A hard drive is an integral part of any system, so it is important to monitor its condition. The "health" of the hard drive can be checked in various ways, from visual examination to the use of useful programs.
What is a hard drive?
A hard disk is a mechanical data storage device that stores long-term information, that is, operational information, films, music, pictures or games. The “hard drive health” is affected by the number of data overwrites and reinstalling the operating system.
Using special programs, you can divide a disk into several volumes to make it easier to manage data. In addition, when reinstalling the operating system, only the volume that is called "Disk C" is formatted.
The speed of disk information exchange directly depends on which port is used when connecting. Since the new connectors are designed for higher read / write speeds.
Since the hard drive is a mechanical device, it will need cooling, which can be provided by additional fans, which are located in the body of the system unit. Optimum temperature will help to avoid overheating, which also affects the "health of the hard drive."
Troubleshooting
Checking the “health” of the hard drive is a mandatory procedure that should not be put off, because you can start the drive to such a state that even data recovery does not help save the information.
It is important to remember that any physical impact can completely and irrevocably turn a hard drive into useless iron.
Poor health of the hard drive will manifest itself in various ways. One of them will appear in such a way that the user will not be able to open this or that folder, file. This means that this sector of the hard drive is damaged and the computer simply closes access to it.
Starting the operating system in safe mode also indicates a problem. However, it is necessary to exclude damage to the video card.
Checking hard drives, HDD diagnostics and "health" can be checked only by experienced professionals, who should be consulted in case of incorrect computer operation.
There are a number of programs that can monitor any hard drive, with subsequent detection of problems.
HDD life
This program helps you learn how to check the “health of your hard drive” as well as solid state drives. This utility unmistakably recognizes the threat in the vastness of the hard drive and helps to prevent damage in time.
One of the best qualities of this program is a simple interface that shows the "health of the hard drive" and its performance in percent. So, after starting the program, a window opens in which the indicators of health, performance and temperature are displayed.
The utility also shows how many years the hard drive has worked, in which volumes how much occupied and free space. If it is minimized, it will continue to function, remaining in the "tray", that is, next to the clock on the control panel. When a hard drive detects a threat to check the health program, a pop-up window will certainly notify the user.
Hard disk sentinel
Another program that has proven itself in the field of hard drive checks for malfunctions. Its appearance well explains the essence of the problem to both an experienced user and a novice in this matter.
When the program was installed and launched, a window with a detailed interface and tabs opens. On the left are all the hard drives that are connected to the computer, including external drives. Information on the selected disk is displayed on the right: its “health”, performance, program comment, total operating time, remaining (usually approximately), number of starts and percentage status at the time of the last check.
Other tabs may show the following:
- Temperature. One of the advantages of Hard Disk Sentinel is that the user has the ability to independently set the permissible temperature, and when the threshold is exceeded, the program will notify the user. Just select the "set thresholds" option.
- SMART is a technology of hardware origin, which allows the hard drive to independently monitor its status and display information in the BIOS.
- Information. This tab contains all the necessary information that the user needs to know.
- Log Here the program keeps a log of testing and monitoring the drive, that is, captures every step.
- Performance. Here the name of the tab speaks for itself - the program shows all the features of the hard drive.
- Warnings. This tab contains a list of all warnings and their nature at the time of occurrence.
Ashampoo HDD Control
A universal program that not only displays the status of the storage, but also helps to get rid of excess garbage on the computer.
So, thanks to its unique system of premature threat detection, Ashampoo HDD Control provides a guarantee of the authenticity of information about the device. The presence of a built-in monitor also notifies you of problems, and if you wish, you can receive notifications by e-mail. This feature allows you to learn about the threat before the final loss of information.
Permanent recording and erasing of data leads to deterioration of the hard drive, and this entails fragmentation of the data. This utility has a disk defragmentation function, which allows it to increase the speed of reading data. This will significantly increase the life of the drive.
Over time, the hard drive becomes clogged with unnecessary information that leads to memory loss, and Ashampoo HDD Control will help you find extra garbage in the form of duplicate files or leftovers after uninstalling the program, and then the user can selectively delete them. You can even manually set parameters for searching and deleting unnecessary data.
It seems that the files deleted from the recycle bin cannot be returned? But this program proves the exact opposite, demonstrating such a function in your menu.
Hard drive inspector
Sometimes the data on the computer is so valuable that the cost of the computer itself can be negligible. To prevent the loss of valuable information, Hard Drive Inspector works closely with SMART technology built into hard drives
In the program window you can see a lot of familiar things: the percentage of reliability, performance and the absence of errors, or their presence. The current storage temperature is shown below.
The left side shows the status of the installed drives: capacity, free space and time worked. Here's how to find out the health of a hard drive.
The upper tabs allow you to control the program:
- Save report. After testing, the user can save a verification report to be able to compare the results in the future.
- Send report. In this case, the user is given the opportunity to send the report by e-mail.
- Advanced mode. This function allows you to select the noise level that the disc makes. There is also an option for power management, that is, the choice of energy consumption.
- Settings Here the user configures the utility for himself.
- Help. If a beginner uses this program, then help with management may be needed.
Crystal disk info
The most popular program for diagnosing a hard drive, which is as simple as relevant. There are two versions of the program - on a 32-bit system and a 64-bit system. It is convenient in that it can be used without installing on a computer, which avoids installing unnecessary files.
In the program window there are standard control tabs and the table itself with the indicators of the hard disk. Among the main parameters: firmware version, serial number, plug-in interface, data transfer mode, prescribed volume, rotation speed, number of starts and total operating time.
On the left, the program renders its verdict regarding the state of the vault and its temperature.
HD tune
For those who have long been familiar with the topic of computer technology, this program will be very useful. Its parameters are much wider than other tester programs, since it shows not only graphs, but also detailed characteristics and parameters.
When the program is running, you can see a window with many tabs and green cubes.
The tabs contain important options such as:
- test file;
- disk monitoring;
- noise level;
- random test;
- additional tests;
- testing;
- information;
- health;
- search for errors;
- folder calculation;
- erasing.
Usually, the error search tab starts and quick testing begins. If the entire field is filled with green squares, then the disk is fully functional, but the presence of red squares indicates a problem.
The disk speed is checked in the testing tab - that is, the write and read speeds are tested.
State recovery
If it so happened that the problem with the disk could not be prevented in time, then the question arises of how to restore the “health” of the hard disk. Some programs that work in their mode may help.
HDD Regenerator
A program that helps repair a damaged hard drive. It magnetizes the damaged clusters, allowing them to continue to work in the same state, that is, repairs them.
If the drive is almost one hundred percent damaged, then more than half of this program can repair. This utility has one nice little thing - the interface is completely in Russian.
Active File Recovery
A free tool to recover data and restore the health of your hard drive. Its main feature is that you can save even the information that was stored on the disk until it was formatted.
The easy-to-manage interface will facilitate the work with the program and allow you to select the files you need.
Recommendations
Each hard drive is designed to work from three to five years, after which it may have problems. Basically, they are associated with wear that occurs after repeated rewriting procedures. In order not to lose data, some measures should be taken:
- After three years, it is worth monthly testing the hard drive for the presence or absence of "bad" sectors.
- Avoid physical impact on the hard drive, as it is the most vulnerable part of the system, and its role is most important.
- If there is no fun in programming, then it is better not to do independent repair.
With timely intervention, undesirable effects can be prevented. Otherwise, you will have to take the drive for repair and pay a considerable amount to restore the data.