Hard Disk Monitoring

Configuration-> Alerts-> Enabled
I had a disk that reported problems, but Hard Disk Sentinel did not show in the tray:
1. Nothing to blink.
2. She did not show any balloon.
https://www.hdsentinel.com/help/img/scr10.gif

Setting:
https://i.postimg.cc/B6HxhMqz/Screen-Sh ... -45-PM.jpg

What to do in this case?

> I had a disk that reported problems,

Sorry, but I do not really know the actual "problems" you mentioned which should trigger the alarm.

> 1. Nothing to blink.

Sorry, what should "blink"?

> 2. She did not show any balloon.
> https://www.hdsentinel.com/help/img/scr10.gif

This image shows a tray icon balloon displayed when the appropriate hard disk reported failure on the appropriate attribute (0 % health, Failure predicted)

Please note that newer Windows OSes may prevent displaying tray icon balloons and similar notifications. On the tray icon area, it is possible to customize which icon(s) should be displayed and which may only show notification.

Also on the Configuration -> Message Settings page, you can configure how such alerts displayed (and/or notifications to be sent).

Also please note that (by default) all disks and issues trigger only one alert per day to prevent too frequent mails/alerts upon returning problems.

In my Windows 7 it is configured so that it shows all the bubbles and in a practically unlimited time (just closing the balloons manually).
When I had problems with the disk:
a) hanging up
b) bad sectors
c) performance problem
I did not get any notifications, even though I used all available settings to try and it still did not work.
In summary, to find out if the disk is all right, I would have to open the GUI non-stop. For me it's non-practical.
There is no way to IMMEDIATELY (in real time) inform you about disk problems.
I do not remember the name of the tool I used to use, but it had the function necessary to quickly inform about the problems with the disc.
A continuous beep (beep in the computer) or in the computer speaker, or you could choose a speech bubble.
I used to have an old SATA SAMSUNG drive and then I immediately got the information, it was just as good.

Not sure about the actual disk status and the configured options / alerts but of course all alerts WORKING, without problems:
the purpose of Hard Disk Sentinel exactly is to notify in many different ways, so there is no need to always check the user interface.

For example, if you enable
- Configuration -> Alerts -> Send/display message in the "Above xx" temperature line, then when the disk temperature goes above the threshold, the alert tray icon displayed.

See image:



You can define on Configuration -> Message Settings if you prefer to have other kind of notifications in this case, for example
- email alert
- display message window
- send message
- execute external application
- add to Windows Event Log


On the Configuration -> Alerts page, you can configure much more alert options, for example
- send/display alert upon any other problems
- make sound alert (configurable sound file or use PC speaker beep-beep, repeat sound alert)
- start pre-configured "panic backup" project
- shut down (or sleep / standby / hibernate the PC)

All of these can be assigned to events like
- when failure expected (which means 0% health)
- when the temperature is high (with two customizable threshold levels, see the Configuration -> Thresholds/Tray icon page and can be customized for each disks)
- when the health is low (with two customizable threshold levels, see the Configuration -> Thresholds/Tray icon page and can be customized for each disks)
- when the free space is low
- when any new problem (for example but not limited to bad sectors) detected and saved in the Log page of the disk drive.

Generally everything is possible with some clicks, please see the Help, which describes with more details if you press F1 or open online at
https://www.hdsentinel.com/help/en/25_c_alert.html
https://www.hdsentinel.com/help/en/26_c_msg.html
https://www.hdsentinel.com/help/en/24_c_tti.html


> I did not get any notifications, even though I used all available settings to try and it still did not work.

I'm afraid no, you may missed some of the option(s). Sorry if something was not clear from the configuration window and/or from the Help.


> In summary, to find out if the disk is all right, I would have to open the GUI non-stop. For me it's non-practical.

It is absolutely not required.


> There is no way to IMMEDIATELY (in real time) inform you about disk problems.

There are several ways, the above just some of the many alert/status reporting functions. In addition to the above (to increase attention) we can mention the tray icon itself, the sidebar gadget, the Status Window and the status export functions too.


> I do not remember the name of the tool I used to use, but it had the function necessary to quickly inform about the problems with the disc.
> A continuous beep (beep in the computer) or in the computer speaker, or you could choose a speech bubble.
> I used to have an old SATA SAMSUNG drive and then I immediately got the information, it was just as good.

I know a such software: Hard Disk Sentinel - it can do all of the above (plus many other alerting/reporting functions).

The disk hangs, the disk is not working properly, the MFT is damaged, the sectors damaged.
HDS does not inform about it in any way (no information, no sound signal)
Why do I need an e-mail message, I have to enter the mailbox and read messages there, very funny.

I can check errors only in the main HDS window, and in the event log.
But I can not get notifications eg on the desktop or in the bubble.

Other than this feature: Enable warning if the hard disk is not responding
It does not work completely:
When you try to open a partition, the disk does not respond, even though it tries to read the information indefinitely.

I disconnected two disks. It does not make sense to torture them anymore.

I'm sorry, but even if "The disk hangs, the disk is not working properly, the MFT is damaged, the sectors damaged." the disk may not
- reach 0% health
- drop below the health threshold (I do not know the actual health, the configured threshold levels)
- report increased bad/weak sectors which would be logged and detected
and if these do not happen yes, alert may not be triggered yet.

Usually drives with so high problems have relatively low health which should trigger alert (if configured properly).
I'd be more than happy to check its status, so if you can use Report menu -> Send test report to developer option, I'd be happy to check, examine as such reports (especially about failing, not perfect, problematic drives) always help to improve the health calculation.

You may configure more strict health thresholds at Configuration -> Thresholds/Tray Icon or select Configuration -> Advanced options -> Health calculation method = Analyse Data Field (more strict, recommended for servers).
This way upon problems, a low-health alert would be triggered even sooner.

> Why do I need an e-mail message, I have to enter the mailbox and read messages there, very funny.

No, you do not need to have e-mail message.
As I wrote, you can simply disable the e-mail option at Configuration -> Message Settings page.
By default, when we speak "alert", we (and users) usually expect e-mail alert (this is why enabled by default) but it can be disabled in order to get tray icon notification, alert window on screen or other options.


> I can check errors only in the main HDS window, and in the event log.
> But I can not get notifications eg on the desktop or in the bubble.

Both are possible, I already wrote, please see my previous answer.

If you disable ALL options on the Configuration -> Message settings page, you'll only get tray icon notification when the alert condition met.
Also you can enable the "Display message on screen" option too to get a message alert window too.


> Other than this feature: Enable warning if the hard disk is not responding

As I also wrote, this function designed for old systems with special disks / controllers and on modern systems, it may have no effect.

How to artificially call a problem with a disk and check if there are specific alerts?

1) open Configuration -> Message settings page. There you can specify what happens when alert generated:
- send in email
- display message
- add to event log (this should be enabled)
- run external application

You may unselect all of them - as then only the tray icon notification will appear.
Or you may enable the "Display message" too, to get a bigger visual alert message on screen.

2) specify which event should trigger alert on Alerts page in this Configuration window.
For example, locate the "when temperature is too high" and enable the "Send/display message" option in that line.

3) attempt to "trigger" the alert. For example, if you select the Thresholds/Tray icon page in this Configuration window, you may reduce the threshold of the corresponding (yellow/red) level (where you enabled alert above).

This way when you click on OK to close the Configuration window, the alert generated, displayed.