2. Why is my version of the software no longer on the website? Am I eligible for an upgrade of the product?

O&O DriveLED is the newest generation of our solution for hard disk monitoring. Quietly running in the background, the software will recognize a potential malfunction of your hard disk before it happens.

You will remain constantly informed as to the condition of your hard disks and, most importantly, be warned in the event of pending malfunction. O&O DriveLED therefore contributes greatly to the security and availability of data stored on your hard disk. Please visit the product pages of O&O DriveLED to find out more about downloads and upgrade opportunities at: http://www.oo-software.com/en/products/oodriveled/

3. I am using O&O DriveLED. How can I contact the O&O technical support?

O&O Software offers expert technical support to solve every issue you might have, aiming for 100% customer satisfaction. O&O Software provides e-mail support for home users and phone support for corporate customers, as well as on-site support for corporate customers with maintenance agreements – upon request world-wide – staffed directly by O&O technicians or authorized O&O partners.

Please do not hesitate to send us your questions and requests. Our technicians will answer all of your questions.

Support for Registered Users (Customer Support): http://www.oo-software.com/en/support/csupport/

Support for Trial and Freeware Software: http://www.oo-software.com/en/support/tsupport/

4. How can I permanently check if my hard drive is working properly?

While running in the background, O&O DriveLED also shows the status of your hard disks in the Windows task bar. This function allows you to immediately see if your drives are working properly or if O&O DriveLED has detected a malfunction.

5. What is O&O DriveLED?

With O&O DriveLED you now have the ability to recognize a potential malfunction of your hard disk before it happens. This is an important security issue, because the lifetime of every hard disk is limited! You can then backup your data in time and, through the exchange of the affected hard disk, avoid a potentially fatal loss of data.

6. Is O&O DriveLED secure to use?

O&O DriveLED is safe to use. It monitors your hard disk without affecting its functionality in any way.

7. For whom is O&O DriveLED intended for?

O&O DriveLED is intended to be used by home and home office users using single licenses. It may also be used within O&O’s corporate licensing for hard disk monitoring on corporate workstations and servers.

8. Do you offer O&O DriveLED licenses for Administrators or Technicians?

O&O DriveLED can be purchased as single licenses and for corporations using O&O’s corporate licensing with volume licenses and site licenses. If you are interested in the O&O volume licensing program, please contact us at: http://www.oo-software.com//en/order/form/index.html

9. What hard disks and other storage devices does O&O DriveLED support?

O&O DriveLED supports the following devices: All hardware storage devices that are supported by Windows.

10. Do I need to uninstall an earlier version of O&O DriveLED before I install the latest update?

Yes, please uninstall your installation of a previous version, and afterwards install the new release.

11. My PC has removable hard disks that provide LEDs showing the read/write access for each hard disk. Do I still need O&O DriveLED?

The functionality of O&O DriveLED far exceeds the mere displaying of disk access on your desktop. This software enables you to easily distinguish between read and write access for both local and logical volumes, such as network volumes.

Furthermore O&O DriveLED provides the functionality to analyze and display the condition of your hard disks using S.M.A.R.T. technology (“Self Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology”). S.M.A.R.T. provides certain parameters, e.g. the age of the hard disk, the effective operating time, the temperature or the number of startups. When a specific parameter reaches a critical value, O&O DriveLED will give you a warning message, giving you a critical knowledge of a possible hard disk failure. Moreover, this feature allows you to constantly monitor the temperature of your hard disks. As today’s computer technology advances, the danger of rising operating temperatures is a source of growing concern. Because of this, monitoring the temperature of your hard disks is an essential feature of protecting your data.

12. Is my hard disk supported by O&O DriveLED?

For the basic function of showing the read/write access to your volumes, O&O DriveLED supports every volume that is listed in “My Computer”. In order to take advantage of features analyzing the current condition of your hard disks, your volumes need to support S.M.A.R.T. functionality. However, not all hard disks that support this technology provide information for all S.M.A.R.T. parameters. Therefore it is possible that parameters such as the effective operating time could be displayed but others, such as the hard disk temperature, perhaps not. In such cases, the manufacturer has designed a volume with only partial S.M.A.R.T. capabilities.

13. Is it possible to fix faulty hard disks with O&O DriveLED?

No. O&O DriveLED gives you the ability to prevent data loss in the event of a hard disk failure by warning you when specific internal parameters reach critical levels. If O&O DriveLED displays a warning, it is urgently recommended to backup your important data and to check the hard disk or to replace it.

14. What is S.M.A.R.T.?

S.M.A.R.T. stands for “Self Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology” and utilizes a series of your hard disk’s built-in sensors and diagnostic systems to monitor its mechanical and electronic status. Parameters such as temperature, effective operating time or data throughput are monitored and can be very useful in determining the “health” of your hardware. This is where O&O DriveLED enters the picture. O&O DriveLED keeps a close eye on those parameters and predicts when upcoming hard disk failures could occur. For example, if the distance between the hard disk head and the data disk decreases steadily, this could be an indication that your hard disk is probably facing an upcoming head crash. Whenever O&O DriveLED detects a critical value, you’ll be immediately warned.

15. How is it possible to predict upcoming hard disks failures?

Based on a number of parameters (e.g. temperature, life-time, effective operation time), one can sometimes predict possible hard disk failures. If one parameter is of a critical value, O&O DriveLED will inform you with a warning message. This could be the result of high temperature, dangerously close proximity of the hard disk head and the disks, or possibly a slow rate of revolution suggesting an abrasion of the turning knob bearing. If O&O DriveLED gives you a warning message, it is urgently recommended that you backup your data, check your hard disk, or perhaps even replace it.

16. Why does the S.M.A.R.T. test not show all parameters?

Not all hard drives are designed to monitor a complete list of parameters for diagnostic purposes. Some hard drives only allow restricted access to specific parameters. O&O DriveLED can only analyze and display those parameters that are accessible.

17. Why do I not see any S.M.A.R.T. or temperature values using my IDE RAID system?

IDE RAID systems mask themselves as SCSI-I RAID systems. S.M.A.R.T. inquiries to those SCSI-I devices as well as inquiries to the IDE devices will be declined by the controller and can not be transmitted.

18. Ever since I installed O&O DriveLED, my energy-saving functions, such as standby mode, do not appear to be working. Why is this?

When you activate the “Keyboard LED” to monitor the read and write access to your hard drive, all of your computer’s screensaver and energy-saving functions (e.g. automatic stand-by after a designated amount of time) are blocked. Because the “Keyboard LED” involves the activation of the keyboard, the computer perceives this function as user interaction and therefore does not activate those desired energy-saving features.

19. Why does O&O DriveLED show unrealistic statistical results for my hard drive?

Some hardware vendors do not implement the S.M.A.R.T. technology according to the precisely defined standards. In such cases the hard drive will deliver incorrect values, which O&O DriveLED tries to interpret anyway. This may lead to an unrealistic result.