Hard Disk Monitoring

Upon connecting one of my external drives to my computer, I noticed an increase in the "Raw Read Error Rate" section of the S.M.A.R.T. readings; an increase of 15, to be exact. I decided to run a surface test (read) to see if there's a bigger problem with my drive and after a while the "Raw Read Error Rate" increased incrementally, peaking at around 87 or so.

But what's weird is that it started decreasing as time went on; now it's down to just 3. I'm not sure how the "Raw Read Error Rate" went from nearly 100 back down to just 3, but that's basically the only problem I see with this drive so far. I don't get it; should I prepare for the inevitability of my drive dying, or is this just a minor blip? Because from what I understand the "Raw Read Error Rate" indicates a problem with my drive's functionality, doesn't it? I'm not having a problem with any of my other external drives, either: just this one. So I guess it's possible that I just got a bad drive (even though it's only a few months old) as these things can happen, it's just bad luck, really...but then why did the count decrease after a while? I'm just puzzled by the entire situation. I didn't reset any of the counters, either...I haven't changed a single setting, it just decreased by itself.

Without knowing the details (hard disk drive manufacturer, model, firmware, actual values of this and possible other attributes etc.) hard to say for sure. Usually checking an attribute alone is not enough.

But usually what you see is normal and acceptable.
Generally until the health % and the text description shows no issues, you can be sure that value is in the normal range and the change (increase/decrease) is normal, does not indicate any issue.

But if you prefer, you can any time use the Disk testing functions, designed exactly to
- reveal any possible issue
or
- confirm that the hard disk drive is working correctly.

Please see: https://www.hdsentinel.com/faq.php#tests
for details.

Also if you use Report menu -> Send test report to developer option, it is possible to check the actual disk drive, its status/situation and (especially if an error reported in the text description) advise.

Okay, I've sent the report. I'm not sure how I completely forgot to mention the kind of drive it is, it totally slipped my mind for some reason; it's a 2TB Western Digital Easystore. Powered via USB cable. The Raw Read Error Rate is around 42, last I checked.

Like I said, it tends to fluctuate for some reason. Next thing I know, it could end up dropping to around 7 or 3 before going up again. It's the only drive I have that's giving me Raw Read Error Rate problems, so perhaps the drive is going bad, I don't know. I do not seem to have any other problems with it, it doesn't randomly disconnect, I've not noticed any issues moving files to or from it, it doesn't produce any odd sounds, and the surface test (read) doesn't reveal any issues, just a few (very few) darker squares; and they're barely a shade darker than usual anyway, so it's basically nothing weird. It passes the short self-test as well.

If it wasn't for that raw read error rate, I wouldn't know something was going on.

Thank you very much for your help, it's appreciated.

Alone that value is completely fine and acceptable.
Good to hear that generally the hard disk drive works correctly, there are no errors and the tests also confirmed that the hard disk is working perfectly.
Yes, some minor darker green blocks are possible during the surface test - it is normal.

If there would be any concern with the mentioned attribute (or anything else) then the health value would surely drop to increase attention to possible problems and the tests would surely confirm the problem.