- PC slowing down or freezing as well as Blue Screen of Death indicate hard drive failure.
- You can scan and fix hard disk errors using the chkdsk command .
- Even better, if you're not really comfortable operating manual controls, you can use software to test the hard drive.
- Avoid disk crashes by opting for the best hard drive performance diagnostic tools and keep your PC in shape.
Your PC's hard drive stores all your relevant data, and any potential damage to the device can also put your data at risk.
On the other hand, a hard drive has a limited lifespan and will eventually get corrupted sooner or later. Therefore, letting your data depend on it is not the best option.
If you are not aware of the health status of your hard drives, you may not be able to save your essential data until it is too late.
You should realize that not all hard drive crashes are random. That's why you need to know when it's time to back up your data .
A recommended solution is to keep an eye on the health of your hard drive. Thus, in the event of a problem, you can quickly intervene to make the backup.
Solutions and Alternatives to Monitor Your Hard Drives
All latest generation drives are equipped with a monitoring technology called SMART. This tool aims to continuously monitor a certain number of parameters on a hard disk.
These include read and write error rates, spin time, seek error rates, temperature, and other important things.
To alert you when some of these crucial parameters are degrading or reaching their threshold, you need a program that can track all these changes and will show them to you as well.
You must have the ability to test and see if your hard drive is capable of storing your data safely. It's important to have plenty of time to back up essential files and look for a replacement .
A monitoring program alone may not be fully capable of showing you whether the integrity of your files can be preserved on a particular hard drive.
It's a good idea to check for failures with available tools at least once a month to make sure your drive doesn't degrade and your data isn't lost.
SMART to check the health of your hard drive
SMART is the built-in monitoring system that is implemented in most modern hard drives or SSDs . Unfortunately, it will only be able to notify users when an impending hardware failure is on the way.
All major hard drive manufacturers recommend an occasional check of your drive's health and also run surface tests and performance tests.
We've put together a list of the top 3 hard drive checker software that can predict and protect against the unavoidable circumstances of a crash.
How to scan hard drive?
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| software to test hard drive |
Iolo System Mechanic Pro
This tool is extremely effective in keeping your system healthy. You can run a bunch of scans to monitor the status of your hardware, but also fix lots of errors.
Speaking of hard drives, System Mechanic keeps them safe through its various tools and provides you with maximum information about it.
You don't have to worry about taking action – the paid version not only analyzes and provides you with information about errors, but also fixes them.
Iolo System Mechanic is one of 7 software products included in the comprehensive Phoenix 360 security , privacy and optimization package .
Let’s take a quick look at its key features :
- Detect startup related apps and disable the ones you don't really need (to improve Windows startup time)
- Perform quick or deep scans of your computer
- Stop background services and processes that drain resources
- Improve the performance and stability of your CPU, memory and hard drive
- Clean up junk files and delete cache files that clutter your hard drive
- Clear chat and internet history to protect your privacy
- Defragment, optimize and backup your system registry
Paessler PRTG
Industry-leading PRTG is a powerful, easy-to-use solution trusted by 200,000 users worldwide.
Very versatile and complex, this tool is suitable for all systems you can think of: devices, traffic and applications. Moreover, you can extend its benefits through the customizable HTTP API.
PRTG monitors bandwidth, databases, applications, cloud storage, even servers , and the entire local network, including your workstations, routers, switches, and printers.
Let’s take a quick look at its key features :
- Monitor bandwidth, databases, applications, cloud services, servers and LAN
- Technologies SSH, SNMP, WMI et Windows Performance Counters
- Graphs with real-time status (300 objects included: device and status icons, traffic graphs, ranking lists, etc.)
- Complete dashboards and detailed reports
- Flexible alerts you can schedule
- Native mechanisms for notifications (email, push or HTTP requests)
Hard Disk Sentinel
Hard Disk Sentinel is one of the best SSD and HDD analyzers that can not only monitor and diagnose hard drive problems, but also test and repair them.
The tool reports and displays SSD and HDD status including performance degradations so you can take appropriate action to avoid drive failure and data loss.
Sentinel really proves its worth by being more sensitive to disk failures and displaying more relevant and detailed information about detected issues (if any).
Let’s take a quick look at its key features :
- Comprehensive alerts and reports to ensure maximum security of your valuable data
- Sophisticated detection algorithms
- Inspect internal hard drives, portable hard drives, SSDs, SSHDs, NAS drives, micro SD cards and eMMC devices – all with 1 single software
- Monitor status including health, temperature, transfer speed and all SMART values
- Scheduled and automatic disk backup options to prevent data loss
Get Sentinel from hard drive now
Speaking of data loss, if you came to this article a bit too late and are already battling hard drive failure, don't panic. We have the best recovery software for your hard drive here .
Finally, you should know that your Windows PC also has a built-in tool that can accomplish this task.
However, if you want more comprehensive results, a third-party hard drive health checker will prove to be your best bet.
You can choose any of the tools mentioned above or share other suggestions with us via the comments section below.