XPS 8950, SupportAssist honesty questioned

Question

I have a Dell XPS 8950 desktop computer that I purchased 2 years ago. It works very well and I have had no problems with it.

This week, when I turned my computer on, a window opened up and said that my hard drive "was about to fail," and that I could purchase a new one from Dell.

So, I went into my Windows System, Disks & Volumes, and under Drive Health, it said: "Estimated remaining life: 98%"

Now I want to point out that I use my C:/ drive only for my operating system. All of my applications and other software are stored on another (brand new) drive.

But I think it is dishonest of Dell to tell me that my drive is failing, when it is absolutely not. I have purchased Dell desktops and laptops exclusively for many years, but I may look at other brands next time when it comes time to replace my computer.

ispalten · Answer

Well, C: gets used a lot more than just when you boot. Almost anything you start goes back to it to get 'data', either from the Registry, USER folder, and maybe Documents and other data.

I would think there are 'two' different 'readings' you are looking at. A program like CrystalDiskInfo will show you a lot more data and and its Health (Life).

SSD's also will have a limited life compared to a mechanical drive based on read/writes to it.

So, unless you know you had no S.M.A.R.T. errors, it is really hard to say/tell why you got the warning.

If you go to the C: drive maker's site, they usually have some Disk Utilities you can get to check the drive. Crucial also has one that will read any drive, SSD or Mechanical.

I suspect you got a single one-time S.M.A.R.T. error, maybe due to a low power drop or some other reason it was raised and the PC issued the warning.

I'd only worry if you got it repeatedly, especially within a disk operation, but otherwise keep it in the back of your mind.

RoHe · Answer

What software gave you that alert? Is SupportAssist running in the background?

Any external (USB) drives connected to this PC? And just because your internal HDD is "brand new", that doesn't necessarily mean it isn't already starting to failing. Bad things can happen to new drives.

Reboot and tap F12 when you see the Dell splash screen. Select option to run Diagnostics and test all internal and external drives connected to this PC. Likely to take several hours per drive, so be patient.

cameraz99 · Answer

I got the 'drive about to fail' warning from the Dell Support Assistant. Both of my drives -- my SSD C: drive and HDD D: drive -- report 'Healthy.'

RoHe · Answer

Your screenshot only shows info for a Samsung NVME SSD.  I don't see anything about the  internal HDD...

cameraz99 · Answer

OK, here's my third try at posting this. Apparently it doesn't work unless you write some text.

ispalten · Answer

Just for 'grins', run Support Assist again, and if you get the message, grab a screen capture and post it please.

cameraz99 · Answer

Sorry to take so long, but I've been busy. I just ran Support Assist. No problems.

RoHe · Answer

Bottom line, ignore SupportAssist...

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XPS 8950, SupportAssist honesty questioned

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