The program also provides an Advanced Test option, though, which may overwrite data, and so needs to be treated with much more care. These basic tests are (apart from the repair option) entirely non-destructive, so you can run them without worrying about data loss. Simple read tests allow you to confirm that a drive is still working correctly, and a Long Drive Self Test may also be able to repair damaged sectors. You're able to run a quick drive self-test, allowing it to report problems.

status, for instance, if it supports that technology. The program can check a drive's S.M.A.R.T. There are issues and workaround for drives beyond 2 TB but it is easier not to go beyond such capacities in the first place.Seagate SeaTools for Windows is a collection of tools that will check your hard drives for hardware problems (although Seagate is the authors, but it works at some level with most drives, regardless of the manufacturer). I recommend using modern SATA drives, XP detects them fine and can handle large capacities. FDISK, the partition utility that ships with DOS and early version of Windows cannot handle more than 64 GB, even if the BIOS supports larger drives.įor Windows XP you do not need to worry about any of this. Strange things happen when you use DOS or early versions of Windows to partition larger hardrives, for example a 320 GB drive. Most BIOS support 32 GB and so do DOS and early versions of Windows. This makes them perfect for retro gaming PCs. I use SeaTools for DOS to put a 32 GB capacity limit on modern drives. I have tested it with various Seagate and Samsung drives, quite recent ones as well with 2TB capacity. The DOS version of SeaTools should support Seagate, Maxtor and Samsung drives. Use an image burning software to burn it onto a blank CD-R.

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