Good day everyone!
To find out the state of your disk, you just need to have a couple of utilities and some free time for a few tests. This can be very useful for identifying the causes of computer freezes and brakes (what if the drive is the culprit?), Diagnosing a new disk, assessing the temperature, etc.
In any case, with the slightest suspicion, it is better to immediately check the status of the disk and copy all important information from it in time (if something is wrong).
Actually, in today's article (as the name implies 👉), we will talk about these specials. utilities. Note that all of the programs listed below are universal and suitable for both classic hard drives (HDD) and solid-state drives (SSD).
And so, now closer to the topic ...
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Utilities and programs for checking disks
Victoria (Victoria)
👉 Developer site (see bottom of the page): //hdd.by/victoria/
👉 How to use: //ocomp.info/diagnostika-i-proverka-diska.html
One of the best utilities for checking the status of the disk (the new Victoria 5 has acquired additional functions). Allows literally in 5-10 minutes. evaluate the SMART disk readings and conduct a bad block search test (random sectors of the disk are checked).
Testing quick (Quick) - Victoria 5
What is very useful for beginners: Victoria makes her own conclusions about the state of the disk (for example, GOOD - translated from English means that everything is fine with the disk).
In addition, the new 5th version is completely in Russian and it has become much easier to use it. The utility is fully compatible with Windows 7/8/10.
CrystalDiskInfo
👉 Developer site: //crystalmark.info/
CrystalDiskInfo - good technical condition
A very simple and at the same time handy utility for a quick check:
- disk temperature;
- SMART readings (moreover, CrystalDiskInfo immediately concludes about the disk in the "Technical state" column);
- determining the transmission mode (SATA II / SATA III);
- viewing capabilities, firmware, serial number, total disk operating time.
All of the above data will be immediately provided in the first window after starting the utility. CrystalDiskInfo is a must have on hand ...
CrystalDiskMark
👉 Developer site: //crystalmark.info/
👉 Analogs utility
CrystalDiskMark - screenshot of disk speed test
Another extremely useful utility from the same manufacturer. CrystalDiskMark is used to test read / write speed (most often for SSD drives).
The utility does not need to be installed; to start the test, you need to press the "ALL" button. Then wait until the end of the check and look (first of all) at:
- string "SEQ"Is the sequential read / write speed (* that is, the speed you see when copying a large file from one disk to another);
- string "4KiB"Is a random read / write speed of 4 KB blocks (more than half of the operations in Windows are performed on such files. Therefore, system performance depends on this disk metric).
Hard Disk Sentinel
👉 Developer site: //www.hdsentinel.com/
Screenshot of Hard Disk Sentinel window
Multifunctional program for testing and diagnostics of disks. Allows you to evaluate the "health" of the disk in auto-mode and find out approximately how long it will work (see the screenshot above).
By the way, for constant monitoring of the state of the disk, it is recommended to add the utility to Windows startup. This will allow you to receive a notification from the Hard Disk Sentinel in time if any changes not for the better begin to occur with the disk ...
In addition to auto-checking the disk, there are several more useful tabs: temperature, SMART, information, performance.
SSD Life / HDD Life
👉 Developer site: //hddlife.ru/
Disk health is excellent! / SSD Life Utility
These utilities are perfect for novice users. Based on the SMART readings, they can automatically assess the condition of the disk and indicate to you the degree of wear and tear, make a forecast for the service life (see the screen above).
To get started: you need to download and run the utility.In just a few seconds, you will see information about the disk. By the way, it is advisable to add the utility to startup so that it constantly monitors the status of the disks. As soon as something is wrong with the disks - she will notify you in time!
HD Tune
👉 Developer site: //www.hdtune.com/
HD Tune - main program window
HD Tune is a universal program for working with USB flash drives, SD cards, HDD disks, SSD drives. In addition to the usual information about the drive, it can be used to conduct a series of tests that allow you to evaluate the drive comprehensively. In general, it is designed for a more experienced user ...
HD Tune allows you to:
- view SMART readings;
- conduct a performance and performance test (for example, you can evaluate whether the reading speed does not sag during a constant load);
- monitor temperature;
- perform a test for errors, bad blocks;
- delete files so that they cannot be deleted later;
- get comprehensive information about the drive: serial number, firmware, volume, clipboard, etc.
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That's it for now. Add-ons are welcome ...
Good luck!
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