through the same cable that contains the data stream. If you don't have another cable on the HDD that goes to wall socket, then the USB HDD is powered through the USB connection.

Gasman · 2025-09-20T01:32:19+0100

Cotswold said:
It has happened again, the Access World unexpected digression. So I'll reiterate:

"Have to say I wasn't aware of this issue.

My PCs are the mini box type which are 120mm square with an SSD fitted.
Regarding the HDDs mentioned from what I can see they appear to get their power from the USB. Is that right?"

This one you mean?