A utility for checking your hard drive for bad sectors. Disk Utility in macOS. Seagate Seatools for Windows: Testing Drive Performance

aass, didn't use it. But I note that Victoria and MHDD are proven tools for serious diagnostics.

And Windows 7 can track SMART information. It will warn you if anything happens.

aass

Vadim Sterkin, Thanks for the answer and for the topic!
With rating Victoria programs and MHDD agree, I myself use Victoria for serious diagnostics, but I try to test other programs, everything is learned by comparison.)

Dmitry

when checking hard drive The standard program on Windows 7 says that bad clusters have been detected in null.sys... what kind of driver is this?

Dmitry

Vadim Sterkin,

thanks...can the system slow down because of it?

Sanyok

Hello.
Ran (hypothetically) checking drive C: from GUI with parameters similar to your screen. Clicked the "Schedule disk check" button. Changed my mind. How to cancel this one-time check system disk before rebooting the system?
I myself assume that it may be entered into the Task Scheduler.” But I want to know for sure. I see no point in experimenting. Since, after such a check was completed successfully once (in practical reality), it would be entered into the “Scheduler” even as a one-time check, and should, in theory, be saved. After all, tasks from the “Scheduler” do not have the ability to self-delete (I think so). But I didn’t find any traces in the “Planner”. As you probably know, I didn’t receive an answer on the Internet or on the forum.

Simply put, I want to know where this mythical “Check Schedule” is located and what methods and methods Windows 7 offers for adjusting it. And then it turns out like this - click, and ala-ulu...

Sanyok

Yeah...
There were graphics, but they all came out. This is some kind of graffiti, black and white, with a register. Just like Battleship Potemkin.
(Yes, I Googled, but really for a slightly different request). Thank you.
You can plan this by checking two boxes in the chart, and canceling by going to the register. They got smart here. Well, okay, there’s nothing to do - I’ll post in the forum.

Yes, by the way, does it make sense to check the second (bottom) checkbox if the system is on an SSD? After all, as far as my knowledge is sufficient, the SSD controller itself periodically (when idle) scans the memory for faulty cells.
And this second checkbox, by definition, is intended to check for broken cells on the surface of the HDD.

Sanyok

Sanyok,

You turn on your TV with the remote control and set the wake-up timer. The next morning you wake up to the music of your favorite music channel. And life flows smoothly and measuredly. But at one fine moment it dawns on you - after all, tomorrow is Sunday. No problem, you tell yourself. With a slight movement of your hand and a screwdriver, without unplugging the TV from the mains, you remove the back cover, quickly replace a couple of resistors on the board and you’re done. Tomorrow you can sleep peacefully until lunchtime.
Do you feel what I mean?

Vadim Sterkin: Sanya, what do you mean, wise? You don’t have to split hairs by pressing all sorts of strange buttons, and everything will be fine :)

It's really funny, but also of course, of course Truth.
Yes, but it’s not quite out of place. I don’t see anything unpredictable or completely incomprehensible in checking the disk. And the conversation was about the fact that if you have already provided a graphical opportunity to schedule such a task, then be kind enough to provide the same opportunity to disable it, and not through one place (the registry). Either remove graphics when planning (do planning only through CMD), or provide the ability to disable this task using the graphical interface. As an engineer, in my technical practice and in the practice of interfaces of various industrial programs and IT, this is the first time I have come across something like this. Yes, and in Windows OS too.
That’s what I wanted to convey when I said, “We’ve been clever.”
When faced with a question, I noticed that this function causes complaints from the user in terms of frequent independent launches. But let's not talk about that. As unrelated to the topic.
And of course, thanks for the comments. Everything is clear to me here.

Regarding the bottom daw:

To perform a thorough disk scan, select the Scan and repair bad sectors option. In this mode, the scanning program attempts to find and correct physical errors on the hard drive itself, which may take much longer.

It doesn't say anything about the file system. More like about physical disabilities. Some of us are wrong. Or I didn't understand something.
And further in the text:

To check for both file and physical errors, select both options: Automatically fix system errors and Scan and repair bad sectors.

Please comment. I would like clarity on the issue.
So as not to press “all sorts of strange buttons”, and everything was fine. :-)

Vyacheslav

I am very surprised by the possibilities of checking and restoring a disk under Windows 8. Changing the partition size upward using the program Acronis Disk Director 11 completed with errors. I wanted to increase the size of the system disk by empty space on an adjacent 200 GB partition. As a result, this program reports that everything is OK, and the disk size in Explorer has not changed. I checked the disk using the OS - it said that there were errors and needed to be rebooted. After the reboot, nothing changed and a request appeared to reboot to fix it. As you can already guess, this also did not help. As a result, we have lost 200 GB, despite the fact that Acronis says everything is ok, but the system is not able to correct the errors found. Sadness. Do I need to format it?

Vyacheslav

Vadim Sterkin,

In fact, under Windows 7, a similar operation was always performed without problems. I always perform the task of expanding/narrowing a partition in 2 stages: first, we cut off a piece of space from the partition being compressed and transfer it to the “unallocated space” status from the required end of the partition, and then we expand another partition using this space (I do everything manually in 2 reboots in case of “jambs”, because Acronis performs a group of operations very strangely. There is a sad experience under Windows XP). So, if under Windows 7, after checking the disk, everything returned to normal and the free space did not disappear so easily, then under Windows 8 Acronis completed the first stage successfully, and when performing the second it broke down with errors, although then it reports that “everything is fine.” The problem was eventually resolved by booting from a Live CD from Acronis. It's a pity that this cannot be done under Windows 8. And I was so counting on the “improved checking and correction of file system errors” promoted in the media. Of course, it is very difficult to trust that checking and background diagnostics of FS problems is working correctly. It is very confusing that the time to scan one partition under Windows 7 and under Windows 8 differs by orders of magnitude, for the better for the latter. Are all problems really so easily and quickly fixed? Maybe Windows 8 simply doesn’t notice most of them, or even worse, ignores them?

Vyacheslav

Vadim Sterkin,

Well, what option is there in Windows 8 to expand the partition size? I saw the Disk Management snap-in. Well, I didn’t see how it’s possible to cut the size of a logical volume from the desired end using “standard means”. There's also no way to move a partition within the unallocated space. If there is an analogue that I missed, tell me. Along the way, you did not quite correctly understand what I meant by the phrase “I had a bad experience under Windows XP.” And it was like this: after a reboot, this operation was performed and at that moment the electricity went out. Thus, I lost 2 partitions, although, in theory, there could have been 3 options: the second partition, from which space was taken away due to the incompleteness of the operation of moving NTFS service zones, would have been lost, or only system partition(although this is unlikely), or both partitions would be fine, with some area of unallocated space between them. But I was very “lucky”. Let’s skip the topic of uninterruptible power supplies and it turns out that Acronis is a reputable company, and their products are sometimes dangerous to use in any way in the absence of alternatives from the OS. And then another “surprise” emerged. And even here everything is fine with the power supply. But as I already noted, the last problem was solved by booting from a Live CD from Acronis and a classic disk check, and not the over-optimized one from Windows 8, the benefits of which I have not yet felt. It seems to be there, but there seems to be no point. Or maybe I was using the disk check tool wrong. Unfortunately, such “optimization” still raises more questions and mistrust in me than answers.

Vyacheslav

Vadim Sterkin,

Irina

Conducted diagnostics of hard Windows disk(chkdsk). There were no messages, but later it turned out that there was no free space. Although before the check, less than 50% of the disk was full. And now it shows 931 GB occupied. Was all the free space wasted? The disc is six months old.

I forgot to say, after that I checked with Victoria and reported that there weren’t even any errors.

Irina

This is not the case for me. It's not about system disk. And about the external drive. I’ve already found out that the system marked all the free space as bad blocks. Now I’m trying to figure out whether it’s a failure or whether the screw has died.

Sergey

Vadim, I have the following problem: After launching the utility chkdsk checks disk, if both “daws” are installed, it asks to reboot and a check is performed, I don’t know what to call it, but it looks like MS-DOS - lines run quickly on a black background. After the next reboot, I look at the information in the Windows Logs - Application, text in English, “there are a lot of letters,” but the meaning can be understood from a single sentence: “Windows has checked the file system and found no problems." At the same time, a few lines above I was kindly informed that, they say, “Cleaning up 31 unused security descriptors.” Sometimes it is not “31 unused security descriptors” that are cleared, but more or, conversely, less. That is, something is still not quite right, and the program corrects it a little. Like, overall everything is fine, but the Bug died. So, no matter how many times I run this chkdsk, it requires a reboot to correct these errors, nothing else is detected. Previously, on another machine in Windows XP this happened rarely, but now it happens time after time.
The SSD drive is about a quarter occupied. The system is legal Windows 7 x64 Professional and is automatically updated. If you do not run a disk check, then there is no reason to worry, everything works fine, does not glitch, does not crash. So, in connection with this, the question is - maybe there is no need to spoil your mood. On the website Microsoft solutions I didn’t find any problems with these file system errors, and are they really errors?

far_town2 Kulyasov

Are there any methods to check if the power supply is sufficient? And could it be because of him insufficient power Are there freezes/errors in games?

To store information on most personal computers and even servers use hard drives. They are quite reliable, but over time, magnetic drives become unusable. In most cases, the service life of the disk is 5-10 years. Each user must be able to carry out HDD diagnostics to determine whether to replace the part and perform a data backup. You will learn everything about verification from this article.

Symptoms of hard drive problems

Malfunctions or imminent death of the hard drive may be accompanied by typical symptoms. We recommend paying attention to the following symptoms:

The appearance of uncharacteristic sounds during operation. There may be clicks, crackles, or metallic clanging. In such cases, the problem is usually mechanical in nature.
“Brakes” in the operation of the system. Windows loads too slowly, some files do not open, and errors occur when installing programs.
The appearance of blue “screens of death”. In such cases, an error code is always written, which can be used to determine the source of the problem.
Spontaneous shutdown or reboot of the computer. As a rule, in such situations, the boot sector of the HDD is damaged.

Please note that computer freezes can also occur due to insufficient RAM.

Ways to check the hard drive

HDD diagnostics is an important task. There are several ways to do this. Means operating system allow you to analyze hard drive, but they are not always effective. The optimal solution is to use specialized utilities that are created specifically for this task.

Via command line

Windows operating systems have a standard utility that can analyze the status of the hard drive. To do this you will have to run command line:

In the command parameters, specify the drive letter and two specifiers. The first - F is responsible for automatic error correction, and R performs information recovery. Be prepared that the verification may take several hours. If you are using a laptop, be sure to charge it. At the end you will get statistics on how many sectors are damaged.

Using Windows Explorer

If you prefer using familiar windows, you can run the scan through Explorer. To do this, users should follow a number of steps:

During this operation, the system will perform the following checks:

basic file system structure;
security descriptors;
file name associations;
USN magazine.

To find out the scan results, you need to go to the “Event Viewer” menu, and then find the scan log in the Windows log.

Via Windows PowerShell

The latest Windows operating systems have an additional utility similar to the command line, which was created for convenient system administration. You can also use it to test your hard drive. To start, you need to perform several steps:

The system will scan and automatically fix if possible. If there are no errors, the message NoErrorsFound will appear.

Using Windows 10 Tools

The latest operating system from Microsoft has advanced functionality, so it can independently diagnose a wide range of problems. Using the built-in Security Center, you can check HDD status. Additionally, go to storage diagnostics. How to use these functions will be described below.

Security and Service Center

This is a special section in the “ten”, which is responsible for maintaining the operating system. As a rule, all necessary checks are performed automatically after a certain period of time. You can access this section through the control panel. Next, if necessary, open the “Maintenance” tab and find the “Disk Status” line. Opposite it should be the “OK” option. If it is not there, then we recommend conducting a thorough analysis of the condition of the hard drive.

Storage Diagnostic Utility

The developers of Windows 10 also created an additional utility for hard checks disk – storage diagnostics. It is launched via the command line (how to open it was described in the sections earlier). Next, enter the command and press Enter.

The procedure may take 2-5 hours (depending on the HDD capacity). At some points the process will appear to be stuck, but it is strongly recommended that you do not interrupt the scan. Once the process is complete, navigate to the path to save the report and open it (the file will have evtx permission). It will provide the following information:

chkdsk check data and error information;
registry files containing data about connected drives;
Event Viewer Logs.

For correct decoding The information presented in the report requires experienced specialists. The report will be uninformative for ordinary users.

Third party programs

For professionals and ordinary users, third-party developers have created many useful, functional and easy-to-use verification utilities hard state disk. With their help, you can get comprehensive information about the status of your HDD. The most popular of them will be described below.

Victoria

This is the most popular free software from qualified specialists. Its wide functionality allows you to get almost any information about the hard drive. The parameters are displayed in a form convenient for the average user, so you don’t have to study anything additional to make a conclusion about the state of the HDD. The utility is distributed on a Freeware basis, i.e. absolutely free.

Download the software to your computer and follow the instructions:

All sectors will be marked in different colors depending on the response speed. Gray sectors are not dangerous. Green sectors are allowed in quantities of several hundred (up to 2-3 thousand). For example, on a completely new 1TV hard drive their number is about 1 thousand. Orange sectors are at their limit. No more than 100 pieces are allowed. Red and blue cannot be restored. They need to be “closed”, limiting reading from them.

When scanning, you can set the operating modes:

Ignore is a classic check without further action.
Remap – replacing unreadable sectors with reserves if available.
Restore – restore damaged sectors programmatically.
Erase – overwriting unreadable sectors. Attention, erases information.

As you can see, the utility is informative and easy to use even for beginners.

HDDScan

Another useful software for scanning your hard drive. It has less functionality, but a more friendly interface compared to the previous version. The utility is completely free, and allows you to get SMART parameters and detailed information about the state of sectors.

To start the verification procedure, follow these steps:

The colors for the sectors are identical to those described above. The scanning menu does not provide functions for correcting sectors.

DiskCheckup

The software supports work with almost all types of hard drives (SATA, USB, FireWire). It has small but sufficient functionality. You can check it through the app SMART parameters, and also carry out full testing on the Disk Self-Test tab. The main disadvantage of the program is the complexity of the results for the average user. The status is indicated by the “OK” line and numerical parameters. Considering that they are all in English, it will be difficult to understand.

MHDD

This is highly specialized software for advanced users. It is used if the system does not start and the OS does not load to the desktop. To run MHDD software, you must burn it to a CD or flash drive as an image. You can even run the utility with the entire operating system. To do this, you need to select a flash drive or CD as the boot drive when using a floppy drive.

After the menu appears, you just need to select required hard drive and enter the command to check. The software is controlled in the same way through commands as on the console, or using the function buttons of the keyboard. Not recommended for use ordinary users without the appropriate skills.

Crystal Disk Mark

This utility allows you to evaluate the speed of writing and reading information from your hard drive. In its interface, the user can select the write/read type, local disk and the size of the file that will be read and written. After finishing the test you will receive information at speed.

You will not be able to evaluate these results yourself. We recommend finding a similar HDD model online to compare its testing with your test data. If the results with identical settings are almost the same, then there is no need to worry. If there are strong differences, we recommend analyzing the hard drive via Victoria.

HDD Regenerator

Functional utility for HDD scanning and recovery. A special magnetization reversal algorithm allows you to eliminate quite serious problems with your hard drive. To launch the software you should:

The advantage of this utility is the ability to quickly correct errors and close “bad sectors”.

Seagate SeaTools

Specialized software from Seagate product developers. Allows you to obtain basic information about the disk, perform preliminary and full scans. We recommend using this utility in cases where the above for some reason does not work, and you own a hard drive from Seagate.

Western Digital Data Lifeguard Diagnostic

Special software for English to check company disks Western Digital. It is more suitable for advanced users, but ordinary users can also perform quick diagnostics. For example, you can check the status of SMART parameters.

The utility also allows you to conduct simple and advanced tests, but the information content of the results for typical users leaves much to be desired.

Disk Utility on macOS

Operating room users MacOS systems also have a standard hard drive utility. Its functionality includes:

creating and transforming images;
mounting and unmounting disks and other media.
activation and deactivation of logging mode;
HDD integrity testing and file recovery;
erasing, formatting and partitioning disks;
cleaning up debris;
adding a partition table;
checking the S.M.A.R.T status of the hard drive and much more.

To start, you need to find the application in the utilities on the system disk, and then launch it.

Prevention measures

To make it last as long as possible life is tough disk, users can perform various actions, including:

Defragmentation. This procedure arranges all file blocks in order, making access to them as fast as possible, accordingly, the head travels less distance to open the file and wears out more slowly.
Install a quality power supply. Power surges have a detrimental effect on any equipment. If important data is stored on the HDD, take care of a high-quality power supply to prevent damage to the hard drive due to power surges.
Avoid vibrations and shocks. Winchesters are extremely vulnerable to impacts. When transporting your computer, make sure that the hard drive will not be subject to vibration.
Clean the system. Freezes due to unstable software or viruses can cause increased load on the disk; accordingly, it will use its resource faster.
Eliminate external magnetic fields. Many install system unit with other powerful equipment that has magnetic field. If you want to ensure maximum data safety, do not place the system unit next to equipment that emits a powerful magnetic field.

Never forget to do backups. Any hard drive will eventually become unusable, and it is not always possible to recover data. Regular checks will allow you to determine the future demise of the HDD in advance and take action, for example, purchasing a new one.

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Majority hard drives with experience contain erroneous entries, etc. . Some of them lead to sad consequences; It's only a matter of time before this happens to your hard drive.

Windows OS offers tools for finding errors on the HDD, but they are not intended for diagnostics and testing. We invite you to familiarize yourself with much more effective tools.

So, how can you check your hard drive for errors? Here is a list of recommended programs:

HDD Regenerator – a program for testing your hard drive and treating bad sectors

HDD Regenerator is a utility for checking your hard drive, a professional tool for diagnosing, finding and fixing errors. The word "Regenerator" clarifies: the program is not only capable of detecting possible malfunctions, structure errors and bad sectors, but also suitable for correcting them.

HDD Regenerator program interface

HDD Regenerator is a program for checking your hard drive and fixing errors. Can also be used as a full-fledged tool for . If the information is not readable, regeneration will allow you to bypass bad blocks and read problematic files.

In order to determine the condition of the HDD, you must pass a special test. Additional information allow you to extract . HDD Regenerator has the corresponding tools.

Other features of the program:

FAT and NTFS file systems are supported, but the system type does not matter when testing
Displaying detailed statistics about the operation and status of the hard drive
Creating a bootable regenerating flash drive or CD/DVD based on HDD Regenerator
Prescan mode: quick diagnostics of the hard drive (surface scanning)
HDD monitoring in real time
Data security: the program works in read mode (with the exception of overwriting bad sectors)

The cost of the PRO version of HDD Regenerator is $79.99/year. There is a free trial version available that allows you to restore 1 bad sector for free.

Hitachi Drive Fitness Test (WinDFT) – a program for testing and checking the condition of the hard drive

Hitachi Drive Fitness Test is a program for diagnosing a hard drive and finding read errors. The utility allows you to quickly check the status of internal and external hard drives that support G-Technology.

Seagate Seatools for Windows: Testing Drive Performance

Seatools from Seagate is a free HDD diagnostic tool for Windows and DOS. The utility will allow you to identify some problems on the HDD before contacting the warranty service to repair the disk (In our realities, instead of repairing you will be offered a replacement device, as a result of which you will lose all saved data).

Note. The program is not compatible with all HDD models; it is only relevant for hard drives from Seagate.

Problems that the program can detect:

Violation of the HDD file system structure
Bad sectors and read errors
Driver and system errors Windows problems
Equipment incompatibility
Damage Windows boot loader(MBR) on disk
Presence of viruses, keyloggers or other malicious applications

Seatools works as follows: the user selects tests for diagnostics, runs them, and as a result receives a detailed report. If the test is passed, the PASS mark will be displayed, otherwise FAIL. It should be noted that HDD testing may take up to 4 hours. To save time, you can choose one of three testing modes.

Seagate Seatools can also be used to “treat” your hard drive. That is, the program is able to detect bad blocks and try to restore or overwrite them with zeros (this method allows you to subsequently ignore problem blocks when reading/writing the disk structure).

HDD Health program: checking the disk and reading SMART attributes

HDD Health is another one free program to test the hard drive and monitor its performance. The utility checks the hard drive for errors (SSD / HDD) and makes a forecast (Health indicator as a percentage).

Preliminary check of the disk for errors using basic SMART indicators. HDD Health program interface

The main program window displays the following information:

manufacturer, model, firmware version
current HDD (SSD) temperature (available through the notification area)
general condition of the disk structure
other attributes (via the Extended info menu)

Similar to other diagnostic tools, HDD Health reads S.M.A.R.T indicators, which allows you to clarify the current hardware performance. The program does not have any other tools for calculating errors or checking for bad blocks.

HDD Health 4.2: check SSD status disk

Thus, the tools of the HDD Health program will be useful to those for whom S.M.A.R.T. indicators are sufficient to check the condition of the hard drive (and if the condition of the device is not critical). Fortunately, the latest HDD/SSD drives have S.M.A.R.T technology. implemented.

HDDScan - a program to check your hard drive for bad sectors

HDDScan is a free program for hard drive diagnostics, reading S.M.A.R.T. and other parameters. After testing, you will receive a detailed log file detailing the disk status.

HDDScan supports various types of storage devices:

RAID arrays
HDD drives with IDE/SATA interface
SATA/ATA SSD
USB flash drives

Let's note the most useful functions of HDDScan:

Checking the hard drive for errors that are not detected by standard Windows utilities: bad blocks and bad sectors
Testing the hard drive (Read/Wipe)
Checking the temperature for all hard drives connected to the PC
Export any information as a custom report

CHKDSK is a Windows OS utility for checking errors and fixing bad blocks

You can check your hard drive for errors without installing third-party programs. operating room Windows system allows you to do this through the Check Disk utility.

The CHKDSK utility appeared in DOS. It not only searches for, but also corrects basic file system errors. It should be clarified that it is not intended to search for all types of errors and is not a HDD diagnostic tool.

However, with using CHKDSK you can correct errors on various devices storage: not only on the hard drive, but also on a flash drive and SD card. Since Windows NT, it fixes bad blocks (physically bad sectors), marking them accordingly. Subsequently, these areas are bypassed by other programs when reading/writing.

HDDLife - a program for monitoring the status of your hard drive

Usually the heart of a computer is called the processor or motherboard. But they serve faithfully for several years, and then the hard drive suddenly fails. In terms of loss, no component can compare with it.

The hard drive is computer memory, which, of course, needs to be protected. In order to prevent sudden data loss, you need to regularly back up your data to another HDD or storage media. However, if you want to prevent hard drive failure in advance, you need to determine its current state. The HDDLife program will help with this.

HDDLife has several very useful features. First of all, monitoring the status of the hard drive. The “health” of the HDD is shown as a color scale. If everything is in order, the scale has green, if the disk has worked for a decent period of time, the color is yellow. The red scale is already a signal of a pre-emergency condition: the hard drive has worked and is ready to retire. In this case, it is better not to take risks and promptly replace the component. In the pro version of HDDLife, you can configure pre-failure notification state of rigid disks by email. If there are a lot of computers on the network, then the diagnostic option will come in handy. The status graph also informs you how long the disk has been working. This is worth paying attention to, especially if you are buying a used drive or just want to make sure it is new.

The second important section is displaying the disk temperature. Any electronics works, or rather wears out faster, at elevated temperatures. And too high a temperature, as a rule, even leads to disastrous consequences. If the indicator text is green, then everything is in order and the disk is in good thermal conditions. Otherwise, you need to buy special cooling or check the ventilation of the slot in which the disk is located. On some HDDs, the program allows you to adjust the noise level and performance. This is done using a slider that determines the relationship between the characteristics. Either this is the possibility of a special version for a laptop, or a limitation of the trial version - however, the option was not available for us. Some HDDLife features cannot be called unique: for example, an indicator of available space. If there is not enough space on the partitions, the now familiar warning is displayed. Free space monitoring is available in Windows, as in almost any OS, so the message is more annoying than informative.

The program is distributed in three versions: free, HDDLife Professional and HDDLife for Notebooks. The differences can be found on the page http://www.hddlife.ru/rus/compare.html.

Answers to readers' questions

I often resort to system recovery due to a crash. Frequently freezes, constant CPU overload, already deleted unnecessary programs. I closed everything as much as I could background programs. Experts say that you need to change the hard drive, they say, there are many damaged (broken) sectors. I want to try this program to check sectors. How to check your hard drive for errors?

Answer. Indeed, if you experience the problems described in your question, checking your hard drive for bad sectors will not hurt. At a minimum, we recommend scanning the disk using applications such as HDD Regenerator and Victoria. You can find out how to check your hard drive for bad sectors directly in the documentation. Whether it’s worth it or not, the wording is not very correct. You should check your HDD for errors regularly if the data is of even minimal value to you.

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 using standard operating system tools. 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.

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

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

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).

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 start this procedure, check the box to the left of its serial number. After this the 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.

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 window of the program, and in addition the following:
- Manufacturer's name;
- Disk capacity;
- Hours worked;
- His temperature;
- Support for certain technologies, etc.

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".

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.

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.

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".

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.

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 you can see, Seagate SeaTools is quite convenient and, most importantly, free tool to diagnose your 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.

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".

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.

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

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

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.

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

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".

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".

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

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

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 - simple and free software, which copes with all its tasks: checking sectors and conducting hard drive tests. True, its purpose does not include correcting errors - only searching for them on the device. But the program supports not only standard hard drives, but also SSDs and even flash drives.

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.

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".

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

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. You can change this data if you wish, but it is not recommended. To directly start testing, click the arrow to the right of the settings.

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

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

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".

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 respectively. orange, and broken sectors are in dark blue indicating the number of such elements.

After testing is completed, the indicator should display the value in an additional window "100%". On the right side of the same window will be shown detailed statistics by response time sectors of hard disk.

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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 either using third-party programs or using the system’s built-in utility. 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 do not need to download or install anything, and in addition, the in-system utility will try to fix errors if they are detected.

Hello Friends! In this article we will understand the topic - Hard Drive Diagnostics. The reason for writing this article was a message from relatives - our operating system has been installed for a maximum of two months, after which glitches begin and we have to reinstall it. Even after I installed Windows 7 for them, complaints began. I had no doubt about the operating system. It has already been installed on more than 10 computers. I tested the RAM, replaced the thermal paste on the processor, cleaned the system of dust - nothing. Then I tested the entire system using the system stability test (functions of the AIDA64 program). Everything is fine.

After repeated successful testing, enlightenment came. Checking the hard drive completely slipped my mind. Conducted HDD diagnostics first third party program HDD Regenerator. Having discovered errors (8 unreadable sectors), I ran the check again using a program from the manufacturer Western Digital. The latter confirmed the malfunction and the hard drive was sent to a service center under warranty. Read on to learn how to diagnose your hard drive...

Diagnostics using the operating system is what can and should be used first. To do this, open the main Start menu and select Computer. Right-click on the section to bring up the context menu and select Properties

Disk Properties opens. Go to the tab Service and in the section Checking for errors press the button Check

This will be Data Lifeguard Diagnostic for Windows.

The WinDlg_v1_28.zip archive will be downloaded, which can be opened using the 7-zip or WinRar program in the same way as a file with the rar extension. Unpack and run the Setup.exe file.

When finished, click Ready

Launch the SeaTools program again

Searches for supported drives. Need to wait a little

Then, accept the license agreement again

To diagnose a hard drive, the Short and Long universal tests are sufficient

To be safe, choose Long lasting universal and wait for it to finish. If the test does not pass, follow the instructions and if the program does not fix the disk, bring it under warranty.

In the Basic tests menu there is an item called Repair all. This function I haven't tried it. I’ll try as soon as I get a suitable hard drive.

Restoring the Seagate HDD

10_21_2013 A few months ago, bring a 160 GB Seagate hard drive without warranty. A long-term universal test produced an error. When connecting to another computer, I was able to copy all the important information from this disk without any problems.

To restore functionality we used Additional tests

A warning window opened saying that you can activate Additional tests using the key F8

By clicking on F8, the window closed and the Additional tests section appeared. Since our data was saved, I chose Full erase (SATA)

Another warning popped up

Scrolling the screen in this message with the slider, it was discovered that to start a complete erase, you need to press F8. After pressing, erasing started.

When the process was completed, I ran the Long-Term Universal Test again. The test was passed. After that we reinstalled the image working system using Norton Ghost. And until this moment no one complained.

Conclusion

In the article hard drive diagnostics you learned how to check your hard drive (HDD) for errors. Here we looked at two methods: built-in checking using Windows and checking with special utilities from manufacturers. In a combat situation, I like to use diagnostic utilities. Since this, for me, is 100% an option. If the disk passes the test, everything is fine. Otherwise, we will take it for repair under warranty. This is why in the article on choosing a hard drive I attach such importance to the warranty. It is necessary that she be 3 years old. This is a whole 3 years without a headache. Naturally all necessary warranty period it is good to handle the hard drive, because service center They look closely at the scratches.

The main thing I want to convey to you is. Hard drives is a consumable item. Like cartridges for a printer. You need to have at least two copies of your important data on two different drives. For example, on an internal and external hard drive. One fails, buy a new one, restore the data from the backup one and you are happy again. In order not to buy often, look at the same guarantee. I wish it was longer. Another great option is to use Windows 7 archiving.

With hard drives Samsung I haven't encountered it. I couldn't find any utilities specifically for these disks. If anyone has information, please share in the comments. For now I will check them with a utility from Seagate or WD.