Heat can build up within computer systems due to a clogged fan, failure of air conditioning in a room, operating more drives than the cooling system can handle, and so on. Unfortunately, these conditions can go completely unnoticed until a failure occurs. The resulting stress can lead to unexpected failures and even data loss. Because of the essential nature of today's workstations and servers, such risks are unacceptable for many users. What is needed is a way to identify high-temperature situations before they affect data integrity.

Since disk drives are the most critical component for retaining vital information, PalickSoft has created a solution - HDD Temperature™.

HDD Temperature™ is a disk utility that checks and monitors the temperature of your hard drives to help prevent data loss. Using S.M.A.R.T. technology included in all modern hard disks, this program analyzes and show its current temperature. You can setup maximum value of drive temperature and in case of overheating HDD Temperature can display warning message. System administrators can setup e-mail address or computer name for e-mail and network messages about overheating.

Self Monitoring Analysis and Reporting Technology (or S.M.A.R.T.) is a technology that enables a PC to in some cases predict the future failure of storage devices (like hard disk drives). Pioneered by Compaq, S.M.A.R.T. is under continued development by the top five disc drive manufacturers in the world: Seagate Technology Inc., IBM, Conner Peripherals Inc., Western Digital Corporation, and Quantum Corporation.

To set the HDD Temperature options, click its icon in the system tray, or right-click it and select "Settings" in the menu. If you use only the HDD Temperature service, you will have to start the program from the HDD Temperature group in the Start menu.

1. Load at Windows startup
If this checkbox is checked, the HDD Temperature UI (user interface) is loaded automatically at the system startup and the temperature of your hard drives is displayed in the system tray.

2. Show splash at startup
If it is enabled, a small splash window with the HDD Temperature logo is displayed during the startup. It can be disabled only in the registered HDD Temperature Pro version.

3. Temperature units
Select Celsius to show the temperature using the Celsius scale (metric system) or select Fahrenheit for the Fahrenheit scale.

4. Maximum temperature
If the temperature of your hard drive exceeds this value, HDD Temperature™ warns you by a message box, an e-mail or network message (if you select the last two, no message boxes are displayed). The default value is 55 Celsius - the most common value for all drives. But if you have a lot of drives or a compact system, you can set this value to 60 Celsius, but higher temperatures are not recommended!

5. Language
Click this listbox and select the desired language for the interface and messages.

6. Temp poll period
How often HDD Temperature™ checks the temperature of your hard drives. Set this value in minutes and seconds.

  8. Icon color
Click to select the color of text (numbers) in the temperature icon in the system tray.

  9. Icon background
Click to select the background color of the temperature icon in the system tray.

  10. Show the balloon hint when the temperature changes
When a temperature change occurs, a small balloon hint in system tray area is displayed informing you about the new hard drive temperature (only in Windows 2000/XP).

 11. Show a message box about overheating
In case the maximum temperature is exceeded, a message box is displayed in the middle of the screen informing you about hard drive overheating.

12. Show a balloon hint on overheat (Windows 2000/XP only)
In case of hard drive overheat (current hard drive temperature is more than setuped in 4), a small balloon hint in system tray area is displayed warning you about the hard drive overheating (only in Windows 2000/XP).

13. E-mail to (available only in HDD TemperaturePro version)
If you want to send an e-mail message about overheating, enter the e-mail address here. The button next to the field will help you test the network message feature. Keep in mind that the mail is sent using the e-mail client on the local computer.

14. Network message to (available only in the HDD TemperaturePro version)
If you want to send a network message about overheating to another computer, enter the computer name here. The two buttons next to this field will help you choose a computer from the list and to test the network message feature.

15. Default
Press this button to restore all options to their default values.

16. Send
We try to collect a database of hard drive models that support temperature monitoring. If HDD Temperature shows the temperature of your hard drives in system tray, please press this button to send us the information about your hard drive models to include it into the database. NO PERSONAL (PRIVATE) INFORMATION IS SENT!

WARNING!
Due to some troubles, the Motherboard Monitor integration is disabled until version 1.4!

Integrate HDD Temperature into Motheboard Monitor
   You can setup your Motheboard Monitor to show your hard drive temperature as one of the sensors. In this case you don't need to start the HDD Temperature UI (user interface) and can run only the HDD Temperature service (on Windows NT/2000/XP systems, on Windows 95/98/Me it runs as a background application).
   To do so, follow these steps:

1. Open the Motheboard Monitor Settings window. (right-click its icons in system tray and select "Settings" in the menu).
2. Click the "Temperatures" menu to your left.
3. In the "MBM 5 sensor" field select "Sensor 5" for the first drive ("Sensor 6" for the second one, "Sensor 7" for the third one, etc.)
4. In the "Should display board sensor" field select "Custom".
5. Then click the "Visual" menu and specify the desired display name of the sensor (we recommend "HDD" :), its color, and where the sensor should be displayed (the system tray, dashboard, etc.)

Why doesn't HDD Temperature work with my hard drives? It writes in ErrorLog.txt - "no hard drives supporting temperature monitoring found"!
Not all hard drives support temperature monitoring.
Also, you can always find the latest list of hard drives at our site:
http://www.siguardian.com/products/hddtemperature/hdds.html

Why does HDD Temperature say "Error while opening the S.M.A.R.T. driver"? What should I do?
HDD Temperature works directly with your hardware. Unfortunately, hardware incompatibility is present in the IBM PC world. Not all systems support such hardware access. Especially under Windows 95,98 or ME. We recommend that you try to use Windows 2000 or XP, but in some cases it also will not help. Try to send a report to the support service using Problem Report Tool - but in most cases we cannot do anything. It is just that your hardware is incompatible with HDD Temperature.
Besides, in version 1.1 we include a small utility to check the direct hard drive access and the temperature sensor in your hard drives. But you must have administrative permissions to run it under Windows NT/2000/XP.
To perform such a test, just run CheckHDDTemp from the HDD Temperature program group.

Why doesn't HDD Temperature support my hard drives connected to the IDE-RAID controller?
It is under development now. All the registered users of HDD Temperature Pro will receive a free update when it is done.

If you specify low (below 40-45°C) hibernation temperature, your system will hibernate immediately after the startup. To repair it, do the following:

In Windows 95/98/ME:
After you see the Windows boot screen, press and hold the SHIFT key until Windows starts. Open the folder where HDD Temperature is installed and find the file "Disable Hibernation.reg". Double-click it and answer "yes" to import the data into registry. This will disable hibernation and reset the hibernation temperature to its default value (80°C).