– one of the most unreliable computer components. With active use, modern hard drives last an average of 3 years. Therefore, in order not to lose your data, it is very important to regularly check the status of the drive (and do not forget to make backup copies). In this article we will look at several ways to check your hard drive for functionality.
Checking the health of the hard drive using S.M.A.R.T.
If you want to check your hard drive for performance, then you should start with data from the S.M.A.R.T. system, which can be viewed in the CrystalDiskInfo program. This program is completely free, and you can.
The CrystalDiskInfo program receives hard drive data from the S.M.A.R.T. system and provides an assessment of its technical condition. If the hard drive is in good condition, you will see a rating of " Good condition e". If there are any problems with the device, you will receive a rating of " Anxiety ". Well, in case of serious problems, you will receive a technical condition rating of “Bad”.
If you wish, you can independently analyze the information from the “S.M.A.R.T.” system. To do this, examine the list of options that is located at the bottom of the CrystalDiskInfo window. As a cheat sheet on the parameters “S.M.A.R.T.” can be used .
Checking the performance of the hard drive under load
If "S.M.A.R.T." does not show any problems, then the hard drive needs to be checked under load. To do this, just try to copy a large number of small files (weighing 2-5 megabytes) to it. For example, you might try to save a large folder of photos to your hard drive. If it is faulty, the following symptoms should appear when copying files:
- A sharp decrease in copying speed;
- Intermittent copy speed;
- The copying process freezes;
- Computer or Windows Explorer freezes;
- Unpleasant sounds (crackling, grinding, squeaking);
- Disabling the drive;
If such a manual check does not reveal any obvious problems, then you can resort to more serious methods of testing the drive.
Checking your hard drive using HD Tune
The next option is to check the disk's performance using HD Tune. This program is free and you can use it. Just don’t confuse it with the paid HD Tune Pro, a link to which is on the same page.
Launch the HD Tune program on your computer and go to the “Error Scan” tab. On this tab, you need to start the test using the “Start” button and wait for it to finish.
If a large number of errors were found during the scanning process, this means that your hard drive is in poor condition. Perhaps it will fail soon.
Checking the hard drive in Victoria 3.5
For the most accurate check, you need to use the program, it can be downloaded as an iso file, for example, (here is version 3.5, it is optimal for checking the HDD outside the operating system). The resulting iso file must be written to a CD (or flash drive) and the computer booted from it. After loading from the CD, you will need to select one of the options for launching the Victoria program. If you have a desktop PC, then select “Victoria for Desktop”, for a laptop “Victoria for Notebook” is suitable, the remaining items launch DOS and the Volkov Commander program.
To run a scan of the entire HDD surface, press the F4 key. As a result, a menu will open in which you need to select “Ignore Bad Blocks” and "Linear Reading". Please note that you do not need to use the “Write (erase)”, “Write from file”, or “BB = Erase 256 sect” options, since they delete information from the drive.
In order for scanning to begin, you need to press the F4 key again. After this, you need to wait until the program finishes checking the hard drive. At the end of testing, if the HDD does not have any problems, then you will see this result.
If the drive has any problem areas, orange and red spots will appear in the scanning window. The more such spots, the worse the condition of the drive. If the number of red spots is especially large, then most likely the hard drive is inoperative and it’s time to throw it away. Detailed information about problems will be displayed in the “Defects” block on the right side of the window.
Checking the hard drive in Victoria 4.46 (for Windows)
You can also check the hard drive for functionality using the Victoria 4.46 program from the Windows operating system. In this case, you do not need to burn iso images and you do not need to boot from them. Everything is done right in the Windows environment.
You can download Victoria 4.46 for Windows OS, for example. The downloaded archive will need to be unpacked into any folder and run the program vcr446f.exe. After launch, the main Victoria program window will appear, which looks something like the screenshot below.
First, let's look at the "Standard" tab. Here on the right side of the window are all the drives that Victoria was able to identify, at the top left is information about the currently selected drive (if necessary, you can select another), and at the bottom is a record of all actions, errors and other information.
To test your hard drive, go to the “Tests” tab. Here you first need to click on the “ Passp” button (this will allow you to obtain information about the selected drive), after which you need to start the test using the “ Start” button.
During the scanning process, the program will detect faulty and problematic sectors, the number of which can be seen in the column on the right, as well as at the bottom of the screen.
Most old hard drives contain erroneous records, etc. . Some of them lead to sad consequences; It's only a matter of time before this happens to your hard drive.
Windows OS offers tools for finding errors on the HDD, but they are not intended for diagnostics and testing. We invite you to familiarize yourself with much more effective tools.
So, how can you check your hard drive for errors? Here is a list of recommended programs:
HDD Regenerator – a program for testing your hard drive and treating bad sectors
HDD Regenerator is a utility for checking your hard drive, a professional tool for diagnosing, finding and fixing errors. The word "Regenerator" clarifies: the program is not only capable of detecting possible malfunctions, structure errors and bad sectors, but is also suitable for correcting them.
HDD Regenerator program interface
HDD Regenerator is a program for checking your hard drive and fixing errors. Can also be used as a full-fledged tool for . If the information is not readable, regeneration will allow you to bypass bad blocks and read problematic files.
In order to determine the condition of the HDD, you must pass a special test. Additional information can be retrieved. HDD Regenerator has the corresponding tools.
Other features of the program:
- FAT and NTFS file systems are supported, but the system type does not matter when testing
- Displaying detailed statistics about the operation and status of the hard drive
- Creating a bootable regenerating flash drive or CD/DVD based on HDD Regenerator
- Prescan mode: quick diagnostics of the hard drive (surface scanning)
- HDD monitoring in real time
- Data security: the program works in read mode (with the exception of overwriting bad sectors)
The cost of the PRO version of HDD Regenerator is $79.99/year. There is a free trial version available that allows you to restore 1 bad sector for free.
Hitachi Drive Fitness Test (WinDFT) – a program for testing and checking the condition of the hard drive
Hitachi Drive Fitness Test is a program for diagnosing a hard drive and finding read errors. The utility allows you to quickly check the status of internal and external hard drives that support G-Technology.
Seagate Seatools for Windows: Testing Drive Performance
Seatools from Seagate is a free HDD diagnostic tool for Windows and DOS. The utility will allow you to identify some problems on the HDD before contacting the warranty service to repair the disk (In our realities, instead of repairs, you will be offered a replacement device, as a result of which you will lose all saved data).
Note. The program is not compatible with all HDD models; it is only relevant for hard drives from Seagate.
Problems that the program can detect:
- Violation of the HDD file system structure
- Bad sectors and read errors
- Driver errors and Windows system problems
- Equipment incompatibility
- Windows bootloader (MBR) corruption on the disk
- Presence of viruses, keyloggers or other malicious applications
Seatools works as follows: the user selects tests for diagnostics, runs them, and as a result receives a detailed report. If the test is passed, the PASS mark will be displayed, otherwise FAIL. Please note that HDD testing can take up to 4 hours. To save time, you can choose one of three testing modes.
Seagate Seatools can also be used to “treat” your hard drive. That is, the program is able to detect bad blocks and try to restore or overwrite them with zeros (this method allows you to subsequently ignore problem blocks when reading/writing the disk structure).
HDD Health program: checking the disk and reading SMART attributes
HDD Health is another free program for testing your hard drive and monitoring its performance. The utility checks the hard drive for errors (SSD / HDD) and makes a forecast (Health indicator as a percentage).
Preliminary check of the disk for errors using basic SMART indicators. HDD Health program interface
The main program window displays the following information:
- manufacturer, model, firmware version
- current HDD (SSD) temperature (available through the notification area)
- general condition of the disk structure
- other attributes (via the Extended info menu)
Similar to other diagnostic tools, HDD Health reads S.M.A.R.T indicators, which allows you to clarify the current hardware performance. The program does not have any other tools for calculating errors or checking for bad blocks.
HDD Health 4.2: checking the status of the SSD disk
Thus, the tools of the HDD Health program will be useful to those for whom S.M.A.R.T. indicators are sufficient to check the condition of the hard drive (and if the condition of the device is not critical). Fortunately, the latest HDD/SSD drives have S.M.A.R.T technology. implemented.
HDDScan - a program to check your hard drive for bad sectors
HDDScan is a free program for hard drive diagnostics, reading S.M.A.R.T. and other parameters. After testing, you will receive a detailed log file detailing the disk status.
HDDScan supports various types of storage devices:
- RAID arrays
- HDD drives with IDE/SATA interface
- SATA/ATA SSD
- USB flash drives
Let's note the most useful functions of HDDScan:
- Checking the hard drive for errors that are not detected by standard Windows utilities: bad blocks and bad sectors
- Testing the hard drive (Read/Wipe)
- Checking the temperature for all hard drives connected to the PC
- Export any information as a custom report
CHKDSK is a Windows OS utility for checking errors and fixing bad blocks
You can check your hard drive for errors without installing third-party programs. The Windows operating system allows you to do this through the Check Disk utility.
The CHKDSK utility appeared in DOS. It not only searches for, but also corrects basic file system errors. It should be clarified that it is not intended to search for all types of errors and is not a HDD diagnostic tool.
However, using CHKDSK you can fix errors on various storage devices: not only on your hard drive, but also on a flash drive and an SD card. Starting with Windows NT, it fixes bad blocks (physically bad sectors) by marking them accordingly. Subsequently, these areas are bypassed by other programs when reading/writing.
HDDLife - a program for monitoring the status of your hard drive
Usually the heart of a computer is called the processor or motherboard. But they serve faithfully for several years, and then the hard drive suddenly fails. In terms of loss, no component can compare with it.
The hard drive is computer memory, which, of course, needs to be protected. In order to prevent sudden data loss, you need to regularly back up your data to another HDD or storage media. However, if you want to prevent hard drive failure in advance, you need to determine its current condition. The HDDLife program will help with this.
HDDLife has several very useful features. First of all, monitoring the status of the hard drive. The “health” of the HDD is shown as a color scale. If everything is in order, the scale is green; if the disk has worked for a decent period of time, the color is yellow. The red scale is already a signal of a pre-emergency condition: the hard drive has worked and is ready to retire. In this case, it is better not to take risks and promptly replace the component. In the pro version of HDDLife, you can set up an email notification about the pre-failure state of hard drives. If there are a lot of computers on the network, then the diagnostic option will come in handy. The status graph also informs you how long the disk has been working. This is worth paying attention to, especially if you are buying a used drive or just want to make sure it is new.
The second important section is displaying the disk temperature. Any electronics works, or rather wears out faster, at elevated temperatures. And too high a temperature, as a rule, leads to disastrous consequences. If the indicator text is green, then everything is in order and the disk is in good thermal conditions. Otherwise, you need to buy special cooling or check the ventilation of the slot in which the disk is located. On some HDDs, the program allows you to adjust the noise level and performance. This is done using a slider that determines the relationship between the characteristics. Either this is the possibility of a special version for a laptop, or a limitation of the trial version - however, the option was not available for us. Some HDDLife functions cannot be called unique: for example, an indicator of available space. If there is not enough space on the partitions, the now familiar warning is displayed. Free space monitoring is available in Windows, as in almost any OS, so the message is more annoying than informative.
The program is distributed in three versions: free, HDDLife Professional and HDDLife for Notebooks. The differences can be found on the page http://www.hddlife.ru/rus/compare.html.
Answers to readers' questions
I often resort to system recovery due to a crash. It often freezes, the processor is constantly overloaded, I have already deleted unnecessary programs. As best I could, I closed all background programs. Experts say that you need to change the hard drive, they say, there are many damaged (broken) sectors. I want to try this program to check sectors. How to check your hard drive for errors?
Answer. Indeed, if you experience the problems described in your question, checking your hard drive for bad sectors will not hurt. At a minimum, we recommend scanning the disk using applications such as HDD Regenerator and Victoria. You can find out how to check your hard drive for bad sectors directly in the documentation. Whether it’s worth it or not, the wording is not very correct. You should check your HDD for errors regularly if the data is of even minimal value to you.
First! All your programs are not Russified, which creates inconvenience in use, long inaccurate translations and work on a whim. My hard drive problem is an I/O error on the device during initialization. I don't need the data. Sector 0 is normal, the rest need to be restored. There is no physical or other damage, the parameters are good, no overheating. I assume that with the help of HDD Regenerator everything can be corrected or by editing the sector record manually using programs that provide this opportunity, it is a long procedure, so something faster is preferable. Seagate Barracuda 1T drive! All the best to you and good luck!
There is no need to say that a computer hard drive is an ordinary piece of hardware with a limited service life. Everyone knows this. The only question is when exactly it will fail. To prevent this from happening, a constant check of the disk's performance is required. Now we will look at what this process is like in different versions, and will also touch on topics such as data recovery, bad sectors and the hard drive itself in the presence of physical damage.
Why is hard drive diagnostics necessary?
As a rule, not every user of modern computer systems thinks about the condition of the hard drive, which stores a huge amount of information. Unfortunately, many users begin to solve this problem only after the hard drive “crumbles” or is, so to speak, on the verge of a foul.
Here, every user should understand that at least a weekly check of the hard drive for functionality will not only increase its service life, but will also prevent the emergence of extremely unpleasant situations related to disruptions in the operation of the operating systems themselves.
System errors are perhaps one of the most common phenomena. Their occurrence may be associated, say, with incorrect shutdown of programs, a power outage at the most inopportune moment, cleaning the inside of the computer, when the connection of the HDD cables to the motherboard is disrupted, etc. What can I say, even an overestimated number of spindle revolutions at An attempt to speed up access to data stored on a hard drive can play a cruel joke. However, this is not about that now. Let's look at the most common and most effective means by which a hard drive is diagnosed.
Standard verification tools
Let's start with the fact that users of absolutely all versions of Windows operating systems have available tools. Although they are quite primitive, they nevertheless allow you to get rid of many problems, most often associated with system errors.
The simplest tool is the built-in hard drive diagnostic utility, called from the properties of the hard drive or logical partition in the context menu from the standard Explorer.
There is a special cleaning button for removing junk or unused files, there is a button for checking the hard drive for errors (on the “General” tab), as well as two buttons in the service menu that allow you to run processes for checking for system errors and optimization.
In addition, in any version of Windows, you can use the command line or the Run menu, where you enter the chkdisk command with different variations. When standard checking for system errors, it is advisable to use the additional automatic correction option. If absolutely necessary, you can also enable checking the surface of the hard drive (the so-called Surface Test).
Now let's take a different look at the question of what hard drive diagnostics are. Windows 7, for example, like any other “operating system” of this “family”, can use not only the standard command for checking system errors on the hard drive. Today, not all users know that the chkdisc line can easily be supplemented with letters and symbols, the use of which as a main command will help perform various actions.
For example, entering the line chkdsk c: /f provides automatic error correction. For an NTFS file system, the chkntfs c: /x command is applicable with the same result. In this case, not only system errors are searched, but the hard drive is also checked for bad sectors. However, in most cases, the same automatic startup starts even when the system itself boots after unexpected failures. Unfortunately, such a hard drive diagnostic program cannot always boast of a positive result. This is why many specialists and experts in this field recommend using more powerful third-party utilities. But more on that later.
Defragmenting your hard drive
Separately, it is worth noting that diagnosing and restoring a hard drive cannot be done without using the defragmentation process. The fact is that at this time the most frequently used files or program components are moved to the fastest areas of the hard drive. If there are bad sectors, this is the first means of restoring application launches.
Basically, nothing special happens - the logical address with the file checksum remains the same. Only its physical location changes. And who knows, maybe there is, say, physical damage in the place where the file was originally stored? No one is immune from this.
Formatting your hard drive
As a last resort, the system provides for partial or complete formatting (well, if nothing helps at all). The essence of this process in the first case comes down to clearing the table of contents (MBR file allocation tables), after which the data can be restored using special utilities. In the second option, the situation is much worse. When fully formatted, the data is deleted without any possibility of recovery.
This can be explained with an example. During normal deletion, the file is not erased in terms of its physical presence on the hard drive. It’s just that the capital letter in its name is changed to the “$” symbol. After this, neither the user nor the system itself sees such a file. But it is precisely by this symbol that it is possible to restore it. It is clear that any recovery utility (such as Recuva) first determines the state of the hard drive, after which it identifies deleted files by the first character and finds out the degree of their damage and the possibility of recovery. But this only applies to those cases where certain sectors of the hard drive were not overwritten. If other information was saved in this place on top of the old one, no program for checking the hard drive for errors in order to further restore the information will help.
Removing computer junk
Residual or unused files can also cause system errors to appear on the disk. We are not talking about physical damage now. But in terms of the fact that the system constantly accesses the system registry, which contains keys and entries about absolutely all folders and files located on the hard drive, this is quite a big problem.
Such constant access only leads to the fact that even the loading of the Windows OS itself slows down, not to mention the launch of user programs and applications.
To get rid of all this, you can use utilities for completely removing installed programs or special automatic cleaners, optimizers such as iObit Uninstaller, CCleaner.
Checking for bad sectors
Almost every third-party hard drive diagnostic utility is capable of performing a special test for the presence of bad sectors. As is already clear, errors of this kind are corrected by rewriting the checksums of the files to another location. In essence, the functions of defragmentation and standard scanning are combined here. Among other things, there are quite a lot of software packages that even allow you to avoid repairing or replacing a hard drive if it falls apart.
What to do if the HDD is physically damaged?
The HDD Regenerator software package is a unique program for diagnosing a hard drive that may have been physically damaged or damaged.
It works using a completely non-standard technology. Not only does it check the hard drive for bad sectors, it is also capable of resuscitating the hard drive even if the surface is damaged. The essence of the impact method itself comes down to the use of hard drive magnetization reversal technology.
It was created relatively recently, however, as practice shows, it has managed to prove itself at the highest level. By the way, using it does not even require formatting the hard drive with subsequent deletion of important information and identification of undamaged sectors. And this is one of the most important advantages of the package. What do you think the FBI uses to recover hard drive data from computer hackers and pirates? That's it. In addition, the hard drive is checked for functionality in such a way that the user does not need to interfere with the process itself. Agree, it’s very convenient.
Actually, this is the most powerful program that can be used to diagnose a hard drive. Windows 7, of course, is no exception as a platform for running the resuscitator. The application works perfectly in almost all systems, starting with the “expansion” system.
The most powerful utilities for checking hard drives
As for some standard utilities of this type, you can find quite a lot of them on the Internet.
Among the most interesting are applications and software packages such as Norton Disc Doctor, ScanHDD, Victoria.
A good program that can be used to diagnose a hard drive is Victoria. She deserves special attention. Although it was created by a Belarusian programmer-enthusiast, it occupies one of the first places in the world of modern computer systems and technologies.
It is worth noting that this application is capable of working both in normal mode (when run in a Windows environment) and in DOS emulation mode, which is not supported by many operating systems. What is most interesting is that it is in DOS that the program demonstrates the highest performance.
As for the interface and control system, they are terribly simple. To start the analysis, just click the appropriate button. For most users, checking the hard drive in Russian is provided by default. It is also advisable not to change the basic parameters, especially if you are not a qualified user in this area.
On the other hand, the advanced settings for hard drive checking and error correction parameters provide a fairly flexible configuration. True, in order for an uninitiated user to understand all this, it is necessary to at least carefully study the accompanying technical documentation.
Recovering data from an image
Now let's deal with the issue of data recovery in case of loss or unexpected deletion. If you look at it, diagnosing a hard drive using standard or third-party tools cannot be done without creating a system restore checkpoint.
Few people think about this, but in vain. Thus, even if the result of any utility is incorrect, you can always make a so-called rollback to the initial state without losing data. True, in the case of using Windows operating systems, as stated, the changes do not affect user files. However, the truth is that even a system restore from a checkpoint restores all deleted data.
In this case, it is better, naturally, to use a system image. Here it will certainly be clear that only the data that was registered in the image itself will be restored.
External media
As is already clear, diagnostics of an external hard drive such as a USB HDD or a regular flash drive is carried out according to the same principle that applies to standard disk drives. The only thing worth paying attention to is the inclusion of the required component in the list of devices being tested.
This applies equally to standard Windows operating system tools and specialized utilities for checking HDDs or recovering data.
BIOS
It is also worth noting the BIOS settings, without which some programs created to check and diagnose the status of hard drives simply will not work.
In particular, this applies to the SATA controller mode, which sometimes needs to be switched from AHCI mode to IDE mode. Only in this case is guaranteed uninterrupted access to the hard drive with all the ensuing consequences.
As a rule, after installing this mode, absolutely all programs can access the hard drive, naturally, using user-controlled parameters. It goes without saying that the BIOS is accessed differently on different devices. In the standard version, this is pressing the Del key before starting the system; sometimes you can use the function keys F2 and F12. It all depends on the BIOS version and the developer. However, when loading, the system itself signals in the status bar what exactly needs to be clicked to enter the main settings.
Instead of an afterword
Now let's try to sum up all of the above. It remains to add that diagnosing a hard drive is the key to the normal functioning of a computer system and data storage. Moreover, this concerns not only Windows performance, but also optimization of access to files and folders.
Everyone chooses for themselves which tool with which to diagnose a hard drive to use for their needs, but with a high degree of probability we can say that better utilities than Victoria and HDD Regenerator have not yet been created. This statement is based not only on calculating the performance of the software packages themselves, but also on the results of the tests that they demonstrate. And, I must say, these indicators are superior to all other programs taken together, not to mention the standard tools of Windows operating systems, which, alas, are not particularly flexible and effective. Even in the top ten, the results are far from encouraging.
Separately, we need to dwell on the issue of simultaneous use of several tools for checking the hard drive in one system. It happens that permanently installed software packages may conflict with each other. This is due to the fact that some of them try to work in the background, like optimization programs that constantly “hang” in the system tray.
If it so happens that there are several applications of this kind on one computer terminal, you should remove one of them, and instead use, say, a portable version that does not install its own files and libraries into the system. This allows you to start the scanning process of a hard drive or removable media even from a regular flash drive. Even if the program’s executable file and additional folders are present on the same flash drive, this does not interfere with the launch of the utility.
Here it is worth paying attention to one more fact. As sad as it sounds, with the transition to Windows 10, with a free update from the official Microsoft website, some utilities of this type flatly refuse to work. The situation is such that the “ten” blocks not only the installation of applications of this kind, considering them as such that they can harm the system, but also does not launch even some portable versions of programs. So here you will have to scour the Internet thoroughly to find something that works more or less normally.
Sooner or later (it’s better, of course, if early) any user asks himself the question of how long the hard drive installed on his computer will last and whether it’s time to look for a replacement. There is nothing surprising in this, since hard drives, due to their design features, are the least reliable among computer components. At the same time, it is on the HDD that most users store the lion's share of a wide variety of information: documents, pictures, various software, etc., as a result of which an unexpected failure of the disk is always a tragedy. Of course, it is often possible to restore information on apparently “dead” hard drives, but it is possible that this operation will cost you a pretty penny, and will cost you a lot of nerves. Therefore, it is much more effective to try to prevent data loss.
How? It’s very simple... Firstly, do not forget about regular data backups, and secondly, monitor the condition of the disks using specialized utilities. We will consider several programs of this kind from the perspective of the tasks being solved in this article.
Control of SMART parameters and temperature
All modern HDDs and even solid state drives (SSDs) support S.M.A.R.T technology. ( from English Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology (self-monitoring, analysis and reporting technology), which was developed by major hard drive manufacturers to increase the reliability of their products. This technology is based on continuous monitoring and assessment of the condition of the hard drive using built-in self-diagnosis equipment (special sensors), and its main purpose is the timely detection of possible drive failure.
Real-time HDD status monitoring
A number of information and diagnostic solutions for diagnosing and testing hardware, as well as special monitoring utilities, use S.M.A.R.T technology. to monitor the current status of various vital parameters that describe the reliability and performance of hard drives. They read the relevant parameters directly from the sensors and thermal sensors that all modern hard drives are equipped with, analyze the received data and display them in the form of a short tabular report with a list of attributes. At the same time, some utilities (Hard Drive Inspector, HDDlife, Crystal Disk Info, etc.) are not limited to displaying a table of attributes (the meanings of which are incomprehensible to untrained users) and additionally display brief information about the state of the disk in a more understandable form.
Diagnosing the condition of a hard drive using this kind of utility is as easy as shelling pears - just read the brief basic information about installed HDDs: basic data about drives in Hard Drive Inspector, a certain conditional percentage of hard drive health in HDDlife, and the “Technical Condition” indicator in Crystal Disk Info ( Fig. 1), etc. Any of these programs provides the minimum necessary information about each of the HDDs installed on the computer: data about the hard drive model, its volume, operating temperature, operating time, as well as the level of reliability and performance. This information makes it possible to draw certain conclusions about the performance of the media.
Rice. 1. Brief information about the “health” of the working HDD
You should configure the monitoring utility to launch simultaneously with the start of the operating system, adjust the time interval between checks of S.M.A.R.T. attributes, and also enable the display of the temperature and “health level” of hard drives in the system tray. After this, to monitor the status of the disks, the user will only need to glance from time to time at the indicator in the system tray, where brief information about the state of the drives available in the system will be displayed: their “health” level and temperature (Fig. 2). By the way, operating temperature is no less important an indicator than a conditional indicator of the health of the HDD, because hard drives can suddenly fail due to simple overheating. Therefore, if the hard drive heats up above 50 °C, then it would be wiser to provide it with additional cooling.
Rice. 2.Display HDD Status
in the system tray with the HDDlife program
It is worth noting that a number of such utilities provide integration with Windows Explorer, due to which a green icon is displayed on the icons of local drives if they are working properly, and if problems arise, the icon turns red. So you are unlikely to forget about the health of your hard drives. With such constant monitoring, you will not be able to miss the moment when some problems begin to arise with the disk, because if the utility detects critical changes in S.M.A.R.T. attributes. and/or temperature, it will carefully notify the user about this (with a message on the screen, a sound message, etc. - Fig. 3). Thanks to this, it will be possible to copy data from the dangerous media in advance.
Rice. 3. Example of a message about the need to immediately replace the disk
Using S.M.A.R.T. monitoring solutions in practice to monitor the status of hard drives is completely easy, because all such utilities work in the background and require a minimum of hardware resources, so their functioning will in no way interfere with the main workflow.
Control of S.M.A.R.T. attributes
Advanced users, of course, are unlikely to limit themselves to assessing the condition of hard drives by viewing a brief verdict from one of the utilities presented above. This is understandable, because according to the decoding of the S.M.A.R.T. attributes. You can identify the cause of failures and, if necessary, take precautionary measures. True, to independently control S.M.A.R.T. attributes, you will need to at least briefly become familiar with S.M.A.R.T technology.
Hard drives that support this technology include intelligent self-diagnostic procedures so they can “report” their current status. This diagnostic information is provided as a collection of attributes, that is, specific characteristics of the hard drive used to analyze its performance and reliability.
B O Most of the important attributes have the same meaning for drives from all manufacturers. The values of these attributes during normal disk operation may vary within certain intervals. For any parameter, the manufacturer has determined a certain minimum safe value that cannot be exceeded under normal operating conditions. Unambiguously determine critically important and critically unimportant S.M.A.R.T parameters for diagnostics. problematic. Each of the attributes has its own information value and indicates one or another aspect of the work of the medium. However, first of all you should pay attention to the following attributes:
- Raw Read Error Rate - the frequency of errors in reading data from the disk caused by the fault of the equipment;
- Spin Up Time - average spin-up time of the disk spindle;
- Reallocated Sector Count - number of sector reassignment operations;
- Seek Error Rate - frequency of occurrence of positioning errors;
- Spin Retry Count - the number of repeated attempts to spin up disks to operating speed if the first attempt fails;
- Current Pending Sector Count - the number of unstable sectors (that is, sectors awaiting the reassignment procedure);
- Offline Scan Uncorrectable Count - the total number of uncorrected errors during sector read/write operations.
Typically S.M.A.R.T. attributes are displayed in tabular form indicating the attribute name (Attribute), its identifier (ID) and three values: current (Value), minimum threshold (Threshold) and the lowest attribute value for the entire operating time of the drive (Worst), as well as the absolute value of the attribute (Raw). Each attribute has a current value, which can be any number from 1 to 100, 200, or 253 (there are no general standards for upper bounds on attribute values). The Value and Worst values for a completely new hard drive are the same (Fig. 4).
Rice. 4. Attributes of S.M.A.R.T. with a new HDD
Shown in Fig. 4 information allows us to conclude that for a theoretically serviceable hard drive, the current (Value) and worst (Worst) values should be as close as possible to each other, and the Raw value for most parameters (with the exception of the parameters: Power-On Time, HDA Temperature and some others ) should approach zero. The current value may change over time, which in most cases reflects deterioration of the hard drive parameters described by the attribute. This can be seen in Fig. 5, which presents fragments of the S.M.A.R.T attribute table. for the same disk - data were obtained with an interval of six months. As you can see, in the more recent version of S.M.A.R.T. the frequency of errors when reading data from the disk (Raw Read Error Rate), the origin of which is determined by the hardware of the disk, and the frequency of errors when positioning the magnetic head unit (Seek Error Rate) have increased, which may indicate overheating of the hard drive and its unstable position in the basket . If the current value of any attribute approaches or becomes less than the threshold value, then the hard drive is considered unreliable and should be replaced urgently. For example, a drop in the value of the Spin-Up Time attribute (average spin-up time of the disk spindle) below a critical value, as a rule, indicates complete wear of the mechanics, as a result of which the disk is no longer able to maintain the rotation speed specified by the manufacturer. Therefore, it is necessary to monitor the condition of the HDD and periodically (for example, once every 2-3 months) carry out S.M.A.R.T diagnostics. and save the received information in a text file. In the future, these data can be compared with current ones and certain conclusions can be drawn about the development of the situation.
Rice. 5. S.M.A.R.T. attribute tables obtained at six-month intervals
(more recent version of S.M.A.R.T. below)
When viewing S.M.A.R.T. attributes, you should first of all pay attention to critical parameters, as well as parameters highlighted by indicators other than the base color (usually blue or green). Depending on the current state of the attribute in the S.M.A.R.T. utility output. in the table it is usually marked in one color or another, which makes it easier to understand the situation. In particular, in the Hard Drive Inspector program, the color indicator can have green, yellow-green, yellow, orange or red - green and yellow-green colors indicate that everything is normal (the attribute value has not changed or changed insignificantly), and yellow, orange and red colors signal danger (the worst color is red, which indicates that the attribute value has reached its critical value). If any of the critical parameters are marked with a red icon, then you need to urgently replace the hard drive.
In the Hard Drive Inspector program, let's look at the table of S.M.A.R.T. attributes of the same drive, which we briefly assessed using monitoring utilities earlier. From Fig. 6 it can be seen that the values of all attributes are normal and all parameters are marked in green. The HDDlife and Crystal Disk Info utilities will show a similar picture. True, more professional solutions for analyzing and diagnosing HDDs are not so loyal and often mark S.M.A.R.T. attributes more pickily. For example, such well-known utilities as HD Tune Pro and HDD Scan, in our case, were suspicious of the UltraDMA CRC Errors attribute, which displays the number of errors that occur when transmitting information over the external interface (Fig. 7). The cause of such errors is usually associated with a twisted and poor-quality SATA cable, which may need to be replaced.
Rice. 6. Table of S.M.A.R.T. attributes obtained in the Hard Drive Inspector program
Rice. 7. Results of assessing the state of S.M.A.R.T. attributes
HD Tune Pro and HDD Scan utilities
For comparison, let’s take a look at the S.M.A.R.T. attributes of a very ancient, but still working HDD with periodically arising problems. It did not inspire confidence in the Crystal Disk Info program - in the “Technical Condition” indicator, the disk condition was rated as alarming, and the Reallocated Sector Count attribute was highlighted in yellow (Fig. 8). This is a very important attribute from the point of view of the “health” of the disk, indicating the number of sectors reassigned when the disk detects a read/write error; during this operation, data from the damaged sector is transferred to the reserve area. The yellow color of the indicator for the parameter indicates that there are few remaining spare sectors with which to replace the bad ones, and soon there will be nothing to reassign the newly appearing bad sectors. Let's also check how more serious solutions assess the condition of the disk, for example, the HDDScan utility widely used by professionals - but here we see exactly the same result (Fig. 9).
Rice. 8. Assessing a problematic hard drive in CrystalDiskInfo
Rice. 9. Results of S.M.A.R.T. diagnostics of HDD in HDDScan
This means that it’s clearly not worth delaying the replacement of such a hard drive, although it may still serve for some time, although, of course, you cannot install an operating system on this hard drive. It is worth noting that if there are a large number of reassigned sectors, the read/write speed drops (due to the unnecessary movements that the magnetic head has to make), and the disk begins to noticeably slow down.
Scanning the surface for bad sectors
Unfortunately, in practice, monitoring SMART parameters and temperature alone is not enough. If the slightest evidence appears that something is wrong with the disk (in the case of periodic program freezes, for example, when saving results, reading error messages appear, etc.), it is necessary to scan the disk surface for the presence of unreadable sectors. To carry out such a media check, you can use, for example, the HD Tune Pro and HDDScan utilities or diagnostic utilities from hard drive manufacturers, however, these utilities only work with their own hard drive models, and therefore we will not consider them.
When using such solutions, there is a risk of damaging data on the scanned disk. On the one hand, if the drive really turns out to be faulty, anything can happen to the information on the disk during scanning. On the other hand, we cannot exclude incorrect actions on the part of the user who mistakenly starts scanning in write mode, during which data from the hard drive is erased sector by sector with a certain signature, and based on the speed of this process, a conclusion is drawn about the state of the hard drive. Therefore, compliance with certain precautionary rules is absolutely necessary: before launching the utility, you need to create a backup copy of the information and during the test, act strictly according to the instructions of the developer of the relevant software. To get more accurate results, before scanning, it is better to close all active applications and unload possible background processes. In addition, you should keep in mind that if you need to test the system HDD, you need to boot from a flash drive and start the scanning process from it, or completely remove the hard drive and connect it to another computer from which you can start testing the disk.
As an example, using HD Tune Pro, we will check the surface of the HDD for bad sectors, which did not inspire confidence in the Crystal Disk Info utility above. In this program, to start the scanning process, just select the desired disk, activate the tab Error Scan and click on the button Start. After this, the utility will begin sequential scanning of the disk, reading sector by sector and marking sectors on the disk map with multi-colored squares. The color of the squares, depending on the situation, can be green (normal sectors) or red (bad blocks) or will have some shade intermediate between these colors. As we see from Fig. 10, in our case the utility did not find full-fledged bad blocks, but nevertheless there is a significant number of sectors with one or another read delay (judging by their color). In addition to this, in the middle part of the disk there is a small block of sectors, the color of which is close to red - these sectors have not yet been recognized as bad by the utility, but they are already close to this and will move into the bad category in the very near future.
Rice. 10. Scanning the surface for bad sectors in HD Tune Pro
Testing a media for bad sectors in the HDDScan program is more difficult and even more dangerous, since if the mode is incorrectly selected, the information on the disk will be irretrievably lost. The first step to start scanning is to create a new task by clicking on the button New Task and selecting the command from the list Suface Tests. Then you need to make sure that the mode is selected Read- this mode is installed by default and when used, the hard disk surface is tested by reading (that is, without deleting data). After this press the button Add Test(Fig. 11) and double-click on the created task RD-Read. Now in the window that opens you can observe the disk scanning process on a graph (Graph) or on a map (Map) - fig. 12. Upon completion of the process, we will get approximately the same results as those demonstrated above by the HD Tune Pro utility, but with a clearer interpretation: there are no bad sectors (they are marked in blue), but there are three sectors with a response time of more than 500 ms (marked in red color), which pose a real danger. As for the six orange sectors (response time from 150 to 500 ms), this can be considered within normal limits, since such a response delay is often caused by temporary interference in the form, for example, of running background programs.
Rice. 11. Running disk testing in HDDScan program
Rice. 12. Results of disk scanning in Read mode using HDDScan
In addition, it should be noted that if there are a small number of bad blocks, you can try to improve the condition of the hard drive by removing bad sectors by scanning the disk surface in linear recording mode (Erase) using the HDDScan program. After such an operation, the disk can still be used for some time, but, of course, not as a system disk. However, you should not hope for a miracle, since the HDD has already begun to crumble, and there are no guarantees that in the near future the number of defects will not increase and the drive will not completely fail.
Programs for S.M.A.R.T. monitoring and HDD testing
HD Tune Pro 5.00 and HD Tune 2.55
Developer: EFD Software
Distribution size: HD Tune Pro - 1.5 MB; HD Tune - 628 KB
Work under control: Windows XP/Server 2003/Vista/7
Distribution method: HD Tune Pro - shareware (15-day demo version); HD Tune - freeware (http://www.hdtune.com/download.html)
Price: HD Tune Pro - $34.95; HD Tune - free (for non-commercial use only)
HD Tune is a convenient utility for diagnosing and testing HDD/SSD (see table), as well as memory cards, USB drives and a number of other data storage devices. The program displays detailed information about the drive (firmware version, serial number, disk capacity, buffer size and data transfer mode) and allows you to set the device status using S.M.A.R.T data. and temperature monitoring. In addition, it can be used to test the disk surface for errors and evaluate the device's performance by running a series of tests (sequential and random data read/write speed tests, file performance test, cache test and a number of Extra tests). The utility can also be used to configure AAM and securely delete data. The program is presented in two editions: commercial HD Tune Pro and free lightweight HD Tune. In the HD Tune edition, you can only view detailed information about the disk and the S.M.A.R.T. attribute table, as well as scan the disk for errors and test for speed in read mode (Low level benchmark - read).
The Health tab is responsible for monitoring S.M.A.R.T. attributes in the program - data from sensors is read after a set period of time, the results are displayed in a table. For any attribute, you can view the history of its changes in numerical form and on a graph. Monitoring data is automatically recorded in the log, but no user notifications are provided for critical changes in parameters.
As for scanning the disk surface for bad sectors, the tab is responsible for this operation Error Scan. Scanning can be quick (Quick scan) and deep - with a quick scan, not the entire disk is scanned, but only some part of it (the scanning area is determined through the Start and End fields). Damaged sectors are displayed on the disk map as red blocks.
HDDScan 3.3
Developer: Artem Rubtsov
Distribution size: 3.64 MB
Work under control: Windows 2000(SP4)/XP(SP2/SP3)/Server 2003/Vista/7
Distribution method: freeware (http://hddscan.com/download/HDDScan-3.3.zip)
Price: for free
HDDScan is a utility for low-level diagnostics of hard drives, solid-state drives and Flash drives with a USB interface. The main purpose of this program is to test disks for the presence of bad blocks and bad sectors. The utility can also be used to view the contents of S.M.A.R.T., monitor temperature and change some hard drive settings: noise management (AAM), power management (APM), forced start/stop of the drive spindle, etc. The program works without installation and can be launched from portable media, for example flash drives.
HDDScan displays S.M.A.R.T. attributes and temperature monitoring on demand. S.M.A.R.T report contains information about the performance and “health” of the drive in the form of a standard attribute table; the temperature of the drive is displayed in the system tray and in a special information window. Reports can be printed or saved as an MHT file. S.M.A.R.T. tests are possible.
The disk surface is checked in one of four modes: Verify (linear verification mode), Read (linear reading), Erase (linear writing) and Butterfly Read (Butterfly reading mode). To check a disk for the presence of bad blocks, a test in Read mode is usually used, which tests the surface without deleting data (the conclusion about the condition of the drive is made based on the speed of sector-by-sector data reading). When testing in linear recording mode (Erase), the information on the disk is overwritten, but this test can somewhat heal the disk, ridding it of bad sectors. In any of the modes, you can test the entire disk or a specific fragment of it (the scanning area is determined by indicating the initial and final logical sectors - Start LBA and End LBA, respectively). Test results are presented in the form of a report (Report tab) and displayed on a Graph and a disk map (Map), indicating, among other things, the number of bad sectors (Bads) and sectors whose response time during testing took more than 500 ms (marked in red ).
Hard Drive Inspector 4.13
Developer: AltrixSoft
Distribution size: 2.64 MB
Work under control: Windows 2000/XP/2003 Server/Vista/7
Distribution method: shareware (14-day demo version - http://www.altrixsoft.com/ru/download/)
Price: Hard Drive Inspector Professional - 600 rub.; Hard Drive Inspector for Notebooks - 800 rub.
Hard Drive Inspector is a convenient solution for S.M.A.R.T. monitoring of external and internal HDDs. Currently, the program is offered on the market in two editions: the basic Hard Drive Inspector Professional and the portable Hard Drive Inspector for Notebooks; the latter includes all the functionality of the Professional version, and at the same time takes into account the specifics of monitoring laptop hard drives. Theoretically, there is also an SSD version, but it is distributed only in OEM supplies.
The program provides automatic checking of S.M.A.R.T. attributes at specified intervals and, upon completion, issues its verdict on the condition of the drive, displaying the values of certain conditional indicators: “reliability”, “performance” and “no errors” along with a numerical temperature value and a temperature diagram. Technical data about the disk model, its capacity, total free space and operating time in hours (days) is also provided. In advanced mode, you can view information about disk parameters (buffer size, firmware name, etc.) and the S.M.A.R.T attribute table. There are various options for informing the user in the event of critical changes on the disk. Additionally, the utility can be used to reduce the noise level produced by hard drives and reduce HDD power consumption.
HDDlife 4.0
Developer: BinarySense Ltd
Distribution size: 8.45 MB
Work under control: Windows 2000/XP/2003/Vista/7/8
Distribution method: shareware (15-day demo version - http://hddlife.ru/rus/downloads.html)
Price: HDDLife - free; HDDLife Pro - 300 rub.; HDDlife for Notebooks - 500 rub.
HDDLife is a simple utility designed to monitor the status of hard drives and SSDs (from version 4.0). The program is presented in three editions: free HDDLife and two commercial ones - basic HDDLife Pro and portable HDDlife for Notebooks.
The utility monitors S.M.A.R.T. attributes and temperature at specified intervals and, based on the analysis results, issues a compact report on the condition of the disk indicating technical data about the disk model and its capacity, operating time, temperature, and also displays the conditional percentage of its health and performance, which allows Even beginners can navigate the situation. More experienced users can additionally look at the table of S.M.A.R.T. attributes. In case of problems with the hard drive, it is possible to configure notifications; You can configure the program so that if the disk is in normal condition, the scan results are not displayed. It is possible to control the HDD noise level and power consumption.
CrystalDiskInfo 5.4.2
Developer: Hiyohiyo
Distribution size: 1.79 MB
Work under control: Windows XP/2003/Vista/2008/7/8/2012
Distribution method: freeware (http://crystalmark.info/download/index-e.html)
Price: for free
CrystalDiskInfo is a simple utility for S.M.A.R.T. monitoring the status of hard drives (including many external HDDs) and SSDs. Despite being free, the program has all the necessary functionality to monitor the status of disks.
Disk monitoring is performed automatically after a specified number of minutes or on demand. At the end of the test, the temperature of the monitored devices is displayed in the system tray; detailed information about the HDD indicating the values of S.M.A.R.T. parameters, temperature and the program’s verdict on the state of the devices is available in the main window of the utility. There is functionality for setting threshold values for some parameters and automatically notifying the user if they are exceeded. Noise level management (AAM) and power management (APM) are possible.
Unfortunately, a considerable part of modern HDDs work normally for a little more than a year, then various kinds of problems begin, which over time can lead to data loss. This prospect can be completely avoided if you carefully monitor the condition of the hard drive, for example, using the utilities discussed in the article. However, you should also not forget about regular backup of valuable data, since monitoring utilities, as a rule, successfully predict disk failure due to mechanical faults (according to Seagate statistics, about 60% of HDDs fail due to mechanical components), but they are not able to predict the death of a drive due to problems with the electronic components of the disk.
The hard drive is an extremely important hardware component of a PC. Therefore, the user may need to solve problems related to testing the hard drive for errors, as well as correcting them. What tools can be used for this? What are the most common errors in hard drive operation?
What problems can arise with the hard drive?
Before looking at how to test a hard drive, let's look at what might be a reason to carry out an appropriate check. What problems might arise in his work?
To use the utility in question, you need to go to the “Computer” section, then right-click on the hard drive icon. There may be several of them, in which case it makes sense to check each one in turn. After right-clicking on the hard drive icon in the menu that opens, select the “Properties” option. In the window that appears, go to the “Service” tab. Then click on the “Run check” button and follow the instructions.
In some versions of Windows, the utility in question is not configured to test logical drives on which OS system files are located. But in this case, the Disk Check program provides an option: initiating testing of the hard drive upon subsequent loading of the operating system. You can select it and immediately restart Windows: during the startup process, the system itself should ask the user for permission to scan the disk on which the system files are located.
So now we know how to test your hard drive using the popular built-in Windows tool, Chkdsk. This solution allows you to quite effectively correct file system errors. But what if the supposed malfunction of the hard drive is associated with the appearance of bad sectors on it? How to test the hard drive of a laptop or desktop for relevant damage?
A wide range of solutions can be used for these purposes. The most popular of them include programs such as:
- Data Lifeguard Diagnostic.
- HDD Scan.
- Ashampoo HDD Control.
- Victoria HDD.
- AIDA64 (formerly Everest).
- MHDD.
Let's study their features.
Hard drive testing: Data Lifequard Diagnostic
This program was developed by the Western Digital brand, which is one of the world's most famous hard drive manufacturers. How to test a hard drive for errors using this software?
The corresponding program operates in several modes. The most informative mode from the point of view of reflecting information about errors on the disk is the extended testing mode - Extended Test. In particular, it can be used to find damaged sectors on the surface of the hard drive platters. If they are detected, the program will prompt the user to use an algorithm through which bad sectors will be excluded from those used by the hard drive to write and read files.
Hard drive testing: HDD Scan
Another popular solution for checking disks is the HDD Scan program. How to test the hard drive of a laptop or desktop computer using it?
The application in question also contains several tests. Among those that may be useful for us is the Surface Tests test. It, like the previous solution, allows you to analyze the surface of the disk platters for damaged sectors. It is noteworthy that the program in question allows you to detect not only bad sectors, but also those that have problems with reading and writing. Thus, HDD Scan can identify areas on the surface of the hard drive platters where the reading speed can be tens of times lower than normal values. In practice, this may mean, as in the case of bad sectors, it is desirable to exclude the corresponding sections from those used by the hard drive for writing files.
Disc testing: Ashampoo
Another popular program is Ashampoo HDD Control. How can I test my hard drive for errors with it?
It is worth noting that the application in question contains a fairly large number of tools for checking the hard drive, as well as working with detected disk problems. Of these, you can use, for example, the option for testing the surface of the device plates - Test Surface.
Based on the results of the corresponding test, it shows sectors that have high reading rates, as well as bad sectors.
Victoria HDD
The next popular solution for checking hard drives is Victoria HDD. It can be noted that this program allows you to both test the hard drive on Windows 7 (8 or any other) and check the hard drive through the DOS command line.
This feature increases the versatility of the solution under consideration. In addition, the corresponding software has very good functionality.
Thus, the program allows you to test your hard drive for bad sectors, reassign their use, and classify areas of the hard drive surface into different categories depending on the speed of reading files from them.
If you are using the English graphical version of the program in question, you need to launch it, then go to the Tests tab. It contains tests of the surface of the hard drive platters. If necessary, you can configure the program's actions when bad sectors are detected:
- ignoring the problem (with its subsequent reflection in the test results);
- sector reassignment;
- deleting sectors;
- restoration of damaged disk areas.
If necessary, you can use each of the specified program operating modes in turn.
Hard drive testing: AIDA64 program
Many users are interested in the question of how to test a hard drive. Now old versions of the corresponding software are available on various portals on the Internet. The fact is that in the newest modifications the program is called differently, its name sounds like AIDA64.
It is worth noting that this type of software is one of the most functional solutions for testing equipment performance. For example, using the program in question, you can test the speed of your hard drive, and more. Using it, you can also measure the performance of RAM, processor, and flash drives.
The functionality of the program includes various stress tests, which involve testing in maximum load mode. The corresponding type of tests can also be carried out for the computer’s hard drive.
Checking the disk for errors: MHDD program
According to IT experts, the MHDD program is one of the most functional solutions for checking hard drives for errors. When considering which program to test a hard drive, specialists can choose the MHDD solution because:
- it includes a qualitative test of the surface of hard drive platters;
- it can be launched in a bootable format - for example, from a flash drive, which allows you to test the hard drive before installing any operating system on it;
- the program includes a large number of useful tests, as well as disk repair tools;
- the corresponding software is free.
Of course, the solution in question can also work from the operating system. The specific way to use it depends on the nature of the problem with the disks, on the hardware configuration on a particular PC, and on the specifics of the operating system used, if it is pre-installed on the computer.
MHDD program: testing the disk
Let's consider a number of practical nuances of using the corresponding popular program. Let's agree that the user needs to use the boot version of this software. To do this, you need to make a device with which the program will be launched, for example a flash drive or CD.
After the device is ready, you need to configure booting from it in the BIOS. By the way, many users also ask the question of how to test a hard drive through BIOS. Computer manufacturers may well implement the necessary options in the appropriate software interfaces to check the performance of hard drives.
When working with the MHDD program, you should take into account a nuance: the solution in question does not work with hard drives that are connected to the computer in Slave mode. If this is the case, the drives need to be reconnected, and only then should they be tested.
After launching the program installed on a bootable USB flash drive or CD, you need to select the specific drive that will be tested. Then enter the SCAN command on the command line, which initiates a media scan. If you do not need to set any additional scanning parameters, you need to press F4 to launch the corresponding test.
However, you may still need to specify additional parameters. For example, if we talk about the Start LBA option, it is used to indicate specific blocks on the hard drive from which the program should scan the disk. In turn, the End LBA option is intended to indicate those blocks that are checked at the end of disk testing. However, by default the program checks the entire surface of the hard drive platters.
How to test a hard drive for errors and then reassign bad sectors using the MHDD program interfaces? It’s very simple: the Remap option is used for this. If you select the Erase Delays option, the program will ignore bad sectors, which will speed up scanning the disk if there are a lot of bad sectors on its surface.
The MHDD disk scanning program works quite informatively: the scanned sectors are displayed on the user's screen in real time. In a separate section of the interface of the corresponding software, the number of different blocks is counted.
Summary
You can check the status of your hard drive either using built-in Windows tools or using special programs. At the same time, tools of the first type are designed mainly to correct errors in the file system, while the second are designed to identify and correct bad sectors using accessible methods.
Specialized ones can be supplied in both graphical and console versions. Some of the corresponding solutions can be used in a boot modification: its use is possible even if the operating system is not installed on the computer.
It can be noted that how to test an external hard drive is practically no different from the procedure for testing a built-in hard drive. For this, the same solutions can be applied, the main thing is to connect them to the PC correctly. But this is only possible if the computer supports the communication interfaces through which the external hard drive is supposed to be connected.
