Common questions about CrystalDiskInfo, compatibility, and troubleshooting.
Yes, CrystalDiskInfo is completely free and open-source Software (FOSS), released under the MIT License. You can use it for both personal and commercial purposes without charge.
Yes, CrystalDiskInfo supports Intel VROC, Intel RST (Realtek/JMicron/ASMedia), and many major USB-RAID bridges. However, support for hardware RAID cards (like MegaRAID) is limited and depends on the specific controller drivers.
No. CrystalDiskInfo is a Windows-only application (built with C++/MFC). It relies on Windows APIs to access S.M.A.R.T. data. For Linux, we recommend using smartmontools. For Mac, you might try DriveDx (paid) or similar utilities.
SSD health is typically calculated based on "Total Host Writes" (TBW) or "Percentage Used". As you write data to the drive, the NAND flash cells wear out. This is normal behavior. Unless it drops rapidly or hits 0%, your drive is likely fine.
This indicates that specific S.M.A.R.T. attributes (like Reallocated Sectors) have degraded below safety thresholds. "Caution" suggests early warning signs, while "Bad" indicates imminent failure. We strongly recommend backing up your data immediately.
Some older hard drives (specifically certain Maxtor models) have a firmware limitation where the counter rolls over after approximately 1,092 hours (65,535 minutes), causing inaccurate long-term tracking.
The standard S.M.A.R.T. data field for buffer size is obsolete in modern standards and maxes out at 32 MB. Most modern drives with larger caches do not report this data via the traditional ATA interface.
The Rotation Rate field was only introduced in the ATA8-ACS standard. Older drives and many solid-state drives (which have no moving parts) typically do not report this value.
This usually happens if your drives are connected via an unsupported RAID controller or an external ATA controller that doesn't pass S.M.A.R.T. data correctly. Ensure you are using the standard internal chipset controller or a supported USB bridge.
These specific Samsung models have a known firmware bug that can cause data loss when accessed by monitoring Software. CrystalDiskInfo automatically blocks access to them by default for your safety unless you apply the manufacturer's firmware patch.
Some USB enclosures use non-standard communication bridges. Go to Advanced Características > USB/IEEE 1394 in the menu and manually select a different bridge type (like "USB Memory (SAT)") to force detection.
