Quite a lot of the HDD-related tools that have SMART information that I use seem to be really inaccurate. For example, CrystalDIskInfo claims that the temperature of one of my HDDs is over 42 Billion degrees .

Is this an issue that some programs have or is it a misconfigured setting? If it's a software problem, would you be able to suggest any other software solutions?

Sorry, but... with all due respect:

62 °C, instead of, say, 42 °C is a *big* inaccuracy.

Now, 42 Billion degrees is not inaccurate: it's a raging absurd!!!

Now, seriously, it may be an SDD not having a thermistor, being read as if it had one...

I demand a screenshot of this 42 billion degrees.

SMART viewers differ in the number of fields they can interpret (sometimes specific to the manufacturer, who may store two or three values in one field). Good software will show all fields reported by the drive as well as the raw value of each, which you can examine yourself. The Current/Worst/Threshold normalized values are interpreted and set by the drive, the raw values are interpreted by the program.

CrystalDiskInfo shows all atributes, and on standard drives the temperature is in the least significant byte. Software that always converts the raw to decimal can be less useful (in CDI you can choose the number format).

For quick checks I like to use the less thorough HDTune, because it is quicker to load. CrystalDiskInfo won't work from MiniPE at all due to its heavy web-ish GUI.

If you can reboot the computer where the hard disk is connected to, you can also use HDAT2 from a boot CD / DOS to get the most information from the drive, as well as configure and test it if needed.

Wikipedia has the a table for standard attributes to help identify any Unknowns reported by your software.

Read Error Rate attribute in Seagate drives as researched by Fzabkar (sample of how to read custom fields). Some versions of HDAT2 can also do this and show the separate decimal values.

Edit: Fixed hyperlink

Link broken (misses a "l" in .html) this one works:

http://www.users.on.net/~fzabkar/HDD/Seagate_SER_RRER_HEC.html

jaclaz

Now, 42 Billion degrees is not inaccurate: it's a raging absurd!!!

Or if the drive is 42GB, it's a typo.

These things are inaccurate, and you should instead rely on an outside source, like a temperature monitor, that is, outside the control of the OS itself, and adjust the fans accordingly. The only way to really cool, down the computer is with a built in air conditioner system, that has water running through the valves. Then their is an heat transfer method, I forget what it was called, but you can move heat from the affected areas. That is my opinion on the subject.

Poor Peltier.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Charles_Athanase_Peltier

so many years of work in physics and people still considers water running through valves and heat trasfer methods, instead of his nice effect:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermoelectric_cooling

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peltier_effect#Peltier_effect

jaclaz

@jaclaz: BTW, did you, perchance, read this?

It's referenced by the Wikipedia (en) page you gave a link to, you know.

@jaclaz: BTW, did you, perchance, read this?

It's referenced by the Wikipedia (en) page you gave a link to, you know.

..and...?

I am failing to see the point (unless you really want to know if I read it or not)

jaclaz

(unless you really want to know if I read it or not)

I do. I thought it really great somebody is creating everyday-life's products with it, at long last (<link>).

... OK: Somewhat off-topic? Sure. Then again, in this particular thread, what isn't?

To answer you question, no, I didn't notice that particular article, though I did knew that the technology existed, cannot really say where exactly I read/learned about it, most probably some article here in Italy, however this was some time ago, possibly the source being these much older NBC news:

http://www.nbcnews.com/id/43400428/ns/technology_and_science-innovation/t/cold-put-jacket-hot-put-jacket/#.U1gK4b0Zk_g

About the linked to article IMHO the best part is in the comments :

In this context, I am reminded of a poem by Tagore, the first Nobel Prize winner from INDIA (Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore is his complete name).

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high
Where knowledge is free
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments
By narrow domestic walls
Where words come out from the depth of truth
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way
Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit
Where the mind is led forward by thee
Into ever-widening thought and action
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.

Sarve Janah Sukhino Bhavanthu (meaning - Let all the people be happy and peaceful)

Now we are really, OT, but you made me do it .

jaclaz

Edited April 23, 201412 yr by jaclaz

Yeah... well... mea culpa!

Poor Peltier.

so many years of work in physics and people still considers water running through valves and heat trasfer methods, instead of his nice effect

jaclaz

There are some major drawbacks to Peltier cooling that either haven't been fixed or are in products that are not commonly available or are expensive.

http://www.heatsink-guide.com/peltier.htm

There are some major drawbacks to Peltier cooling that either haven't been fixed or are in products that are not commonly available or are expensive.

Well, you can say the same about "Windows Operating Systems" and "Computer technology" (and almost anything else).

jaclaz