How to check if your hard drive is working. Checking the disk for errors: MHDD program
IN modern computer, the hard drive is the most unreliable device. Since the number of failures of this component is very large, and the whole danger is that you cannot predict the time when it will break, but you can periodically check the hard drive for serviceability. Due to untimely diagnosis and prevention, many users lose important information. Therefore, I recommend that you always pay attention to how your computer works.
If so, then you need to check the hard drive for serviceability. I will tell you how to do this in this article.
Let's first look at how a hard drive works and what it consists of.
HDD consists of glass and aluminum plates, which are coated with a special layer of ferromagnetic material. If you say in simple words, then the hard drive is a magnetic recording device.
For clarity, I am attaching an image of the insides of the HDD.
When producing hard drives, the final stage is low-level formatting, which forms a “disk map”, dividing it into tracks and sectors. Special marks are also applied to ensure that the head falls into the desired sector. A sector is a unit of measurement hard drive which is 512 bytes.
To check the hard drive for serviceability, we will use special programs.
It is important to monitor the temperature of the hard drive, as overheating can lead to its failure. To check the temperature of the hard drive, you can use utilities such as AIDA or HDD Life.
You can download these programs on the official websites, to do this, enter the names of the programs.
After installing the HDDLife program, run it and you will clearly see the status of your hard drive, as well as its temperature.
You can also perform a disk test if you wish.
In the AIDA program you can also view the disk temperature parameters.
To do this, launch the program, open the item “Computer” - “Sensors”
All information is at your fingertips. If you see that the temperature of the hard drives is high enough, you need to install active cooling. Special systems Coolers for hard drives are sold in stores.
We check the status of the hard drive using CrystalDiskInfo.
You can download the CrystalDiskInfo program from the official website, it is distributed free of charge, but has quite rich functionality and can provide all necessary information the user about the disk status. If the program, after diagnostics, determines that the disk is fully functional, it will assess the condition as “Good”. If there are any problems, the program will give an “Alarm” or “Bad” rating if the disk is in a dying state.
You can also view S.M.A.R.T information in CrystalDiskInfo - this is the initial data by which the program evaluates the condition of the disk.
We check the status of the hard drive with the Victoria program.
In order to prevent problems with hard drive I recommend using the Victoria program for Windows. With its help you can get a large number of important information about the disk, as well as check the disk for bad sectors and preventive maintenance. The program has a free and paid version; to determine the state of the disk, it will be enough for us to use demon paid version. The program is suitable even for beginners, as it has an intuitive interface, and when scanning the HDD, the user clearly sees the state of the sectors.
Since we are only interested in the condition of the disk, we will not delve into the process of deep checking and restoring problem sectors, if any, but for a complete understanding, I will describe the main functions. First, download the program, it is quite lightweight and weighs less than 1 MB, so after downloading, launch the application - the icon with a green cross. In the main program window you will see horizontal menu with switchable tabs. Let's look at the most important ones.
During the test, the program will scan the disk for readability of sectors, as you can see the quality of sectors is highlighted different colors. Let's figure out what each of the colors means.
- Gray sectors are the fastest sectors, we have no questions about them.
- Green sectors are sectors that work more slowly, but they are also in good condition.
- Orange - slow sectors, if the disk has a lot of such sectors, then you need to think about its health, because because of them, the disk starts to work slower, and as a rule, such sectors will fail in the future.
- Red – sectors are damaged and cannot be read. If the program detects them, you need to think about a new disk.
- Blue sectors with a cross are those that caused a failure when reading. Information from them cannot be restored, but you can replace this sector with a working one, and perhaps the disk will work a little longer, but it is better not to delay the replacement.
If you pay attention, there are four buttons on the test tab panel: Ignore, Erase, Remap, Restore, they will also be useful to us, let’s look at their purpose.
- Ignore is a function in which only a surface test is carried out and no actions are applied to bad sectors.
- Erase – when this function is enabled, bad sectors will be erased.
- Remap – if this function is enabled, the program will try to replace bad sectors with working ones. That is, when scanning, the program finds a bad sector, marks it as not working and replaces it with a good, working sector.
- Restore – this function is available only in the paid version of the program. When enabled, the program will try to restore the non-working sector.
I have described the main functions of the program; all you have to do is select the one you need and run the test. It may take quite a long time, depending on the capacity of the hard drive, as well as its condition. Therefore, please be patient. If many problem sectors are found on your disk, then do not delay in purchasing a new one, and take care to transfer all important information to another one as soon as possible
Friends, hello everyone! In this article we will continue diagnosing technical condition computer hard drive. Therefore, the agenda will include the question of how to check hard drive for serviceability and bad sectors.
As you remember, we already did this using the standard operating room capabilities Windows systems. But now everything will be different. Let's just say let's approach this task more professionally.
So, my dears, now it’s time to get acquainted with a very popular utility called Victoria. It is this that will help us diagnose the computer’s hard drive with very high accuracy.
At this step, you should download the installation archive with the program and unpack it on your computer. Then run the file named vcr447.exe with permissions:
After this, in fact, the main application window will appear in front of us. In order to better understand the basic principles of operation, the author suggests watching a short introductory video:
So, let's carry out the above actions on our experimental disk. To do this, select it on the “Standard” tab:
Now the passport data of the hard drive will open:
As you can see in the picture above, here we can find out the exact disk model (Model), firmware version (Firmware) and serial number, full size(Disk size), acoustic noise level during operation (APM val) and much more.
In the next step, go to the “SMART” tab and select the “Get SMART” item. After this, in the main window of Victoria, a completely incomprehensible list will open at first glance:
Let's take a closer look at what's what here. Look, SMART function, this is the internal self-diagnosis system of the hard drive. This firmware is built into all modern models Winchesters.
It monitors vital parameters, analyzes them and determines the overall health of the disk. As you can see in the picture above, in our case it is “GOOD”. This means you can breathe out calmly, because everything is fine.
Now a little about how this state is calculated. In fact, everything is very simple. Each parameter from the table has a current value (Val) and a threshold value (Tresh):
So, if the current value is equal to the threshold or is even less than it, then trouble has already arrived. You need to seriously think about saving information to backup media, so as not to shed crocodile tears later.
Also worth mentioning is the column Raw, which displays the current “raw” value. The lower this number, the better. It is on the basis of the data in this column that the Val value is formed.
Now let's look at the most significant parameters from the general list of the SMART system. They are highlighted in pink by the program itself:
If the value Raw given parameter will constantly increase, then the hard drive begins to “crumble”. The fact is that the replacement of defective areas with working ones is carried out from the reserve area, which also has its own permissible limit. Let's go further down the list:
- Current pending sectors (No. 197): indicates the number of candidate sectors that will soon cease to be read;
- Reallocation Event Count (No. 196): shows the total number of operations to replace bad sectors with working ones;
- Offline scan UNC sectors (No. 198): displays the real number of bad sectors of the hard drive on this moment time;
- UltraDMA CRC Errors (No. 199): indicates errors that occur when transmitting data via the hard drive cable. It may also indicate a loose connector on the drive itself.
So, we have considered the points of primary importance. Now let's look at other, no less interesting and informative positions. For example, this one:
- Power-on time (No. 9): the total number of hours that the tested hard drive has worked. A Raw value close to 20,000 will be quite critical in this case
- Seek Error Rate (No. 7): error rate when positioning the magnetic head unit. With an increasing Raw value, there may be problems with the mechanical part or there has been severe overheating
For owners of wearable laptops, it would be useful to pay attention to the values of the G-Sensor Shock Counter attribute:
This is nothing more than a shock sensor. Again, the higher the Raw parameter, the worse it was for the hard drive. Although for some manufacturers this sensor can be very sensitive and respond to even minor shocks.
Well, friends, now let's get to the fun part. Now we will check our hard drive for serviceability and the presence of bad blocks. But before this process, there is an important recommendation to follow.
In order for the Victoria program not to show false bad sectors, before starting the scan you should definitely disable all third party programs, which can access the disk in the background. Here is a sample list of them:
After that, feel free to go to the “Test” tab:
Here we need to check the “Remap” option and then click the “Start” button. After this, a long process of scanning the surface of the hard drive will begin. And the enabled function Remap will be in automatic mode overwrite bad sectors with healthy ones.
Now pay attention to the sector status indicator. Starting with the green color (reading delay 120 ms), problematic blocks already begin. Those marked with a blue “Err” mark are not readable at all. That is, they are not working:
In conclusion, it should be said that those who are very curious should not experiment with the “Erase” parameter, since this will lead to complete removal data:
You also need to understand that such tests place a very heavy load on the hard drive, so it is recommended to ensure good cooling. For example, you can open the side cover of a personal computer case.
And with this, the story about how to check a hard drive for serviceability and bad sectors has come to its logical conclusion. If you have any questions, ask them in the comments to the article. And for dessert you can watch a cool cartoon.
Letter. Complex issue site administrator site and please respond in simple language, so that it would be understandable to a simple user.
How to check your hard drive for functionality, and most importantly, is it possible to remove bad sectors from a hard drive, or what are they also called, bad blocks, which, as it turns out, come in several types:
– physical (crumbling magnetic layer of working plates, chips, etc.),
– logical (sector logic errors), logical bad blocks, can also be classified as software bads, that is, soft bads (file system errors).
Before writing to you, I looked into this issue for quite some time and realized that to the average user superficial and inaccurate information is known, namely: many believe that all bad sectors or bad blocks are removed normal formatting, but that's not true. It turns out that it is generally impossible to remove physical bads, and logical ones only with the help of special programs, and only software bad blocks or soft bads (file system errors) can be removed using ordinary using Windows, for example, using or regular formatting. What am I talking about?
Recently I had to contact a service center about strange behavior of my computer. Firstly, there were periodic freezes, lasting several seconds, and sometimes permanently, I had to restart the computer Reset button. Occasionally, strange clicks and creaks were heard from the hard drive. Strange folders with no names were found in the system. The simple process of copying a file from one hard drive partition to another took an terribly long time. The operating system also often checked HDD for errors when turning on the computer, and last time showed BOOTMGR is missing on a black screen, this error restored using installation disk seven, but a day later when loading the computer it just showed a black screen, I thought enough was enough and contacted the service center.
IN service center Technical Specialist checked my hard drive free program HDDScan.
Unfortunately, the master checking did not explain anything, he showed me only after checking the presence of 12 bad blocks (English: bad sector, bad block, bad sectors - damaged), marked by the program in blue. Another 90 sectors were marked in red; they were not yet bad blocks, but their response time was not good, more than 500 ms.
The wizard also showed me the S.M.A.R.T of my hard drive and recognized it as not very good, since the most important parameter is Reallocated Sector Count - indicating the number of reassigned sectors (when the disk detects a read/write error, the sector is marked “reassigned”, and the data from the damaged sector or in other words, the physical bad block is transferred to the backup area), is almost critical, it is responsible for physical defects of the hard drive that cannot be corrected.
One more parameter Current Pending Errors Count - responsible for the number of sectors that are difficult to read and very different from reading a normal sector, was also marked in yellow, which indicated its poor condition. The expert’s advice was: Transfer all important data from the hard drive and “fix” it in this HDDScan program, but since there are a lot of bad blocks, most likely it will not be possible to fix all of them and it will no longer be possible to install the operating system on it, in In the future, you need to use this hard drive as a file storage or, as they also say, a file trash bin, this is the only way it will survive for some time.
I listened to the technician and left the hard drive at the service center for “treatment” until the evening, and in the evening I was shown the result.
Not a single bad sector (bad block), but there were 12. The number of sectors with a response time of more than 500 ms has become smaller (it was 90, but now 23),
one of the critical S.M.A.R.T indicators is 197 Current Pending Errors Count-responsible, as I already said, for the number of sectors that are difficult to read, has become normal, the parameter 198 Uncorrectable Errors Count-the number of uncorrected errors when accessing the sector also became within the normal range, but the most, according to him important indicator Reallocated Sector Count has not changed and remains unsatisfactory, so the conclusion is this: the operating system cannot be installed on this hard drive.
And now I have a question for you, please explain in detail, how to check hard drive for professional suitability on my own, how to determine how many bad sectors I have and what they are? How to use programs like HDDScan, and most importantly, how to get rid of bad blocks using it. What exactly does the program do with the hard drive, ridding it of bad blocks, and how long will such treatment of the hard drive help? Is it still possible to install an operating system on this hard drive or not? And the last question, the incorrigible parameter S.M.A.R.T - Reallocated Sector Count can still be fixed and are physical bads really incorrigible at all? Many forums on the Internet say that there are proprietary utilities from hard drive manufacturers that can perform low-level formatting at home. Alexander Anatolyevich. Tomsk.
Friends, let's keep it short - sister of talent, one of my friends, having read this question, answered it like this:- “You can’t cover up a scratch with anything, but a software problem can’t be cured.”
The topic is not simple, but relevant, the article is long, but I tried to make it understandable to the average user. To make everything easier to understand, I suggest, along the way, step by step, using the free HDDScan program, to check the MAXTOR STM3250310AS hard drive installed in the computer that was brought to our service center for repair. The operating system installed on the hard drive freezes from time to time and refuses to boot, displaying various errors or just a black screen. The hard drive creaks and clicks (I’ll explain why below). Reinstalling Windows did not help the matter and the owners of the computer do not know what to do.
So how to check the status of a hard drive? This can be done using various tests in the HDDScan program. First, let’s check the S.M.A.R.T indicators of this hard drive, then we’ll test the surface of the hard drive, we’ll find no less than 63 bad sectors and our program will fix them all, how long will last is another question (read on).
- But first very brief information about how a hard drive works, if this digression is not made, you simply will not understand the principle of operation of the HDDScan program and others similar programs, especially if you don’t understand what S.M.A.R.T is, as well as bad sectors (bad blocks) and why some of them cannot be fixed.
The hard drive is made of aluminum or glass plates coated with a layer of ferromagnetic material. A hard drive is primarily a device that operates on the principle of magnetic recording. Magnetic heads that read, write or erase information from a hard drive hover above its surface at a height of 10-12 nm and never touch the surface magnetic disk, which is easy to damage.
- On final stage hard drive production, carried out low level formatting, that is, tracks are applied to the working plates of the hard drive, each track is divided into sectors. Also, special magnetic servo marks are applied to the magnetic surface of the hard drive; they are needed to accurately place the magnetic head of the hard drive on the tracks of the hard drive. The minimum unit of information on a hard disk is a sector, a volume user accessible is 512 bytes of data. Low-level formatting in the life of a hard drive occurs only once, friends, and only on special and very expensive factory equipment - called Servowriter. Information recorded using this formatting will never be overwritten. Friends, such formatting cannot be done in any service. Therefore, my answer to the question whether it is possible to carry out low-level formatting using the operating system is the answer - no, it is not possible. Low-level formatting can only be done at the factory; it even destroys tracks, sectors and magnetic servo marks. For example, in the program Victoria erases all the information on the hard drive by filling all sectors with zeros, this cannot be called low-level formatting, but it cannot be called formatting either, it is something in between. After Write mode, all sectors of the hard disk are filled with zeros and do not contain any errors, and it can be formatted into a file system using Windows.
- At the factory, only service information is recorded in sectors ( servo information servo service, for example, the physical address of the sector and the address marker that determines the beginning of the sector), this information can be called markup; it is needed for normal operation hard drive, this is information about the numbers of tracks and sectors, necessary for the heads to accurately hit these tracks and sectors when reading the information written in them.
After purchasing a hard drive, user data will also later be written to this area (for example, the first sector of the hard drive will contain the main boot entry MBR), but User data can be recorded and erased, in contrast to service information, which has much greater magnetization, which is why the read-write heads of the drive can't erase it.
All service information about track and sector numbers will be stored in a special table located in a closed service area, inaccessible to OS and BIOS tools, which is a mini-operating system; together with the Firmware, they control the operation of the hard drive. Sometimes they ask the question - Is it sometimes necessary to update the firmware of a hard drive, the answer is negative, modern hard drives do not need updating. Also in this service area the disk passport, SMART attribute values, as well as a defect table with information about unrecoverable or reassigned bad sectors (bad blocks) will be stored.
So we got to the physical, logical and software bad sectors.
The fact is, friends, that if the operating system has problems reading data from a sector, then the hard drive controller makes several additional attempts to read the data, if they are also unsuccessful, this sector is recognized as faulty, and then the information is written to the normal sector , located on the backup track, and the problematic sector is recognized as faulty and removed from circulation, this is called (Remapping, in common parlance remap).
- Friends, whether to perform a remap or not is decided only by the hard drive controller during operation, and not by any programs for working with the hard drive (Victoria, MHDD). These programs can only hint with their tests (for example, Advanced REMAP in Victoria program- improved algorithm for hiding bad blocks) to the hard drive controller that a remap needs to be done.
The fact that a sector is recognized as faulty is entered into the defect table with information about unrecoverable or reassigned faulty sectors, located in the service area.
By the way, there are two tables of defects, one is the initial P-list (Primary-list), created after the final factory tests; any hard drive, friends, already has several reassigned bad blocks when it leaves the factory. Well, the growing table of defects G-list (Grown-list) is filled in by us as we use the hard drive.
What are bad sectors and how to fix them?
- Physical bad sectors are mechanical defects in the magnetic coating of the hard drive surface (crumbling magnetic layer of working plates, chips, etc.). That is, the sector structure itself is physically faulty; undoubtedly, such a bad block must be reassigned as a normal sector from the backup track. Very often this happens due to an impact caused, for example, by dropping a hard drive on the floor, mechanical damage occurs to the magnetic coating of the hard drive, damage to the magnetic heads, the same can happen due to overheating. Vibration of a hard drive is also dangerous if it is not securely fastened. A dusty room, smoking, despite the filter installed in the hard drive, also play a huge role in the formation of bad blocks; tobacco tar and dust stick to the surface of the hard drive and interfere with reading information.
- Physical bad blocks are not possible cannot be corrected by any formatting, you can only reassign them as spare sectors from the reserve tracks; naturally, because of this, the performance will drop somewhat, since the magnetic head of the hard drive will have to make many additional movements, looking for information on the reassigned sectors from the reserve tracks.
Why does the hard drive squeak? and sometimes clicks when working
When the operating system encounters a bad sector, the hard drive controller makes several attempts to read information from it, while clicks and squeaks may be produced by the hard drive head positioner.
The following reason may also be the cause of clicks and squeaks of the hard drive. When reassigning a bad sector to a normal one from a backup track (which is not always nearby), the magnetic head naturally has to change direction, as many say jump from side to side.
The third reason is that, as I said above, during the manufacture of a hard drive, special markings are made on the magnetic surface of hard drives with special servo marks; these servo marks are used to accurately position the magnetic head on the tracks of the hard drive; it is with the help of servo marks that the magnetic head of the hard drive moves correctly. Sometimes servo tags are destroyed for the same reasons that physical bad blocks are formed and the magnetic head cannot take and hold the position it needs, and clicks and creaks are heard from the hard drive.
- Logical bad blocks(sector logic errors), in turn divided into correctable and incorrigible. In which case logical bad block cannot be fixed? As I said above, each sector, in addition to user information, also contains service information (servo information, for example, the physical address of the sector and an address marker that determines the beginning of the sector), in simple words, markings with the help of which the magnetic head of the hard drive gets to the necessary tracks of the sectors, such markings applied by low-level formatting at the factory during the manufacture of the hard drive. This information It is almost impossible to remove since it is highly magnetized, but under certain circumstances, similar to the reasons for the appearance of physical bad blocks (impact, vibration, bearing play, etc.), this information is violated and can only be restored in the factory. Yes, there are special proprietary utilities that overwrite service information, but due to the complexity of their use, this issue is difficult even for specialized specialists and we will not consider it.
- Logical bad blocksthat can be fixed. When writing user information to a sector, a piece of service information is additionally written, the so-called ECC sector checksum (Error Correction Code), this code allows you to restore data if it was read with an error. But sometimes this code is not written, and accordingly the sum of user data in the sector does not match the ECC checksum. One simple example of why this happens is sudden shutdown computer due to electrical failures, because of this, information was written to the hard disk sector, but the checksum was not. The next time the operating system accesses this sector and tries to read data from it, but it will not match the ECC checksum, an attempt will be made to read the data again and again without success (so you get freezes and a bad block).
- Software bad blocks(file system errors - for example, an incorrectly marked sector belonging to two files) can be removed using the operating system - more reliably by regular formatting.
You will say that all this is good and understandable, but how can you get rid of bad blocks, transfer data from the hard drive and format it in the operating system installation program?
When formatting using all the methods available to the operating system, the same attempt will occur to read information from the bad sector, then compare them with the ECC checksum, but it does not match, which means that the incorrect information will not be overwritten and the bad sector will remain bad even after formatting. So it turns out what do you need special program, for example МHDD or HDDScan, which will not read anything, but will simply force a rewrite, will usually fill the bad sector with zeros, and then he will read what was written down and compare checksum, after which the sector will return to work.
For example, the HDDScan program has an Erase function - Test in linear recording mode (sector-by-sector erasing of data), carefully all your data will be deleted. Unfortunately, nothing will work without deleting the data, so before this test it must be transferred to another storage medium.
The best thing is to completely remove your hard drive and connect it to another computer that has the HDDScan program, then run the Erase test and check your entire hard drive. You don’t have to film anything, just write it down boot disks with the MHDD or Victoria programs, boot from them and run these programs with the Advanced remap function, but we will do this in other articles.
Now, friends, let's move on directly to working with the HDDScan program. With the help of this program, we will see the full picture of what is happening with our hard drive, namely, we will find out the S.M.A.R.T of our hard drive and decrypt it, we will also set the number of bad sectors and, of course, we will try to fix them.
Read on to the article.
Experienced users are well aware that the health of a hard drive can be affected by even minor influences, for example, voltage surges, mechanical shocks and shocks, static voltage, etc. The hard drive mechanism itself can damage the surface of the drive where information is stored. Below is a guide on how to properly check your computer's hard drive for serviceability.
Main symptoms of a damaged hard drive
Already during the startup of the PC, it may buzz loudly or make cracking sounds. Such noise should immediately alert the computer owner and make him think about diagnosing the hard drive. It is recommended that before carrying out the event, checking this important element of the PC is all important and personal files copy to external media or to another computer, since the test itself will place a significant load on the hard drive.
It is imperative to take care, before launching the program for verification, to ensure good cooling hard drive, for example, open the case cover system unit and clean the internal equipment from accumulated dust. The source of grinding noises during the operation of a hard drive is the contact of its read head with bad sectors. If measures are not taken, their number will gradually increase and may lead to the loss of HDD performance.
Verification procedure
Experts have developed many different special utilities to test the functionality of this important PC element. The procedure can also be carried out using built-in Windows tools.
Using Windows tools
The operating system allows you to analyze the hard drive. This method is not very reliable, but it is useful for the user to know how to use it. In addition to analyzing the surface of the hard drive, OS tools can, if possible, correct some errors.
The sequence of actions algorithm consists of the following stages:
Using Seagate SeaTools utility
This has already helped a significant number of PC owners solve the problem. convenient application. It is free, fully Russified and effectively copes with the diagnosis of hard drives from most manufacturers. It is available for download at seagate.com.
The application is equipped intuitively clear interface. Having opened the utility, you will immediately see a displayed list of hard drives with which you can perform everything necessary tests. As a result, the user will be presented with a report, and most importantly, the program can restore faulty sectors. 
The application is also freely distributed, but only works for one device specific manufacturer « Western Digital" However, since they are widespread in the Russian Federation, this program can help a significant number of users.
The functionality is similar to the program described above. You can install it from the official resource “support.wd.com”.
Allows you not only to do free check broken HDD, but also get detailed information S.M.A.R.T., and also implement big number various equipment tests.
In addition, the utility works effectively with flash drives, RAID, SSD.
This program should be discussed in more detail, since it currently provides high accuracy of testing results. The utility is available for installation on the “softportal.com” page.
The following sequential steps must be taken:
Note: It is not recommended to check the “Erase” box, as this will erase all files. 
Hello.
Forewarned is forearmed! This rule comes in handy when working with hard drives. If you know in advance that such and such a hard drive will most likely fail, then the risk of data loss will be minimal.
Of course, no one will give a 100% guarantee, but with a high degree of probability, some programs can analyze S.M.A.R.T. readings. (a set of software and hardware that monitors the condition of the hard drive) and draw conclusions on how long it will last.
In general, to implement such hard checks There are dozens of programs on the disk, but in this article I wanted to focus on some of the most visual and easy to use. So…
How to find out the status of your hard drive
HDDlife
(By the way, in addition to HDD, it also supports SSD drives)
One of best programs For constant monitoring hard state disk. It will help you recognize the threat in time and replace the hard drive. Most of all, it captivates with its clarity: after launch and analysis, HDDlife presents the report in a very convenient form: you are shown the percentage of the “health” of the disk and its performance (the most best indicator, of course, this is 100%).
If your performance is above 70%, this indicates the good condition of your disks. For example, after a couple of years of work (quite active by the way), the program analyzed and concluded: that given hard the disk is approximately 92% healthy (which means that it should last, unless force majeure occurs, at least as long).
After launch, the program minimizes to the tray next to the clock and you can always monitor the status of your hard drive. If any problem is detected (for example, heat disk, or there is too little space left on the hard drive), the program will notify you with a pop-up window. Example below.
HDDLIFE alerts you when your hard drive is running out of space. Windows 8.1.
If the program analyzes and gives you a window like the one in the screenshot below, I advise you not to delay making a backup copy (and replacing the HDD).
HDDLIFE - the data on your hard drive is in danger, the faster you copy it to other media, the better!
Hard Disk Sentinel
This utility can compete with HDDlife - it monitors the disk status just as well. What captivates us most about this program is how informative it is and how easy it is to work with. Those. it will be useful for both a novice user and an already experienced one.
After launch Hard Disk Sentinel and system analysis, you will see the main window of the program: hard drives will be presented on the left (including external HDDs), and their status will be displayed in the right window.
By the way, quite interesting feature, by predicting the performance of the disk, by how long it will serve you: for example, in the screenshot below, the forecast is more than 1000 days (that’s about 3 years!).
The condition of the hard drive is EXCELLENT. No problematic or weak sectors were found. No speed or data transmission errors were detected.
No action needs to be taken.
By the way, the program implements enough useful feature: you can set the threshold yourself critical temperature hard drive, upon reaching which, Hard Disk Sentinel will notify you of exceeding!
Hard Disk Sentinel: disk temperature (including the maximum for the entire time the disk was used).
Ashampoo HDD Control
An excellent utility for monitoring the status of hard drives. The monitor built into the program allows you to find out in advance about the first problems with the disk (by the way, the program can even notify you about this by e-mail).
Also, in addition to the main functions, a number of auxiliary ones are built into the program:
Disk Defragmenter;
Testing;
Cleaning the disk from garbage and temporary files (always relevant);
Deleting the history of visiting sites on the Internet (useful if you are not alone at the computer and do not want anyone to know what you are doing);
There are also built-in utilities for reducing disk noise, adjusting power, etc.
Screenshot of the Ashampoo HDD Control 2 window: everything is fine with the hard drive, condition 99%, performance 100%, temperature 41 degrees. (it is desirable that the temperature be less than 40 degrees, but the program considers that everything is in order for this disk model).
By the way, the program is completely in Russian, intuitively thought out - even a novice PC user can figure it out. Pay special attention to the temperature and status indicators in the main program window. If the program produces errors or the condition is assessed as extremely low (+ in addition there is a grinding or noise coming from the HDD), I recommend that you first copy all the data to other media, and then start dealing with the disk.
Hard Drive Inspector
A distinctive feature of this program is:
1. Minimalism and simplicity: there is nothing superfluous in the program. It gives three indicators in percentage terms: reliability, performance and absence of errors;
Hard Drive Inspector - monitoring the condition of the hard drive.
СrystalDiskInfo
A simple but reliable utility for monitoring the status of hard drives. Moreover, it works even in cases where many other utilities refuse, crashing with errors.
The program supports several languages, does not have many settings, and is designed in a minimalist style. At the same time, it has quite rare functions, for example, reducing the noise level of the disk, temperature control, etc.
What is also very convenient is a graphical display of the situation:
Blue color (as in the screenshot below): everything is ok;
Yellow color: alarm, measures need to be taken;
Red: you need to take immediate action (if you still have time);
Gray: the program was unable to determine the readings.
CrystalDiskInfo 2.7.0 - screenshot of the main program window.
HD Tune
This program will be useful to more experienced users: who, in addition to a graphical display of the “health” of the disk, also need high-quality disk tests, in which they can familiarize themselves in detail with all the characteristics and parameters. It should also be noted that the program, in addition to HDD, also supports new-fangled SSD drives.
HD Tune offers a rather interesting feature to quickly check a disk for errors: a 500 GB disk is checked in about 2-3 minutes!
HD TUNE: quickly find errors on the disk. Red squares are not allowed on a new disk.
Also very necessary information- This is a test of disk read and write speed.
HD Tune - checking disk speed.
Well, we can’t help but note the tab with detailed information about the HDD. This is useful when you need to know, for example, supported functions, buffer/cluster size or disk rotation speed, etc.
HD Tune - detailed information about the hard drive.
Generally, similar utilities At least as many more can be cited. I think that these will be more than enough for most...
And lastly: don't forget to do backups, even if the disk condition is rated as excellent at 100% (at least the most important and valuable data)!
Good luck...