Download the program for checking ssd. How to find out information on an SSD and test it using SSD-Z

SSD is a storage (recording) device whose operation is based on various microcircuits and a controller. Such devices are widely used in many modern devices: laptops, smartphones, tablets and so on. What is this? Improved hard drive! When many people hear the term SSD, they imagine something complicated. However, this is just a recording device, which is present, as already mentioned, in many devices.

What is the difference between an SSD and a hard drive?

If this is a recording device, then why do we need hard drives and what is the difference between them? The main difference is the operating principle. Hard drive based on magnetic disks(plates), from which constant reading and writing occurs by reversing the magnetization of the cells. SSD, on the other hand, operates on microcircuits and is an oversized flash card.

SSD drives have many advantages, in particular: high speed, low level noise, light weight. There are also disadvantages, such as: high cost, inability to recover lost data.

One way or another, SSD drives have become firmly entrenched in our lives. When working with them, there is often a need for diagnostics, testing, and optimization. There are special programs for this. Let's look at them in more detail.

Programs for setting up and optimizing ssd

SSD Mini Tweaker

Let's start with something simple and easy. This program designed to quickly and efficiently configure your SSD drive. It has a simple interface and takes up very little space on your computer (about 3 MB).

After starting the program, one single window appears in front of us:

In it we can select various parameters, the implementation of which is quite difficult on our own. We tick the boxes that we need and click “Apply changes”. That's all, nothing more is needed. Not bad for a program that takes up so little space.

SSD Life

Also very light and accessible program for working with SSD. It diagnoses the selected disk, displaying the percentage of its health:

The amount of memory that has been written and read over the entire time is available for viewing. The results can be saved, although this is not very useful. A much more necessary function: automatic check every 4 hours. If the status has changed since the previous check, the program will let you know.

SSD Fresh

Enough major program with rich functionality. After installation, you will be asked to register the free version. To do this, just enter your data:

After launching the program, we see a main window with three tabs: overview, optimization and settings.

The overview tab presents general information: volume, free and busy place, file system. Of course, it is possible to view S.M.A.R.T data. For those who are not in the know: smart - special technology performance evaluations hard drive. It is a set of fields and values.

But the main function of SSD Fresh is disk optimization. Here it is implemented with the highest quality and user convenience:

In each optimization section, the status is clearly presented and there are only two buttons: Optimize and Restore from backup copy. After clicking on the first one, optimization is performed automatically. You can also optimize all parameters by clicking on the button in the upper right corner.

Tweak SSD

A program as easy to use as SSD Life. If the latter's task is to diagnose the device, then Tweak SSD optimizes the disk's performance after pressing one single button.

We reviewed the main programs for diagnostics and SSD optimization disks. Undoubtedly, drives of this type will not lose their relevance for a very long time due to the speed of operation and the absence of unnecessary noise.

HDDScan

The program is designed to check hard drives and SSDs for bad sectors, view S.M.A.R.T. attributes, changing special settings, such as power management, spindle start/stop, acoustic mode adjustment, etc. The drive temperature value can be displayed in the taskbar.

Features and Requirements

• HDD with ATA/SATA interface.
• HDD with SCSI interface.
• HDD with USB interface (see Appendix A).
• HDD with FireWire or IEEE 1394 interface (see Appendix A).
• RAID arrays with ATA/SATA/SCSI interface (tests only).
• Flash drives with USB interface (tests only).
• SSD with ATA/SATA interface.

• Test in linear verification mode.
• Test in linear reading mode.
• Test in linear recording mode.
• Butterfly reading mode test (artificial random reading test)

• Reading and analyzing S.M.A.R.T. parameters from disks with ATA/SATA/USB/FireWire interface.
• Reading and analyzing log tables from SCSI drives.
• Launch S.M.A.R.T. tests on drives with ATA/SATA/USB/FireWire interfaces.
• Temperature monitor for drives with ATA/SATA/USB/FireWire/SCSI interfaces.

• Reading and analysis of identification information from drives with ATA/SATA/USB/FireWire/SCSI interfaces.
• Changing AAM, APM, PM parameters on drives with ATA/SATA/USB/FireWire interfaces.
• View information about defects on a drive with a SCSI interface.
• Spindle start/stop on drives with ATA/SATA/USB/FireWire/SCSI interface.
• Saving reports in MHT format.
• Printing reports.
• Skin support.
• Command line support.
• Support for SSD drives.

• Operating system: Windows XP SP3, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 10 (NEW).
• The program should not be run from a drive operating in read-only mode.

User Interface

Main view of the program at startup

Rice. 1 Main type of program

Main window controls:

• Select Drive – a drop-down list that contains all supported drives in the system. The drive model is displayed and serial number. Nearby there is an icon that determines the expected type of drive.
• S.M.A.R.T. button – allows you to get a report on the state of the drive based on S.M.A.R.T attributes.
• TESTS button – displays a pop-up menu with a selection of read and write tests (see Figure 2).
• TOOLS Button – Displays a pop-up menu to select available drive controls and functions (see Figure 3).
• More button – shows a drop-down menu with program controls.

When you click the TESTS button, a pop-up menu offers you one of the tests. If you select any test, the test dialog box will open (see Figure 4).

Rice. 2 Test menu

When you press the TOOLS button, a pop-up menu will prompt you to choose from the following options:

Rice. 3 Function menu

• DRIVE ID – Generates an identification information report.
• FEATURES – opens a window of additional program features.
• S.M.A.R.T. TEST – opens the S.M.A.R.T window. tests: Short, Extended, Conveyance.
• TEMP MON – starts the temperature monitoring task.
• COMMAND – opens a command line build window.

Test Dialog Box

Rice. 4 Test dialog box

Controls:

• The FIRST SECTOR field is the initial logical number of the sector to be tested.
• Field SIZE – the number of logical sector numbers for testing.
• Field BLOCK SIZE – block size in sectors for testing.
• Previous button – returns to the main program window.
• Next button – adds a test to the task queue.

• Only one surface test can be run at a time. This is due to the fact that the author of the program has not yet been able to obtain stable, high-quality results when running 2 or more tests simultaneously (on different drives).
• A test in Verify mode can have a block size limit of 256, 16384 or 65536 sectors. This is due to the way Windows works.
• The test in Verify mode may not work correctly on USB/Flash drives.
• When testing in Verify mode, the drive reads a block of data into the internal buffer and checks its integrity; no data is transferred through the interface. The program measures the readiness time of the drive after performing this operation after each block and displays the results. Blocks are tested sequentially - from minimum to maximum.
• When testing in Read mode, the drive reads data into the internal buffer, after which the data is transmitted through the interface and stored in the program’s temporary buffer. The program measures the total time of drive readiness and data transfer after each block and displays the results. Blocks are tested sequentially - from minimum to maximum.
• When testing in mode Erase program prepares a block of data filled with a special pattern with a sector number and transfers the data to the drive, the drive writes the received block ( the information in the block is irretrievably lost!). The program measures the total time of block transmission and recording and drive readiness after each block and displays the results. Blocks are tested sequentially - from minimum to maximum.
• Testing in Butterfly Read mode is similar to testing in Read mode. The difference is in the order in which the blocks are tested. Blocks are processed in pairs. The first block in the first pair will be Block 0. The second block in the first pair will be Block N, where N is the last block of the given section. The next pair will be Block 1, Block N-1, etc. Testing ends in the middle of a given area. This test measures reading and positioning time.

Task management window

Rice. 5 Task manager

This window contains the task queue. This includes all the tests that the program runs, as well as the temperature monitor. The manager allows you to remove tests from the queue. Some tasks can be paused or stopped.

Double-clicking on an entry in the queue brings up a window with information about the current task.

Test information window

The window contains information about the test, allows you to pause or stop the test, and also generates a report.

Graph Tab:

Contains information on the dependence of testing speed on the block number, which is presented in the form of a graph.

Rice. 6 Graph Tab

Map Tab:

Contains information about the dependence of testing time on the block number, which is presented in the form of a map.

Rice. 7 Map tab

You can select Block Processing Time in milliseconds. Each tested block that took longer than the "Block Processing Time" will be logged in the "Report" tab.

Report tab:

Contains information about the test and all blocks whose testing time is greater than the “Block Processing Time”.

Rice. 8 Report tab

Identification information

The report contains information about the main physical and logical parameters of the drive.

The report can be printed and saved to an MHT file.

Rice. 9 Example of identification information window

S.M.A.R.T. report

The report contains information about the performance and health of the drive in the form of attributes. If, according to the program, the attribute is normal, then a green icon appears next to it. Yellow indicates attributes that you should pay special attention to; as a rule, they indicate some kind of drive malfunction. Red denotes attributes that are outside the norm.

Reports can be printed or saved to an MHT file.

Rice. 10 Example of a S.M.A.R.T. report

Temperature monitor

Allows you to evaluate the storage temperature. Information is displayed in the taskbar, as well as in a special test information window. Rice. 11 contains readings for two drives.

Rice. 11 Temperature monitor in the taskbar

For ATA/SATA/USB/FireWire drives, the information window contains 2 values. The second value is displayed in the taskbar.

The first value is taken from the Airflow Temperature attribute, the second value is taken from the HDA Temperature attribute.

Rice. 12 Temperature monitor for ATA/SATA disk

For SCSI drives, the information window contains 2 values. The second value is displayed in the taskbar.

The first value contains the maximum permissible temperature for the drive, the second shows the current temperature.

Rice. 13 Temperature monitor for SCSI disk

S.M.A.R.T. tests

The program allows you to run three types of S.M.A.R.T. tests:

1. Short test – usually lasts 1-2 minutes. Checks the main components of the drive, and also scans a small area of ​​the drive surface and sectors located in the Pending-List (sectors that may contain read errors). The test is recommended for quickly assessing the condition of the drive.
2. Extended test – usually lasts from 0.5 to 60 hours. Checks the main components of the drive, and also completely scans the surface of the drive.
3. Conveyance test – usually lasts several minutes. Checks drive nodes and logs, which may indicate improper storage or transportation of the drive.

A SMART test can be selected from the SMART Tests dialog box, which is accessed by clicking the SMART TESTS button.

Rice. 14 SMART Tests Dialog Box

Once selected, the test will be added to the Tasks queue. S.M.A.R.T information window test can display the execution and completion status of a task.

Rice. 15 Information window S.M.A.R.T. test

Additional features

For ATA/SATA/USB/FireWire drives, the program allows you to change some parameters.

1. AAM – function controls drive noise. Enabling this function allows you to reduce drive noise due to smoother positioning of the heads. At the same time, the drive loses a little performance during random access.
2. APM function allows you to save drive power by temporarily reducing the rotation speed (or completely stopping) the drive spindle during idle time.
3. PM – function allows you to set the spindle stop timer for certain time. When this time is reached, the spindle will be stopped, provided that the drive is in idle mode. Accessing the drive by any program forces the spindle to spin up and the timer is reset to zero.
4. The program also allows you to force stop or start the drive spindle. Accessing the drive by any program forces the spindle to spin.

Rice. 16 Information window for additional ATA/SATA drive capabilities

For SCSI drives, the program allows you to view defect lists and start/stop the spindle.

Rice. 17 Information window for additional SCSI drive capabilities

Using the Command Line

The program can build command line to control some drive parameters and save this line to a .bat or .cmd file. When running such a file, the program is called in background, changes the drive settings according to the settings and closes automatically.

Rice. 18 Command line build window

Appendix A: USB/FireWire Drives

If the drive is supported by the program, then tests are available for it, S.M.A.R.T. functions and additional features.

If the drive is not supported by the program, then only tests are available for it.

USB/FireWire drives supported by the program:

USB/FireWire drives that the program may support:

USB/FireWire drives that the program does not support:

Appendix B: SSD drives

Support for a particular drive largely depends on the controller installed on it.

SSD drives supported by the program:

SSD drives that the program may support:

Additional information

Version HDDScan 3.3 can be downloaded version 2.8

Diagnosing the condition of an SSD disk is a necessary thing, because the resource of such media is limited. Although the creators write the approximate date of completion of the models, you can extend the life of the device if you check it regularly.

SSD speed test

There are no moving parts in the solid state design, and the information is transmitted by DDR DRAM. SSD works in a similar way. Data recording is carried out in parallel. There is no need to transfer files for further reading to the reading heads, as is the case with HDDs. SSDs do not have such heads at all, which increases performance.

For comparison: the average speed of modern HDDs with average characteristics is 60 MB/s; a solid-state drive, with all other parameters being equal, during testing shows a result 4-5 times higher. It’s the same story with startup: for a HDD this process from zero to full readiness will take 30-60 seconds, while an SSD will handle it twice as fast.

Drive speed indicators are determined by various testing programs (benchmarks), which, as mentioned above, consume SSD resource. So as not to waste energy ssd disk in vain, it is better not to abuse such software. But sometimes you need to do this, because how else can you find out if the disk is ok. Below are programs created to check such media for errors, as well as speed tests that do not exhaust disk resources.

Programs for monitoring the status of SSD drives on Windows:

How to test SSDs? Below are six utilities that will help with this.

The software makes it possible knowledgeable users not only identify the problem, but also quickly eliminate it. The option is also suitable for monitoring hard drives.

Basic functionality BY:

• Temperature control and device performance check.
• Automatic power control in emergency situations, as well as creating backup copies of data.
• Review and configuration of S.M.A.R.T. attributes.
• Time schedules.
• Generating reports on the device status.
• Troubleshooting caused by system errors.
• This SSD checking utility also allows you to protect the information on it using a password.
• Hotkey support.

The software has more than enough advantages, but unfortunately, there are also disadvantages. First of all, there are certain difficulties in work. It will not be so easy for complete beginners to understand the program’s capabilities and function management. And the second significant drawback is the consumption of system resources, namely RAM and central processor, even in standby mode. If there is not enough power in the computer, it will “slow down” during diagnostics.

Another suitable software for diagnosing the condition of solid state drives, which can also be applied to HDDs. The program interacts comfortably with all versions: from XP to “ten”.

3 main features of the program:

1. The software is suitable for both personal PCs or laptops and corporate networks.
2. The utility analyzes the drive and provides a lot of useful data, including the approximate operating date, as well as supported specific model operating modes.
3. Working with Active SMART is convenient because it comes with a very detailed guide. In addition, you can select the Russian language, which makes the interface intuitive.

The program was created to monitor the status of a data warehouse with support for S.M.A.R.T technology. The utility is shareware. The test period for the software is two weeks. Testing SDD for errors is easy with this program: it can report problems in a timely manner. In addition, the developers have introduced a simplified mode for beginners.

What HDI can do:

• show basic characteristics disk;
• check for errors, test performance;
• describe the current state of the drive in text form;
• give recommendations;
• test temperature;
• predict T.E.C. date (Threshold Exceed Condition) - the approximate period of termination of work.

There is also an advanced mode for experienced ones, which makes it possible to learn more about your SSD.

Conveniently, there is no need to know the specific values ​​of the parameters. The program performs all actions automatically, after which it gives a corresponding signal with a color indicator.

A tool that will help you find problems with your drive. With its help you can save time and save information. You don't have to pay to download the program. It is suitable for different Windows versions, including XP (SP2), Vista, seven, as well as 2003 (SP2), Server 2008

6 main software skills:

1. checks disk status automatically;
2. monitors event logs;
3. immediately reports the problem;
4. reports once a week;
5. supports RAID;
6. checks using S.M.A.R.T technology. or user script.

Like other utilities, this one has its drawbacks. Thus, the system indicates an error, but does not provide hints on how to solve it. You can easily receive messages from the program by email if you use an SMTP server. But if the user has access to an Exchange server, then setting up notifications will require a lot of tinkering.

Important: Not all software versions are designed for SSDs.

Programs for monitoring the status of SSD drives on Mac:

The utility shows everything that is going on with the disk, in great detail. Namesake tab installed SSD- will tell you a lot of useful things. In particular, it reflects:

• basic information;
• problem reports;
• health indicator.

Note: To display all indicator icons, you need to go to the appropriate tab.

The statistical section deserves special attention. Having entered it, you can see:

• how many logical sectors the disk wrote and read;
• are there any errors in the interface;
• information that concerns forced reboots etc.

All errors are recorded, which will allow us to determine the cause of the problem and eliminate it in a timely manner. Testing is performed automatically when the system starts. It is available in two modes - fast or long.
The software works effectively. It is easy to use and quite simple, but, unfortunately, there is no free version.

A worthy product from the developers of the once popular Trim Enabler. The creators did a great job. This is evident in both design and functionality. Now this is not just the software needed to run Trim, but a full-fledged product for monitoring SSDs.

Dashboard shows:

• creator company and disc serial number;
• the volume that the carrier recorded or counted;
• capacity (this concept also includes free and filled volume);
• "thermometer";
• "health" in general.

Everything is laid out comfortably: only facts and nothing superfluous.

In the Visual section- data about the content stored on the drive. They are sorted by sector, which will allow you to immediately track large files.

Health, as is already clear from the title of the section, provides detailed information about the technical condition of the device, allowing the user to assess its condition.

Advice: When buying an SSD, you need to pay attention to the form factor, because not every option will fit into a laptop or be suitable for a desktop PC.

The program can also track the path to a specific file and clear the cache. A free week is given to evaluate the capabilities of Disk Sensei, then you will have to spend money on a license.

A simple and frequently asked question: how can we check a newly purchased new or used solid-state drive? With some other components everything is simple. To check, for example, a video card we run modern games, or “warming pad” tests from the Furmark series, you can also make sure that the video card is delivering its rated performance by “running” one of the 3DMark tests. For processors, there are also tests that measure performance and stress tests that warm it up during operation, and even for hard drives there are a large number of utilities that show bad sectors.

Testing semiconductor drives is actually not much different from testing other devices. There are also a number of utilities for them, some specialize in SSDs, some, in general, in information storage systems.

Purchased usedSSD, what to pay attention to?

Buying a used SSD is not recommended, if only because this device has the effect of weakening or deteriorating in its performance over time to varying degrees. The main reason is the limited number of write cycles, although (as of yet) there are no known cases where the memory on an SSD failed due to its “old age”; it is better to use a new drive anyway.

The time a device is used may not always provide an adequate estimate of the theoretical load on the disk. Where one user installed only the system and some applications on the SSD (and also carried out a number of optimizations), the second regularly performed useless and even destructive defragmentation of the drive, kept “torrents” on the chips, and so on. Accordingly, the same device with different users will have a different percentage of wear.

First of all (especially if you purchase a used SSD with a warranty from some store), pay attention to the warranty stickers and stickers on the case. They should be intact, and there should be no marks from screwdrivers on the screws.

There is simply no reason to open the SSD, except for test laboratories in order to do high quality photos internal elements, microcircuits and controllers. Any opening, even a “careful” one, will be noticed by a vigilant team of service engineers who will refuse to provide a warranty.

Opening an SSD can also mean an attempt to resolder some elements, or even worse, when scammers simply use the drive case to replace a working drive board with a obviously defective one, be more vigilant.

typical USB-SATA adapter

In order to determine SSD performance Fortunately, you don’t need to have a PC; any laptop or netbook with USB ports will do. Middle adapter with SATA interface on USB can cost about 500 rubles, this is not so much if you buy a capacious SSD.

Immediately after connection.

Once you connect the drive to your laptop, you will not be able to test its speed. SSDs react very sharply to the packet installed drivers, controller, interface type, etc. At USB connection 2.0 (and version 3.0 too), the speed of the drive will seriously decrease, relative to comfortable conditions, up to 30 MB/s for the USB 2.0 interface.

However, you can still run some utilities that will show device wear, number of starts, storage capacity and other characteristics.

For example, we use the Crystal Disk Info utility, if possible, the latest version. This free program, which can be taken from the developer’s website. Not to be confused with Crystal Disk Mark, which is used to test device speeds (on at this stage we don't need).

Let's pay attention to three main points that interest us:

1. Indicated in the figure above symbolizes all drives connected to a computer or laptop. The condition of the purchased SSD, of course, must be “good”. If the program shows “alarm!” then it’s worth clarifying what the reason is. Sometimes this happens due to some kind of failure in the utility itself, or incorrect reading of S.M.A.R.T indicators, but most often it symbolizes some serious flaw.
2. We need to make sure that we have purchased the right SSD by looking at the device name and its capacity.
3. The seller's honesty can also be verified by the total time of work. If you verbally bought it a week ago, and the total operating time is about ten hours, then something is wrong here.

Important: Even new SSDs unpacked in front of you have a number of inclusions that are performed during factory checks.

In a word, you can see for yourself if there is “something wrong” with the drive.

TestingSSDat home.

First of all, even before using the SSD, make sure that you have performed small optimizations, updated the drivers for the controller, etc., for example, as indicated in this one, so you will save yourself some nerves and be sure that the device is fully functional (or, conversely, has any some problems).

After this, you can move on to full testing; in general, there is nothing complicated. Examples useful utilities and their use can be “seen” in the “” section.

For example, free utility, will show the indicators closest to the declared characteristics, and the Crystal Disk Mark test will be close to the real ones. A comprehensive performance assessment can be obtained from PCMark Vantage.

Share On

Checking an SSD disk using utilities is universal method, which performs several tasks at once.

• First – checking the drive for errors.
• Second – monitoring the operational life of the device.

The presence and periodic use of such programs for the owner of an SSD drive is not only desirable, but also necessary. After all, the resources of these components of modern PCs and laptops are limited compared to HDDs, and the danger of data loss is higher.

Although these disadvantages are fully compensated by a significant number of advantages from using SSD, due to the difference in their design from standard hard drives.

Features of using SSD drives

SSD drives are solid-state, non-volatile drives whose operating principle is similar to flash memory - SD and microSD cards, USB flash drives and other storage media. Such devices have no moving parts, and use a DDR DRAM chip to transmit data.

Parallel recording of information simultaneously onto several memory elements and the absence of the need to move the heads that read information (typical of HDDs) allows you to increase the speed of the process several times. And, if the average read speed of a modern hard drive is about 60 MB/s, even an average SSD drive can deliver 4-5 times higher performance. When recording data, the excess may be smaller, but the process is still much faster.

Rice. 1. Comparison of read and write speeds of SSD and HDD disks.

Loading speed is of particular importance for those computers on which several resource-intensive applications are installed. In this case, only download Windows systems occurs within 15–20 s for a solid-state drive and from 30 to 60 s for a hard drive. The same speed improvement occurs in the process of launching programs and recording data.

Other advantages of using SSD drives include:

• resistance to shocks and falls. A parameter that is important for laptops, the hard drives of which often fail due to mechanical damage;
• compactness - many disks are not much larger than the battery in size mobile phone, others have the dimensions of a memory stick;
• extended temperature range of disk operation;
• minimal energy consumption and no noise during operation.

Rice. 2. Comparison HDD sizes, standard SSD and mSATA format drive.

At the same time, SSD operation is also associated with certain disadvantages. These include the relatively high cost of the drive, although as the capacity increases, the price-to-volume ratio becomes smaller. The second important disadvantage is the limited resource of SSD drives, which is why it is recommended to check them periodically.

Drive diagnostics

The main task of inspections SSD drives consists in diagnosing its condition and providing information about the presence of errors, resource and expected operational life. This allows the user to know in advance about future problems with the drive, leading to unpredictable loss of information. In addition, based on the results of the check, you can plan the financial costs of purchasing a new SSD drive, the cost of which may not allow you to quickly find such an amount if the problem arose unexpectedly.

In addition, checking the drive does not take much time and does not even require the purchase of an expensive software. Utilities can be downloaded online for free or purchased for an amount not exceeding the cost of a standard antivirus program. While it is impossible to recover lost information from SSDs, unlike hard drives.

The best utilities for checking SSD drives

To check the status of the hard drive, drive manufacturers and third-party developers have already released dozens of applications. Most of them are free or shareware, that is, requiring payment only some time after the start of use. Their effectiveness is almost the same, but the differences lie in ease of use and functionality.

SSD Life

SSD Utility Life represents one of the simplest software for working with solid state drives. With its help, you can diagnose the disk and display its resource indicators as a percentage.

The application has 3 versions - one portable and two that require installation (free and advanced paid SSD Life Pro). The installed programs are distinguished by the ability to work in the background, displaying the status of the drive in real time. Among the utility's functions, it is worth paying attention to the possibility of automatic diagnostics every 4 hours and saving the results of previous checks.

Rice. 3. SSD Life main window when checking new and old SSD.

CrystalDiskInfo

Another free monitoring program SSD status checks the read and write speed of the drive, monitors its temperature and resource. In addition, CrystalDiskInfo supports S.M.A.R.T technology for assessing the health of disks and, like SSDLife, is available in several versions - portable and installed on a computer.

The second version constantly monitors the operation of the drive, informing the user about detection bad sectors and other errors. But the portable version does not require installation and can be used both on someone else’s and on a work PC.

Rice. 4. Scan a 64GB SSD using the CrystalDiskInfo application.

DiskCheckup

The process of checking a solid-state drive can also be carried out using a simple DiscCheckup program. Its task is to determine the speed and performance of the drive (and at the same time all that are installed on the computer, including both SSD and HDD). Among the information displayed on the screen you can find:

• number of errors;
• disk temperature;
• read and write speed characteristics.

Rice. 5. Checking disks using the DiscCheckup utility.

SSD Ready

When checking the status of your SSD, you can use the SSDReady application, which only works with solid-state drives. The result of the check is an estimate of the expected operating time of the device based on the collected statistics on writing and reading data. The program runs in the background and requires virtually no resources.

Rice. 6. SSDReady application.

Hard Disk Sentinel

Application Feature Hard Disk Sentinel, designed to monitor hard drives, monitors performance degradation or exceeds acceptable temperature levels and reports this to the user. The application constantly checks the speed of information transfer, temperature regime and other parameters. Among its features:

• work with SSD drives, IDE and SATA drives, and even USB drives;
• displaying information about the current and minimum temperature;
• indication of the number of errors and disk operating hours in hours;
• indication of not only the current, but also the maximum possible information transfer mode for the disk.

Rice. 7. Working with Hard program Disk Sentinel.

HDDScan

The freely available HDDScan program allows you to diagnose hard drives of any type, check them for errors and monitor the “health” of the drives. The utility works in real time and, if necessary, displays a detailed report on the status of the disk, which can be saved for future use.

Rice. 8. HDDScan program report.

SSD Tweaker

Free app SSD Tweaker is easy to use and allows the user not only to control the status of solid-state drives, but also to disable operating system unnecessary operations that reduce the life of the disk. For example, such as the Windows Indexing and Defragmentation Service. Settings can be configured manually or automatically.

Rice. 9. Working window of the SSD Tweaker program.

HD Tune

The HD Tune app comes in several variants − free version and paid HD Tune Pro. The first provides testing of the status of hard drives (including SSDs) and memory cards. The shareware utility, for which you will have to pay $38, has expanded functionality, allowing you to control almost all disk parameters and conduct a number of additional tests.

Rice. 10. Diagnostics using HD Tune Pro.

Regardless of the program you choose to diagnose your SSD drive, at least one of them must be installed on your computer (or run from time to time if it is impossible to install on a working PC).

At the same time, if too important information is not contained on the drive, the frequency of checking can be changed by setting, for example, diagnostics not every 4 hours, but once a day. Moreover, despite the higher level of reliability HDDs, using most of the same applications, you can periodically monitor their status, increasing the security of data storage.

Video instructions for checking an SSD drive

Checking the SSD drive: best utilities for diagnostics and performance improvement