HD Tune Help

1. Introduction

HD Tune is a Hard Disk utility which has the following functions:

- Benchmark: measures the performance
- Info: shows detailed information
- Health: checks the health status by using SMART
- Error Scan: scans the surface for errors
- Temperature display

HD Tune may also work with other storage devices such as memory cards, USB sticks, iPods, etc.

2. System Requirements

- Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows XP 64-bit, Windows 2003 Server, Windows Vista (must be logged on as an administrator)
- 10 MB of free disk space
- a SCSI, SATA or IDE hard disk

3. Usage

Using HD Tune is very easy.
First select the hard disk, then choose a function.
Benchmark
After the Start button is pressed HD Tune will perform several tests to measure the performance of the hard disk.
Transfer Rate
The read speed is measured in megabytes per second (MB/sec). The minimum, maximum and average speed are displayed on the right. The blue line on the graph shows the read performance across the disk.
*note*: One megabyte equals to 1048576 bytes (=1024 kilobytes). Some benchmarks define one megabyte as 1000000 bytes which results in higher scores.
In the options screen (press the button) you can select the test duration.
Access Time
The average access time is measured and displayed in milli-seconds (ms). The measured access times are shown on the graph as the yellow dots.
Burst Rate
The burst rate is the highest speed (in megabytes per second) at which data can be transferred from the drive interface (IDE or SCSI for example) to the operating system.
CPU Usage
The CPU usage shows how much CPU time (in %) the system needs to read data from the hard disk.
Information
The first part of the screen shows detailed information about each partition on the hard disk.
The second part shows which features are supported.
The third part shows basic information.
- Firmware version
- Serial number
- Capacity
(The capacity between braces shows the capacity as it is marketed by the manufacturer; defining 1 KB as 1000 bytes)
- Buffer size
- Interface standard
- Maximum transfer mode and active transfer mode
Health
This function uses S.M.A.R.T. (Self-Monitoring Analysis and Reporting Technology) to get information about the health of the hard disk.
The table shows the following parameters:
- ID: parameter which is being measured
- Current: current value
- Worst: the worst value which has been recorded since the hard disk was first used
- Threshold: the value of any of the parameters should never get below the threshold.
- Data: shows the usable data which belongs to the ID.
- Status: status of the parameter (OK or failed).
Power on time
The power on time is usually indicated in hours, but some manufacturers show this time in minutes or even seconds.
Error Scan
By pressing the Start button the whole surface of the disk will be scanned for defects.
Defects will show up as red blocks.
Temperature
The temperature is shown on the main screen and on the taskbar.
In the options screen you can select the temperature units (Celsius or Fahrenheit) and whether the temperature should be shown in the taskbar.
You can also specify the critical temperature value. If this value is reached the font color changes and a warning message pops up.
For good operation the temperature should stay below 50 °C. The temperature should never exceed 60 °C.
*note*: not all drives can report the temperature.
The General page in the options window has a few options which are useful to monitor hard disk temperature with HD Tune.
Start minimized: HD Tune will be minimized to the taskbar. To open HD Tune, doubleclick on the temperature display or right-click to bring up a menu.
*note*: the 'Show temperature in taskbar' option must be enabled.
To minimize HD Tune to the taskbar when HD Tune is open you can press the button on the title bar.
Run at startup: starts HD Tune each time Windows is started.

4. Saving the results

You can save the output to a file or copy the output to the clipboard.
Save screenshot. The screenshot will be saved in the PNG format to a folder of your choice.
*note* under Windows 2000 you have to download and install the GDI+ library file which can be found on the Microsoft download site (look for gdiplus.dll).
Copy information to clipboard as text.
You can use a text editor to paste the information into a document.
Copy screenshot to clipboard.
You can paste a screenshot into a picture editor.

5. Additional information

Please visit the official HD Tune website at http://www.hdtune.com for more information, test results and contact information.

Copyright (C) 2005 by EFD Software