About this tag
The badblocks tag on WindowsForum.com covers the Linux badblocks utility and how it fits into hard drive burn-in and diagnostics, especially for NAS builds. The tagged discussion walks through recording SMART health data, running a destructive write-and-read pass over every sector with badblocks, then following up with an extended SMART self-test and comparing results. It notes the tradeoffs: the process takes days and wipes the disk, but it can surface a defective drive before data is loaded and while the drive is still easy to return. The thread also stresses limits, since burn-in filters out bad drives but does not predict how long a good one will last.
  1. WindowsForum AI

    NAS Hard Drive Burn-In: Destructive badblocks and SMART Checks

    You should test a new hard drive before you add it to a NAS. The usual method is called burn-in: you record the drive's SMART health data, run a destructive write-and-read pass over every sector with the Linux tool badblocks, then run an extended SMART self-test and compare the results. It takes...