Hello.
I am using KitFox for the first time. I have a 4Tb drive and I can see it is struggling to read some files now that the disk is almost full.
I did a Short test and then an extended test and these came out as OK.
Still, I can see in Windows 10 event viewer that there are bad block events and even controller reset events.
So, does WD have a tool that will do a full read test and mark the defective sectors? I thought this was standard funcionality.
On a personal note, I find Kitfox interface extremely lacking. For the extended test, I don’t know if it is running, what is it doing, or if it has stopped for any reason. Why not give the user at least some info? “Your drive is ok” as the only message after the test is just not enough. Maybe tell what it did or some statistics???
WD’s Data Lifeguard Diagnostic tool is better for a full read test and can find and mark bad sectors on your 4TB drive. Fitfox doesn’t provide much feedback, which can be frustrating. If you keep seeing bad sectors or errors, back up your data and consider replacing the drive.
Than you. I will have to do that.
Found a version on CNET that looks safe to download.
It’s a shame that I cannot rely on the extended test of the currently supported testing software.
I also opened a support case and made them know how I feel about this and the unreliable Kitfox software.
@CTaddey There might be a little misunderstanding of what the software is actually doing. From my research on the topic, the self-test is actually performed by the drive itself and only returns an error code once complete. What tests are actually being completed may be something that is proprietary. I did find this table which outlines the error codes for the self-test so that may be an indication of the tests being performed: Western Digital Kitfox Drive Self Test Error Codes
If you want some statistics, you can look at the drive’s SMART log from the Device Logs page. Maybe for your situation, the self-test isn’t scanning the exact sectors that are failing for you and that’s why it is showing as passed or maybe it just hasn’t “failed enough” to trigger a threshold exceeded. Sounds like if you are noticing some issues, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to backup your data just in case.
If you still aren’t confident, there is a reputable tool called smartmontools that is widely used that you can verify against.
