So let’s say you are having problems with your computer. You are not sure if it is the hard drive or something else. What do you do?
I suggest doing a surface scan of your hard drive. The program that I used to scan my new hard drive was GSmartControl version 0.8.5. It will even check multiple drives, if you have more than one. GSmartControl is in the Ubuntu Software Center, so it is easy to install. Once it is installed you will find it under System Tools. Just click on it, choose the drive you want to scan, and click the Preform Tests tab, pick the test you want to do, and then click the Execute button. You can choose to do a Short Self-test, Extended Self-test, or Conveyance Self-test. I did the Extended Self-test and took a couple hours to do my 1 TB drive.
The other tabs give you a ton of information about your drive. Check it out and hopefully it will help you get to the root of your problem.
Link
GSmartControl
