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Check the status of your hard drive with the best programs. Free hard drive checking programs

Perhaps the most important component of a PC is the hard drive (HDD), since it contains all the information created by the user. Of course, any HDD needs timely maintenance, namely checking for errors and bad sectors, in order to avoid the loss of important information.

A “bad sector” is an unreadable sector on a hard drive. It can be natural: the factory state of some sectors of any hard drive, an inevitable manufacturing defect, or acquired - a successful power failure, a shock, a leak. Few people are interested in the appearance of bad sectors one by one; this is a routine that SMART successfully grinds up.
The emergence of interest in bad sectors is usually associated with the fact that you have a partially or completely unreadable disk. From this point of view, the classification is simple:

  1. Broken sectors are permanent, for example, those associated with surface damage - something that cannot be restored.
  2. Broken sectors are temporary, associated with non-fatal errors in logic, which is what you can try to pull out; strictly speaking, the question of the operability of the restored sectors remains open.

The number of bad sectors on the disk can be:

  • Constant within normal limits (live hdd). No action required.
  • Constantly above normal (usually the consequences of a blow). Sometimes it can be done with manual intervention.
  • Growing (crumbled due to age or design). Requires urgent replacement of the hard drive.

Reasons for the appearance of a bad HDD sector

To put it simply, the modern hard drive is a product of the evolution of the gramophone. The record spins, the head reads the record sector by sector, the control unit glues files from the read pieces. The head hovers above the surface of the plate, and when it stops, it falls. There are readable and unreadable sectors on the tracks; a sector itself is the minimum part of the track, Wikipedia will confirm.

This model is sufficient to demonstrate the main problems:

  1. Damage to the surface of the disk—mechanical contact of the plate with the head—may cause the disk to shed, or may remain a fixed area.
  2. A partial change in the surface properties (magnetization) of a sector (a typical reanimated sector) can be extended by referring to neighboring sectors.
  3. Various logic errors, SMART arbitrariness, fs errors (everything corrects itself during operation and based on the results of self-diagnosis).
  4. Shedding of the magnetic layer from the surface is known as a sign of old age, but may be a consequence of loss of tightness.

Contrary to popular belief, a blow to the case of a working HDD is not as bad as vibration. The head is held above the surface by such cunning magic that touching the surface requires a significant force, which is unlikely to occur upon impact, but is easily achieved by resonance.

How to check a disk for bad sectors and errors

It is worth remembering that the disk is checked for reading, checking sectors for writing will erase everything that was on the disk! Well, it’s also worth keeping in mind that for a proper test, the disk must be free from other tasks at the time of testing. Checking a hard drive for bad sectors is not a common task; Windows does everything that is necessary automatically.

Windows has long had a utility that checks and corrects hard drive errors, chkdsk. You can find the utility in the disk properties, the button is called “check disk”.
Any self-respecting manufacturer, when releasing a disk, puts on the website a diagnostic utility that not only monitors the condition of the HDD, but can also carry out service actions designed to alleviate its suffering, sometimes even including calibration. Checking hard disk sectors is a must for this class of programs.

In addition, there is a zoo of diagnostic, repair, “professional” tools, in which the devil himself would break his leg for a long time. And quite a large number of truly professional programs for analysis and repair. It is worth noting that most of them are destructive, that is, with their help you can kill a working hard drive in a way that not every master can restore.

Programs for checking your hard drive for bad sectors

For those who do not believe in chkdsk, graphical programs for checking the hard drive, or rather more or less gentle tools that do not punish for the wrong key, are HDD Regenerator, HDD Health. Graphical utilities show a health graph, tell you what parameters are being tested and, importantly, have adequately labeled buttons that make it easy to understand the program. Linux users are less fortunate; most utilities are console-based and require an understanding of the parameters.
Among the utilities from the manufacturer, it is worth remembering Seagate SeaTools - a convenient, powerful program, all its power is manifested only on native hard drives, but checking hard drive sectors is also available for “outsiders”

Checking HDD using Windows 7 and 10

Checking your hard drive for errors using Windows always involves running chkdsk in recovery mode. This launch can be done using the button in the disk properties.
“My Computer” -> “Properties” -> “Tools” → “disk check” “Run check”.

Or, if the button is missing, this occurs in some editions of Windows 10, this check can be easily launched from the command line as an administrator using the command
chkdsk c: /f where c: is the letter of the drive being checked. Checking the hdd for bad sectors in the case of a system partition will begin after a reboot, since checking requires exclusive access to the disk.

You should not run this command often, but the check window that appears at every boot is the reason for the question: “how to check a hard drive for errors” and the answer to this question, since it is usually associated with disk problems.

What to do if you detect bad sectors on your hard drive

Not so long ago, hard drives were released on which it was possible to manually reassign sectors, and this is why many people are convinced that formatting from Bios cures all illnesses. But alas, now calibration is so complicated that it is carried out once at the manufacturer. It should also be understood that most changes in surface condition are irreversible and nothing can be restored. It can often be reassigned without losing capacity, although it all depends on the condition of the “patient”.

Options for hard drive states and subsequent actions:

  • The disk is working, works well, is stable, the percentage of bad ones is not growing - make a backup, forget that there are bad sectors on it and enjoy life.
  • The disk is basically working, the number of bad sectors is not growing, but when accessing a certain area there are problems - try to divide it into partitions without affecting the problem area, save for a new one.
  • The disk is not working, strong brakes, smart and BIOS warnings - change the hard drive.

Programs for recovering HDD drives

Victoria and Mhdd, any of these programs allows you to conduct a complete diagnosis and save the drive from many problems. They are launched from DOS and require careful study of the manual before starting, as they can irreversibly destroy the data or logic of the hard drive! In general, do not start without knowing what you are doing, especially since such hard drive maintenance has long been entrusted to the controller and in most cases he copes with it. If it's not broken, don't fix it; this old advice is most relevant when it comes to the broken sector.

3 more useful articles:

    Many users of computers, smartphones, cameras, cameras and other electronic devices have at one time encountered…

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, there are dozens of programs to perform such a hard drive check, 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 the best programs for constantly monitoring the condition of your hard drive. It will help you recognize the threat in time and replace the hard drive. Most of all, it captivates with its clarity: after launching 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 best indicator, of course, 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 this hard drive is about 92% healthy (which means that it should last, unless force majeure occurs, at least the same amount) .

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, the disk temperature is high, 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 launching Hard Disk Sentinel and analyzing the system, you will see the main program window: hard drives (including external HDDs) will be presented on the left, and their status will be displayed in the right window.

By the way, there is a rather interesting function for predicting the performance of the disk, according to 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 has a rather useful function: you can set the threshold for the critical temperature of the hard drive, upon reaching which Hard Disk Sentinel will notify you that it has been exceeded!

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 believes that for this disk model everything is in order).

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 is checking the 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.

In general, there are at least as many similar utilities that can be cited. I think that these will be more than enough for most...

And lastly: do not forget to make backup copies, even if the disk condition is rated as 100% excellent (at least the most important and valuable data)!

Good luck...

Have you started to hear extraneous creaks in the system unit? Has the system performance somehow dropped completely intolerably, although the processor and memory should not allow this to happen? Well, it's time to check the hard drive. Find out how to do this in our article.

This is quite an important matter. Besides the performance hit, although that's certainly important, it's about your data. You don't want to one day be left without all your data simply because your drive decided to fail? Here. Therefore, it is important to check the condition of the disc and its health level more often.

Correcting errors in a timely manner also helps increase the lifespan of the disk. Whether it's a regular hard drive or an SSD, file system errors wear it out at a rapid pace, so it's important to keep it in good condition. Otherwise, the data will be lost even faster.

If you understand the importance of this event, then let's get started.

Checking using standard Windows tools

This is the simplest method and can give you quite a lot of information about the hard drive and even try to fix some errors.


Read interesting information and reliable tips in the article -

Command line

If the previous scenario of using standard Windows tools is not very effective, then the command line method can try to supplement it. Its essence is that it is launched from the bootable installation media of the system, that is, the system itself is not running and cannot block some of the requirements of the verification program.

Important! This method has one disadvantage: you need installation media, and it is desirable that it comes with the exact version of Windows that is installed on your computer.

  1. Create bootable media and insert it into your drive or USB port. In your computer's BIOS, select to boot from this media. Wait for the operating environment to load.

  2. When the program reaches the window labeled “Start installation,” press the Windows key combination + F10.

  3. Enter the following command in the console window that opens: chkdsk /f. Press Enter.

  4. The scan will start. The program will display the results right there on the command line. She will immediately try to correct all the errors found.

Simple third party software

Let's look at a few programs that will help you identify most problems with your hard drive without going into too much detail about the process.

HDDScan

Using this program, you can understand in which sectors the writing and reading speed is high, and in which - not. The program is completely universal; with its help you can diagnose anything, as long as it is an information storage device.

The principle of working with her is extremely simple: you start scanning and wait for her report on the work done, from which it is quite possible to draw some conclusions.

Crystal Disk Mark

A more narrowly focused utility, although it essentially also monitors speed. The program can’t do anything else, but based on the writing and reading speeds, you can quite understand what’s happening with the disk and how much longer it will last.

Important! It is strictly forbidden to use this program if you want to check the SSD drive. His death when using this software will be even closer: this program fills the entire space with some data, and although it is weightless and deleted without a trace, for the SSD this is also wear and tear.

More complex software

If neither standard checking tools nor simple programs satisfy you, then you can move on to more complex checking programs. So, let's begin.

Victoria HDD

The most common program for troubleshooting hard drive problems.


Its advantages are that there are both quick and deep scans of the disk, and also that it monitors its temperature. This is also an important indicator, but it does not affect wear as much.

HDD Regenerator

Pro tool in our article. Corrects everything it finds in its path. Its huge competitive advantage is Russification. It is therefore very easy to use, despite the impressive range of functions.

The principle of its operation is much more complex than that of other programs, and these differences clearly benefited the program. She manages to restore what others could not. Also, unlike other programs, it does not destroy your files that were in the sectors it corrects, but preserves them culturally. Well, not life, but a fairy tale.

The program has two versions - graphical and console. If you are not very knowledgeable about this topic, use the graphical one with the Russian language, everything is intuitive there. In the console, its capabilities are much wider, because there is less pressure and restrictions from the operating system.

Let's look at the graphical interface.


On a note! However, this program has one significant drawback - it is paid, and the trial only allows for verification. Well, that’s good too.

Programs from hard drive manufacturers

Who, besides the manufacturers themselves, can know better how to work with hard drives? Some of these programs work only with disks of a certain brand, some - with all. Experiment.
Let's begin.

SeaTools

Essentially a simple program:


Data Lifeguard Diagnostics

This is the name of the verification program from the manufacturer WD. The functionality is approximately similar to the previous program, but has a number of advantages.

  • firstly, it can be used with any disk. This is a huge plus, despite the prevalence of discs of this brand;
  • secondly, she knows how to destroy information;
  • thirdly, it can simply cut off dead sectors so that the disk runs longer at the same speed, albeit with a slightly smaller volume. Definitely an extremely useful feature.

All options are in context menus. That is, to start scanning a specific disk, you just need to right-click on it (in the program interface, of course) and select the desired action. That's all the work.

We hope these methods helped you deal with the problems of your machine, repair it, or prevent damage. Good luck!

Video - How to check your hard drive yourself

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

In the most extreme case, 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 from 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 when 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.

– 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 copying 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.