I think my PowerBook G4's HDD is about to kick the bucket

[CountMaxMore]

is there a hdd test/scan i can use on my machine to check to see if this is the case?

 

[eyoungren]

You can open Disk Utility and check the S.M.A.R.T status. It will tell you if it's failing or not.

DiskWarrior can repair corrupt OS installs, but it can also tell you via a hardware test if your drive is failing as well.

There are also other S.M.A.R.T tools out there as well. SMARTReporter 2.7.3 is the last free version and SMART Utility (not free) can also give you in depth information about your drive.

 

[Intell]

Note that the SMART status can be incorrect and show that a drive is healthy when it is failing.

 

[eyoungren]

Note that the SMART status can be incorrect and show that a drive is healthy when it is failing.

I have found that with SMART Utility the inverse can also be true as well.

On my PowerBook G4, SMARTReporter will tell me my drive is fine. SMART Utility tells me it's failing. On my Quicksilver, SMART Utility told me that one of my two drives was failing for two days after I started using it. Low and behold on day three SMART Utility decided that the second drive was fine and now lists it as healthy!

The entire time SMARTReporter had it listed as fine. As did Disk Utility.

Go figure!

 

[bse5150]

There is no utility that can tell you with absolute certainty that your drive is healthy or failing. The best you can get is an educated guess.

If you suspect that your drive might be failing you would be best advised to make regular backups of your data.