• Checking the hard drive for bad sectors. Data recovery from damaged HDDs. Programs for checking HDD

    Hi all! Very often, when diagnosing a computer, you have to check hard drive for bad sectors and sometimes you need to check it with a program in Windows. From under Windows it is of course more efficient, but such cases also happen.

    I already wrote an article on how it is possible, but people are looking for a program to check the hdd in Windows itself and sometimes I understand them. Therefore, I will show how this can be done in the most popular and proven HD Tune program.

    Download and install. This version is free.

    1. Select a hard drive, for example I have 2 of them
    2. Select the Error Scan window
    3. Click the Start button

    There will be a check hard drive. Its time depends on the size of the hard drive. My terabyte will be checked in about an hour. When the check is completed, all cells should be colored. Shouldn't be red. If there is a red color, then you have a bad sector. If all are green, then the hard drive sectors are intact.

    What to do if there is a bad sector on your hard drive?

    1. First you need to find out the reason:
    • Temperature. Look at the temperature of the hard drive, the norm is considered to be from 30 to 35 degrees, and from 35 to 40, this is already critical, which is no longer normal! To be normal temperature, you need to clean your computer from dust every month and the computer must have a properly configured cooling system (as in the picture below).
    • Factory defect. There's nothing to be done about it. Just if there is a guarantee, take it where you bought it, if not, then you can try to fix it.
    • Incorrect use. Any device is afraid of falls, and of large vibrations. If you didn’t drop it or shake it vigorously, then most likely the reason is temperature or defective.

    2. Once you identify the cause of the failure, you can try to cure the hard drive. To do this, you can use the program; it can automatically fix bad sectors. If you are a professional, you can use the program mhdd well or Victoria.

    Each hard drive has spare sectors, usually 50 of them. So the program reassigns bad ones to spare ones. If you have a whole block of bad sectors and there are more than 50 of them, then overwriting will be pointless.

    3. After all the testing, I would advise you to buy new HDD, because There is no guarantee that new bad sectors will not appear. In the meantime, it is cured, you can sell it cheaper, warning that the hdd has worn out sectors.

    It may also happen that the check takes forever or the computer doesn’t see it at all, then something could happen to the electronics or to the head that reads the data. Here, of course, if you need data, you need to contact specialized companies that disassemble and repair them.

    What to do if you think that the hard drive is faulty, but there are no bad sectors?

    This could also happen. I have witnessed when there are no bad sectors, but the computer is so stupid that it’s as if there are bad sectors))) To do this, take the HDDScan program:

    It is portable, so we can simply launch it without installation. She can also check ssd disk for mistakes.

    To run a high response test you need to:

    1. Select your hard drive
    2. Click on the button with a magnifying glass and a hard drive
    3. Select Surface Tests

    1. Set Read
    2. Add test. The test will then run automatically.
    3. Click on RD-Read twice, a window will open.

    1. Select the Map tab and see the site map. There are already more flowers here. Each of them means response time (to see the real-time check, uncheck Disable map dynamic update Map Udate Queue).
    2. We wait until the hard drive is fully checked and look in the right column.
    • The more 5ms sectors the better, these are sectors that have a 5ms response.
    • Responses up to 150 ms (green) and up to 500 ms (orange) are not good, but they are not critical, to know more precisely, you need to scan from under windows in the mhdd program. More than 500ms (red), then the reason is clear. This is why it slows down.
    • If you see Bads, then you have bad sectors. I wrote above what to do. There is also an option here, you can try and then check the HDD again. If everything is the same, then you can also sell it cheaper and buy a new one or reassign it to mhdd.

    That seems to be all. I think many people will find useful information on how to check a hard drive for bad sectors.

    Here's how to fix it in Victoria:

    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, they 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, often information on seemingly “dead” hard drives can be restored, 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 manufacturers hard drives to increase the reliability of their products. This technology based on continuous monitoring and evaluation hard state disk with built-in self-diagnosis equipment (special sensors), and its main purpose is 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 state of various vital important parameters, describing 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 of the utilities ( Hard Drive Inspector, HDDlife, Crystal Disk Info, etc.) is not limited to displaying a table of attributes (the meanings of which are unclear to untrained users) and additionally displays brief information about the state of the disk in a more understandable form.

    Diagnosing the status of your hard drive using this kind of utility is as easy as shelling pears - just read the brief basic information about installed HDDs: with basic data about disks in Hard Drive Inspector, a certain conditional percentage of hard disk health in HDDlife, 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 it will be displayed brief information about the state of the drives available in the system: their level of “health” and temperature (Fig. 2). By the way, operating temperature- this 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, thanks to which the icons local disks if they are working properly, a green icon is displayed, and if problems arise, the icon turns red. So you are unlikely to be able 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, audio message etc. - rice. 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.

    Among those supporting this hard technology drives and are equipped with intelligent self-diagnostic procedures, so they are able to “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 when normal operation disk may vary at some 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 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 latest version S.M.A.R.T. down)

    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 urgently need to 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. Figure 6 shows that the values ​​of all attributes are normal and all parameters are marked green. The HDDlife and Crystal Disk Info utilities will show a similar picture. True, more professional solutions for analysis and HDD diagnostics are not so loyal and often label 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 is 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 similar decisions There is a risk of data corruption 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 reading 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. Start testing the disk in the 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(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 diagnostics and HDD testing/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 performance of the device 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 safe removal 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 quick check 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. IN at the moment 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 check S.M.A.R.T. attributes at specified intervals and upon completion issues its verdict regarding the state 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 reducing 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 Additionally, they can view 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 SSD. 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 automatic notification 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 electronic components disk.

    The process of checking a hard drive for bad sectors is a search for erroneous records and bad sectors located on the drive.

    Some of these problems can cause information loss - in most cases, beyond recovery.

    Therefore, every user should be aware of their occurrence - both in order to try to correct errors on the disk, and for backup important information elsewhere.

    The principle of formation of bad sectors

    Over time, the owner of almost every HDD has to deal with problem sectors.

    The principle of their appearance is as follows:

    • During the production of disks, sectors are created, with the help of magnetization of which information can be written to the drive.
    • Reading and writing information on (especially if the disk is hit or dropped), and sometimes also influence computer viruses lead to a gradual deterioration of its structure.
    • Bad sectors begin to appear on the surface of magnetic disks - areas in which information is stored incorrectly or is not recorded at all.

    It is possible to eliminate bad sectors, but the system does not automatically perform such actions - the user will have to manually run the scan and repair.

    If there are few bad sectors, they are replaced by reserve areas.

    When damaged HDD blocks appear, their addresses are reassigned to sectors from the reserve, and no data loss occurs.

    Signs of a problem

    Among the main signs that problem sectors have appeared on the disk and need to be restored are: The following are worth noting:

    • The computer freezes while loading the operating system;
    • failure to start the OS - in most cases, the download only reaches a certain point (for example, the Windows logo or the “Welcome” sign) and stops;
    • causeless and frequent reboots computer;
    • errors in the operation of the system, expressed in the inability to launch applications, closing windows and slow response to user actions.

    The list of utilities that can be used to solve the problem is quite large.

    They are divided into two main groups– those that are already built into the operating system (for example, Windows), and applications from other manufacturers.

    The latter can also be divided into paid programs and free versions, which are more popular among domestic users.

    Using Windows Tools

    To correct errors and bad sectors, Windows OS already contains .

    The advantages of using it include the ability to restore areas damaged during operation or as a result of infection of the system with viruses.

    Another plus– the ability to start in two ways, in normal mode or.

    The utility is capable of checking any physical and logical drives, however, there are slight differences in working with inactive areas and system areas.

    Thus, the stages of checking and restoring a regular partition (which does not contain system control files and the OS itself) will be as follows:

    1 Going to the window "My computer".

    2 Right-click to open properties of the selected disk.

    3 Select a tab "Service".

    4 Pressed check disk button.

    5 Put checkbox next to check bad sectors.

    System volumes on which Windows is installed are scanned differently.

    Starting the utility launch coincides with the steps for a regular partition, but when you try to check the disk, a message appears on the screen stating that it is impossible and asking you to do this after a reboot.

    After reboot, the system does not boot - instead a check is performed system partition HDD, the progress of which can be determined by the information displayed on the screen.

    And you can run Hitachi Drive Fitness Test not only from Windows, but also in mode if problems with the disk have already made it impossible to boot the system.

    Seagate Seatools

    The Seatools utility is free application, whose capabilities include:

    • detection of HDD structure violations, including bad sectors and write or read errors;
    • fixing bad sectors or overwriting them with zeros, so that in the future the system ignores damaged areas;
    • Windows OS problems;
    • damage to the system bootloader;

    The application works most effectively with Seagate drives.

    The average time to fix detected errors (together with the verification process), depending on the size of the partition, can reach 4 hours.

    The advantages of the program include its free distribution and the provision of a detailed report.

    HDD Health

    The free HDD Health program features the ability to receive while checking bad sectors the following information:

    • HDD manufacturer and firmware;
    • current storage temperature;
    • the general condition of the device structure, including whole and damaged sectors;
    • a number of other useful attributes.

    The utility is distributed free of charge by Panterasoft.

    At the same time, the disk health assessment is carried out only using S.M.A.R.T indicators and is less effective than checking the disk with other applications.

    Victoria

    A good way is free program"Victoria".

    During the scanning process, the user can obtain information not only about disk sectors, but also about all partitions (volumes) of the computer and the connectors to which they are connected.

    The utility does not require installation, but should only be run as Administrator.

    Rice. 9. HDDScan disk problem detection program.

    Among additional information – temperature control of all disks that are connected to the PC. In addition, the test results are generated in the form of a report and can be saved in a separate file.

    Sometimes when using a computer you may notice problems with the hard drive. This may manifest itself in a slower speed of opening files, an increase in the volume of the HDD itself, or the periodic occurrence of BSOD or other errors. Ultimately, this situation can lead to the loss of valuable data or a complete crash of the operating system. Let's look at the main ways to diagnose problems with a disk drive connected to a PC running Windows 7.

    There are several ways to diagnose a hard drive in Windows 7. There are specialized software solutions, you can also check standard means operating system. We will talk about specific methods of action to solve the problem below.

    Method 1: Seagate SeaTools

    SeaTools is a free program from Seagate that allows you to scan your storage device for problems and, if possible, fix them. Its installation on a computer is standard and intuitive, and therefore does not require additional description.

    1. Launch SeaTools. When you first launch the program, it will automatically search for supported drives.

    2. Then a window will open license agreement. In order to continue working with the program, you must click on the button "I accept".

    3. The main SeaTools window opens, which should display the hard disk drives connected to a PC. All basic information about them is immediately displayed:
      • Serial number;
      • Model number;
      • Firmware version;
      • Drive status (ready or not ready for testing).

    4. If in the column "Drive Status" against the right hard disk installed status "Ready for testing", this means that the media can be scanned. To run this procedure, check the box to the left of it. serial number. After this button "Basic tests" located at the top of the window will become active. When you click on this element A menu of three items opens:
      • Information about the drive;
      • Short universal;
      • Long lasting universal.

      Click on the first of the named positions.

    5. Following this, immediately after a short wait, a window appears with information about the hard drive. Here you can see the data about the hard drive that we saw in the main program window, and in addition the following:
      • Manufacturer's name;
      • Disk capacity;
      • Hours worked;
      • His temperature;
      • Support for certain technologies, etc.

    6. In order to find out more detailed information about the disk, you need to check the box next to it again in the main program window and click on the button "Basic tests", but this time select the option "Short universal".

    7. Testing starts. It is divided into three stages:
      • External scanning;
      • Internal scanning;
      • Random reading.

      The name of the current stage is displayed in the column "Drive Status". In column "Test Status" The progress of the current operation is shown graphically and as a percentage.

    8. After the test is completely completed, if no problems were detected by the application, in the column "Drive Status" the inscription is displayed "Short Universal - Passed". If there are errors, they are reported.

    9. If you need even more in-depth diagnostics, then you should use SeaTools to perform a lengthy universal test. Check the box next to the drive name and click the button "Basic tests" and select "Long-lasting universal".

    10. A long universal test starts. Its dynamics, like the previous scan, is displayed in the column "Test Status", but it lasts much longer and can take several hours.

    11. After the test is completed, the result will be displayed in the program window. If successful and there are no errors in the column "Drive Status" the inscription will appear "Long Universal - Pass".

    As we see, Seagate SeaTools is a fairly convenient and, most importantly, free tool for diagnosing a computer’s hard drive. It offers several options for checking the depth level. The time spent on the test will depend on the thoroughness of the scan.

    Method 2: Western Digital Data Lifeguard Diagnostic

    The Western Digital Data Lifeguard Diagnostic program will be most relevant for testing hard drives manufactured by Western Digital, but it can also be used to diagnose drives from other manufacturers. The functionality of this tool makes it possible to view information about the HDD and scan its sectors. As a bonus, the program can permanently erase any information from the hard drive without the possibility of its recovery.

    1. After a simple installation procedure, launch Lifeguard Diagnostic on your computer. A license agreement window will open. About the parameter "I accept this License Agreement" set a mark. Next click "Next".

    2. A program window will open. It will display the following information about the disk drives connected to the computer:
      • Disk number in the system;
      • Model;
      • Serial number;
      • Volume;
      • SMART status.

    3. To start testing, highlight the name of the target disk and click on the icon next to the name "Click to run test".

    4. A window will open that will offer several verification options. To begin, select "Quick test". To start the procedure, click "Start".

    5. A window will open where you will be asked to close all other programs that are running on the PC to ensure the purity of the test. Quit applications, then click "OK" in this window. You don't have to worry about wasted time, since the test won't take up much of it.

    6. The testing procedure will begin, the dynamics of which can be observed in a separate window thanks to the dynamic indicator.

    7. After completing the procedure, if everything was successful and no problems were identified, the same window will display green tick. If there are problems, the mark will be red. Click to close the window "Close".

    8. The mark will also appear in the test list window. To run the next type of test, highlight the item "Extended test" and press "Start".

    9. A window will appear again asking you to terminate other programs. Do it and press "OK".

    10. The scanning procedure is launched, which will take the user a much longer period of time than the previous test.

    11. After its completion, as in the previous case, a mark indicating successful completion or, conversely, indicating the presence of problems will be displayed. Click "Close" to close the testing window. At this point, diagnosing the hard drive in Lifeguard Diagnostic can be considered complete.

    Method 3: HDD Scan

    HDD Scan is a simple and free software that copes with all its tasks: checking sectors and conducting hard drive tests. True, its purpose is not to correct errors - only to search for them on the device. But the program supports not only standard hard drives, but also SSDs and even flash drives.

    1. This application is good because it does not require installation. Just run HDD Scan on your PC. A window will open showing the name of the brand and model of your hard drive. The firmware version and storage capacity are also indicated.

    2. If several drives are connected to the computer, then in this case you can select from the drop-down list the option that you want to check. After this, to start diagnostics, press the button "TEST".

    3. Next, an additional menu opens with verification options. Choose an option "Verify".

    4. After this, a settings window will immediately open, where the number of the first HDD sector from which the scan will begin, the total number of sectors and size will be indicated. This data can be changed if desired, but it is not recommended. To directly start testing, click the arrow to the right of the settings.

    5. Testing in mode "Verify" will be launched. You can watch his progress if you click on the triangle at the bottom of the window.

    6. An interface area will open containing the name of the test and the percentage of its completion.

    7. To view in more detail how the procedure proceeds, right-click on the name of this test. In the context menu, select the option "Show Detail".

    8. A window will open with detailed information undergoing the procedure. On the process map, problematic disk sectors with a response exceeding 500 ms and from 150 to 500 ms will be marked in red and orange, respectively, and bad sectors - in dark blue, indicating the number of such elements.

    9. After completion of testing on the indicator in additional window value should be displayed "100%". On the right side of the same window will be shown detailed statistics by the response time of hard disk sectors.

    10. When returning to the main window, the status of the completed task should be "Finished".

    11. To run the next test, select the desired disk again, click on the button "Test", but this time click on the item "Read" in the menu that appears.

    12. As in the previous case, a window will open indicating the range of drive sectors to be scanned. For the sake of completeness, these settings should be left unchanged. To activate the task, click the arrow to the right of the sector scan range parameters.

    13. The disk read test will start. You can also monitor its dynamics by opening the lower area of ​​the program window.

    14. During the procedure or after its completion, when the task status changes to "Finished", you can use the context menu by selecting the item "Show Detail" using the previously described method, go to the detailed scanning results window.

    15. After that, in a separate window in the tab "Map" you can view details on the response time of HDD sectors for reading.

    16. To launch the latest version of hard drive diagnostics in HDD Scan, press the button again "Test", but now we select the option "Butterfly".

    17. As in previous cases, the sector testing range settings window opens. Without changing the data in it, click on the arrow on the right.

    18. The test starts "Butterfly", which consists of checking the disk for reading data using queries. As always, you can monitor the dynamics of the procedure using the informant at the bottom of the main HDD Scan window. After completing the test, if you wish, you can view its detailed results in a separate window in the same way as was used for other types of testing in this program.

    This method has an advantage over using the previous program in that it does not necessarily require shutting down running applications, although this is also recommended for greater diagnostic accuracy.

    Method 4: CrystalDiskInfo

    As you can see, in Windows 7 it is possible to diagnose the hard drive using third party programs, and using the built-in utility of the system. Of course, the use of third-party software provides a more in-depth and diverse picture of the state of the hard drive than the use of standard technologies that can only detect errors. But to use Check Disk you don’t need to download or install anything, and in addition, the in-system utility will try to fix errors if they are detected.

    Examination

    Loss important information from a hard drive is a big problem (read the article “Recovering information on disks using the Disk Drill program for Windows”). Therefore, check your hard drive periodically (for example, twice a year).

    Checking for errors

    Hard disk errors are related to metadata used to describe the file system, various indexes, or the main file table. At the same time, the HDD itself works properly.

    Using the command line

    In Explorer

    PCM by to the desired disk→ properties → “Service” tab → “Check for errors” block → “Check”.

    Good to know! The system will warn you that checking the disk is not required now, so force run the utility.


    Third party programs

    TestDisk utility - multifunctional tool. Used to scan the HDD and subsequently recover the boot sector, lost partitions, and other problems that arose after errors.

    You will find a detailed description of using the program in the article “How to restore a flash drive or RAW disk to NTFS format? "

    Checking for bad sectors

    The logical structure of the hard drive is created during production at the factory. As a result of its careless use (shocks, vibration), surface degradation occurs magnetic disk, on which data is stored, so information is not read or written on this part of the surface.

    When checking special programs these bad sectors(bad sectors) are detected, and the report shows their total number on the HDD.

    The most popular program to search for bads – Victoria, running in a Windows graphical interface and DOS mode.

    Good to know! Victoria 4.47 is for 64-bit Windows, and Victoria 4.46 is for 32-bit Windows.

    1. In the “Standard” tab at the top right, select the hard drive you are checking.
    2. On the SMART tab, click Get SMART. If the value “BAD” appears on the right, think about buying a new HDD.
    3. Go to the “Tests” tab → set the switch to “Ignore” → close running programs, including antivirus, turn off the Internet → click “Start”. page and we will try to help you.
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