Shadow and Shield / Drive Health

Drive health and handling checks.

Shadow and Shield records drive, partition, filesystem, SMART, and warning context where the connected USB device path exposes it.

Under construction · work in progress

This page will continue to change as the hardware, software, and release materials are finalized.

At a Glance

Drive context, SMART visibility, and destination-media checks.

This page covers drive and partition context, best-effort SMART data, hidden-capacity indicators, destination NTFS checks, and the limits of health visibility over USB.

01 / Context

Drive context.

Drive health starts with the information the connected device exposes: device path, model, serial number, size, session context, partition layout, and filesystem details where available.

  • Device path, model, serial number, and size where exposed
  • Connection and session context
  • Partition layout and filesystem information
  • Recorded status messages and warning indicators

02 / SMART

SMART data.

SMART processing is best-effort because customer drives are typically attached through USB bridges. When the bridge and media expose data, the platform can record selected SMART health context.

  • Overall SMART status where available
  • Selected ATA SMART attributes where exposed
  • Temperature, power-on hours, and power-cycle count where available
  • USB bridge behavior may limit or block SMART visibility

03 / HPA DCO

HPA / DCO indicators.

HPA/DCO checks can be useful context, but USB-connected media often does not expose enough low-level information for definitive conclusions.

  • Best-effort HPA/DCO detection where enabled
  • Results may be inconclusive through USB-connected media
  • Do not present inconclusive results as proof that hidden-capacity features are absent
  • Strict HPA/DCO workflows may require direct ATA/SATA access or dedicated tools

04 / Destination

Destination-media checks.

Destination-media maintenance can improve mount reliability for platform-managed destination drives. These actions are not applied to source evidence media.

  • Read-only NTFS pre-mount health checks for destination partitions
  • Limited NTFS repair workflows for platform-managed destination media
  • Repair behavior is not applied to source evidence media
  • Not a substitute for forensic imaging, data recovery, manufacturer diagnostics, or OS-specific repair tools

05 / Visibility

Health visibility.

Health-related signals can appear in supported drive, partition, investigation, and execution-history views. The goal is operational context, not a guarantee of device condition.

  • Drive and partition views
  • Investigation and execution-history views
  • Warning indicators for workflow decisions
  • Recorded health information does not guarantee a drive is healthy, failing, complete, or defect-free

Health data depends on what the connected drive and USB bridge expose. Avoid guaranteed diagnosis, hidden-capacity proof, or hardware-defect claims.