FAQ – Frequently Asked Questions

For a more detailed and more current FAQ, please look for the FAQ file or icon in your SIGuardian program group.

Q: : I have just installed SIGuardian in Windows 95/98 and run it, and the system shows an error in the program or SIGuardian doesn't show any info about my hard drives.

A: For operations with S.M.A.R.T. data under Windows 95/98 SIGuardian uses the standard Microsoft driver smartvsd.vxd. This driver is copied to your Windows System directory while installing SIGuardian, but for it to start operating you need to reboot Windows.

Q: I have just installed SIGuardian in Windows NT/2000 and it doesn't run normally.

A: Unfortunately, for operations with S.M.A.R.T. data under Windows NT/2000 using Microsoft rules, SIGuardian needs administrative rights. If you don’t have administrative rights you can’t use SIGuardian under Windows NT/2000. In our next major version (2.0 probably) we will fix this restriction.

Q: Info wrong! I have installed SIGuardian but it doesn't show me the remaining time of hard disk life.

A: SIGuardian calculates remaining time of hard disk life based on changes of S.M.A.R.T. attributes. In a normal situation such changes occur very rarely - once a month or less. So, to see any date in nearest T.E.C. (probably the date of hard disk life end) you'll need to wait some time - maybe days, weeks or months - to see a change of ANY S.M.A.R.T. attribute.

Q: HELP! SIGuardian shows that my hard drive life ends at next month! (Nearest T.E.C. in next months)

A: Be calm. First of all, this may occasionally be a change in S.M.A.R.T. attributes - just wait for few days or weeks and you'll see that the nearest T.E.C. date will change and go further into the future. But if this doesn't happen, we recommend you make regular backups of important (personal) data from this hard disk.

Q: During the start of SIGuardian in Windows95/98 something tries to read disk drive "A:". Maybe this is a virus?

A: No. This is the normal operation of Microsoft's ‘smartvsd.vxd’ driver.

Q: I just bought a new hard disk and immediately started monitoring it using SIGuardian. SIGuardian predicts nearest T.E.C. in the next three months! So, what must I do? Does this mean that I must change this HDD? If so, how can I contend this?

A: Fall of S.M.A.R.T. attributes (and prediction of nearest T.E.C.) is a normal condition for new hard disks. After some time (one-two weeks), the falling will stop and the T.E.C. goes farther into the future.

Q: I just bought a new hard disk from Quantum and immediately started monitoring it using SIGuardian. SIGuardian permanently reports about changes in "Spin-Up Time" (time of start spindle rotation) attribute and predicts nearest T.E.C. in the next few months! What am I supposed to do?

A: It's absolutely normal and a long-time known effect for Quantum drives. Just wait a little while (one-two weeks) and the falling of this attribute will stop and the T.E.C. will go into future dates.

Q: I have a hard disk that is more than two years old. Why does SIGuardian show that all attributes are at 100% (in progress bar), but some have obviously changed (they have values like '81')?

A: The problem is in the S.M.A.R.T. standard. Current realizations of it don't allow SIGuardian to know start (first) values of S.M.A.R.T. attributes. So, when you start monitoring of a 2-year-old HDD with SIGuardian, SIGuardian supposes that values at its first run are 'start' (initial) values - independently new or 2-year-old HDD you're using. Once again - it's a limitation of the S.M.A.R.T. standard, not SIGuardian.