Utility to check the hard drive. Ways to check and repair a hard drive

If your computer is running slowly, then one of the reasons is the slow speed of the HDD (hard disk). Today we will consider two free small, but useful programs to test the hard drive of a computer.

CrystalDiskMark- a program designed to test performance hard drives computer.

CrystalDiskInfo- a program that allows you to diagnose HDD / SSD drives, USB-HDD drives.

Both programs are not large in size and do not require installation ( Portable- portable software). They are very easy to handle.

CrystalDiskMark

To test in the program CrystalDiskMark you only need to choose HDD(if you have several), test file size (from 50 to 1000 MB) and number of runs (from 1 to 9). After a short testing will be issued average speed reading and writing to the hard disk of the main file, blocks of 512 and 4 kb.

CrystalDiskMark – useful application, which makes it possible to conduct a comparative analysis of the performance characteristics of computer hard drives and drives.

CrystalDiskMark measures the speed of reading and writing data. Upon completion of testing, it visually displays the average indicators and saves them for further analysis.

CrystalDiskMark- a free program, there is a Russian-language localization, small in size, supports SSD drives.

After starting the program, a window will open in front of you, in which you specify the disk you are going to test, the number of runs and the size of the test file.

After pressing the button All the full test will run.

button Seq Q32T1 you can run a random write / read test (block size 512 KB)

Button "4K Q32T1"- Random write/read test (block size 4 KB, queue depth 32) for NCQ and AHCI.

Button Seq- Sequential write/read test (block size 1024 KB).

Button "4K"- a similar test, only for 4 kilobyte blocks.

Below is an example of a window with the results of the check:

Here the left column is the speed of reading information.

The right column is the write speed.

CrystalDiskMark- a free program that is designed for a comparative analysis of the performance of hard drives and other computer drives. Its performance is affected by the speed of the computer as a whole.

The program works in all versions of operating Windows systems(9x to Vista/7 32 and 64).

CrystalDiskMark also allows the possibility of changing the theme, has a simple user interface with support for the Russian language.

• Update: 03-02-2016
• Version: 5.1.2
• System: Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows 10, Vista, Windows XP
• License: free
• Size: 2.9 Mb Portable (zip)
• Developer: hiyohiyo

CrystalDiskInfo

CrystalDiskInfo- a program that allows you to perform diagnostics hard drive for PC, monitoring for HDD/SSD drives, USB-HDD drives. The CrystalDiskInfo program is very easy to use, once launched, information about state of hard disk or other drive that needs to be diagnosed. The CrystalDiskInfo program can be downloaded in Russian at the bottom of the page.

• Update 03-02-2016
• Version: 6.7.5
• System Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows 10, Vista, Windows XP
• Interface: Russian / English, etc.
• License: free
• Size: 4.5 Mb Portable (zip)
• Developer: hiyohiyo

CrystalDiskInfo- detailed diagnostics, determination of disk parameters, external drives and plotting the characteristics of a disk or drive, the ability to use the function of comparing different graphs.

While using the utility, you can view any necessary information about the disk: model, volume, firmware version or serial number.

You can also find out the type of interface used, the mode for data transfer, the rotation speed. The program determines the amount of cache, the total operating time of the device, the number of inclusions.

Upon launch, CrystalDiskInfo immediately provides S.M.A.R.T. values, temperature, general disk health, including values ​​such as "Wear", "Number of read errors", "Erase errors", "Alarm!" and others.

The programs described above were developed by a Japanese programmer Noriyuki Miyazaki (nickname hiyohiyo).

Program analogues

You can also consider similar programs for testing, analysis, HDD treatment:

HDDSpeed- Free utility, whose main task is to determine the speed of the hard disk. Displays information about physical characteristics and speed parameters. Can diagnose hardware problems and identify faults that can lead to failure.

HDDScan- A free software product that tests and diagnoses hard drives. Checks them for errors, regulates the work and displays useful information.

victoria- A free program with which you can test your hard drive and check its general condition. It has all the necessary tools for performance analysis and troubleshooting.

P.S. HDD- one of the important components of any computer, laptop. It stores very important information, which is very difficult, and sometimes impossible, to recover in the event of a disk failure. Now hard drives push out solid state drives(SSD) - they are faster, but more expensive and not as big yet. After purchasing a new hard drive, you need to test it with the above or similar programs.

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Check Disk Utility or chkdsk.exe is a tool in Windows 10 that investigates disk corruption. This tool turns on automatically when the computer encounters a sudden shutdown or detects a corrupted file system. In a few cases, this tool is recommended to be run, but in other cases, Windows itself will run it, depending on the nature of the errors. CHKDSK scans the disk space and verifies that the integrity of the file system has not been compromised - and if it finds any logical errors, it fixes them. Let's take a look at how to use the CHKDSK tool to check and hard recovery drive in Windows 10/8/7.

Error checking and recovery of bad sectors on the disk

What exactly does this tool check? Everything is very simple, it checks in 5 steps: checking the underlying structure of the file system, checking filename associations, checking security descriptors, looking for bad clusters in user file data, looking for bad and free clusters. The format of commands given on the command line is similar to chkdsk[drive:] [options] and looks like chkdsk c: /f /r /x. Please note that the local drive C: is indicated, if you need to check the entire hard drive, then remove C: and the command will look like this chkdsk /f /r /x. If you need to check and repair a flash drive, then specify the volume letter instead of C:. Let's take a closer look at advanced options that can greatly help you fix hard drive errors.

• Open command line as administrator and enter the command chkdsk C: /f /r /x to scan the hard drive for errors and press Enter.

1. C - local disk or the one you want to check. If you want to check the entire hard disk for errors, then simply issue the command chkdsk /f /r /x
2. /f- Fixes the bugs it finds.
3. /r- Looks for bad sectors and restores them.
4. /x- Performs unmounting of the volume before checking it, if necessary.
5. I brought more significant commands at once into one, but you can look additional commands by typing on the command line chkdsk /?.

Or removable USB HDD devices are almost the most common. That is why comprehensive measures for checking the hard drive should be given priority. Now we will try to briefly consider what a HDD check is in several main areas, and we will give an understanding of the basics of the methodology for correcting various types of errors.

Why Hard Drive Errors Occur

There are many reasons for failures both in software and in physical terms. First of all, this should include a sudden power outage, which is accompanied by a short-term increase in voltage. And if we take into account that at that moment, say, data was being copied, it becomes clear that errors cannot be avoided.

Something similar is observed in the case of an incorrect shutdown of the operating system, when forced shutdown computer terminal or laptop by long pressing the power button.

It's good that the next time you turn it on standard program to check the HDD, originally present in any Windows OS, starts automatically. True, not everything is so simple here. The fact is that the HDD check can start again and again during subsequent system boots. This is due to the fact that the "native" application simply cannot fix the system bugs hard disk automatically. How to get rid of the constant launch of this process will be discussed a little later.

HDD check: main directions

Before proceeding to consider the issue of the operation of numerous hard drive testing tools and error correction, we will consider the main directions that are provided for the comprehensive verification system.

So, for example, the most simple method It is considered to be viewing detailed information about the device. Today there are quite a lot of different utilities like Everest, CPU-Z or CPUID Hardware Monitor. I must say that such programs give out the most detailed characteristics of the device, and even a check is made at startup HDD speed(or rather, the speed of rotation of the spindle).

Another direction is testing the hard drive for the presence system errors with a view to correcting them later. In this case, the HDD is checked for bad sectors.

This process is somewhat reminiscent of defragmentation, only in the case of defragmentation of the hard drive, frequently used files and applications are moved to the fastest areas of the HDD (with a change in the physical, not the logical address). Similarly, the HDD check for bad sectors also functions. The program itself reads the current address from the damaged sector, and then overwrites it with a normally functioning one. As already clear, in this case, the logical address remains unchanged.

The third priority is to check the surface of the disk, because the service life of hard drives is limited, and physical damage simply cannot be avoided. It is clear that by the end of its service life, the hard drive can simply “crumble”, and in most cases it will have to be thrown away. Although, if the damage is not too serious, you can restore the hard drive, for example, using special utilities-resuscitators. We will consider them separately.

It goes without saying that data recovery on inoperable hard drives cannot be ignored. Actually, various federal services often do this when investigating computer crimes committed by hackers, when the corresponding equipment is confiscated from them. But we will not climb into the jungle. Checking HDD sectors can also be carried out by an ordinary user. The main thing is the presence of a set of special utilities.

Checking the HDD and fixing errors using Windows tools

Now a few words about the built-in tools of operating systems Windows families. They also have a HDD check. Windows 7, for example, is not particularly different from its predecessors and successors (XP, Vista, 8, 10).

Such a tool is called from the usual "Explorer" by right-clicking the manipulator (computer mouse) on the corresponding disk or logical partition. Properties are selected in the menu, after which the transition to the corresponding tabs is carried out, where you can carry out maintenance.

When calling such a service, it is strongly recommended to set the parameters that will be used to check the HDD. Windows can also automatically fix system errors. However, this approach may not always help. It happens that the system issues a warning that it is not possible to automatically correct errors.

In this case, it is better to use the command line or the Run menu, where a variety of commands are written, depending on what exactly needs to be done. The simplest command of this type is "chkdisk c: /f" (testing with automatic correction of system errors). For file NTFS systems you can use "chkntfs /x c:". By the way, it is manipulations of this type that allow you to get rid of the annoying check of the hard drive when you restart the computer terminal.

In general, it is better to read background information about the use of a particular command, because checking HDD can be made completely different ways depending on what letters will be written after entering the main command.

Informer programs

As for information applications, they can be found quite a lot. As mentioned above, the most famous are utilities like CPU-Z or Everest. But these are general-purpose programs, so to speak.

The most acceptable and most powerful utility that combines the functions of an informer and a scanner is considered to be CrystalDiscInfo. By the way, it is capable of not only displaying information on the device, but even controlling some basic parameters, for example, changing the spindle speed.

HDD check programs for bad sectors

Speaking about what is a program for checking HDD for broken sectors, it is worth noting separately such a powerful utility as Victoria, created by a Belarusian developer.

The application can work as standard mode in Windows environment, and in DOS emulation. What is most interesting, it is in DOS that the utility shows its maximum capabilities.

Disc Surface Check

Hard drive surface testing (Surface Test mode) can be used in standard means Windows OS itself, or you can turn to specialized utilities such as HDDScan.

It is noteworthy that the software package itself is available as a portable version and does not require installation on a hard drive. It goes without saying that you can even start the scanning process from a regular USB flash drive, using the default settings or applying your own (they are located in the Process section).

Of course, the program will be able to identify problems with the integrity of the HDD surface, but it is not possible to reanimate a damaged hard drive. But there is a way out here too.

Resuscitator programs

Resuscitation of even a damaged hard drive or removable USB HDD can be done thanks to a unique development called HDD Regenerator, which, at its first appearance, made a lot of noise in the field of modern computer technology.

According to the developers themselves, this application is able to restore physically damaged sectors of the HDD surface using magnetization reversal technology. It makes no sense for an ordinary user to delve into all the subtleties technological process. The main thing is that the program works perfectly. From the outside, this may seem strange: how can you remagnetize a hard drive programmatically? However, in combination with the use physical methods this process became possible for application in stationary computer systems. Winchester does not even need to be dismantled.

Data recovery

With data recovery, the situation is somewhat worse. This is understandable, because not every utility is capable of working like an HDD Regenerator.

Of course, some software packages such as Acronis True Image can be recommended for use. But such a utility works on the principle of creating a backup copy. In case of damage to the hard drive or accidental deletion of information, it is better to use tools like Recuva, PC Inspector File Recovery or Recover My Files. But even they cannot give a full guarantee of data recovery, for example, in case of physical damage to the HDD.

By and large, with a sufficiently large volume of the hard drive, it is recommended to create backups data in advance. Then you don't have to look for specialized utilities or puzzle over how to recover lost information.

Comprehensive Solutions for HDD Testing

In order to carry out a comprehensive check, including the prompt receipt of information on the device, the actions that provide full check and HDD failure and damage repair, data recovery, etc., it is better to use several software packages together. For example, in the most extreme case, the combination might look like this:

• information stage - CrystalDiscInfo;
• full HDD check - Victoria;
• surface test - HDD Scan;
• recovery of a damaged hard drive - HDD Regenerator.

Which program is better?

It is not possible to say which program is the best for checking HDD or removable media, since almost all utilities have their own specific direction.

In principle, among the main applications for checking and automatically correcting errors, one can especially highlight the Victoria package (high-quality HDD error checking), and in terms of disk recovery, HDD Regenerator undoubtedly belongs to the championship.

Conclusion

We briefly talked about what an HDD check is and what some types of software products. However, in conclusion, it is worth noting that it is not recommended to bring your hard drive to an extreme state, you need to check it at least once a month. This approach will avoid the occurrence of many problems in the future.

In principle, you can set the automatic check of the hard drive according to the schedule, even using the standard Windows Task Scheduler, so as not to call the process every time manual mode. You can simply choose the right time, but here you also need to take into account the fact that it will be extremely difficult to work with the system when the testing process is running.

By the way, even installing a conventional block uninterruptible power supply or a stabilizer will protect the hard drive from the harmful effects associated with power surges or power outages.

Experienced users are well aware that even minor influences, such as power surges, mechanical shocks and shocks, static voltage, etc., can affect the health of a hard drive. The hard drive mechanism itself can damage the surface of the drive where information is stored. Below is a guide on how to properly check a computer's hard drive for serviceability.

The main symptoms of a damaged hard drive

Already during the startup of the PC, it may buzz loudly or make crackling sounds. Such noise should immediately alert the owner of the computer and make you think about conducting diagnostics of hard disk. It is recommended to copy all important and personal files to external media or to another computer before testing this important element of the PC, since the test itself will put a significant load on the hard drive.

It is imperative that you take care, before starting the program to check, to ensure good cooling of the hard drive, for example, open the case cover system block and clean the internal equipment from accumulated dust. The source of rattles during the operation of a hard disk is the hit of its read head on bad sectors (bad-sectors). If no action is taken, their number will gradually increase and may lead to loss of HDD performance.

Verification procedure

Specialists have developed many different special utilities to test the performance of this important PC element. Also, the procedure can be carried out using the built-in tools of Windows.

Using Windows tools

The operating system allows you to analyze the hard drive. This method is not very reliable, but it is useful for the user to be able to use it. In addition to analyzing the surface of the hard disk, OS tools, if possible, can correct some errors.

The sequence of actions algorithm consists of the following steps:

Using Seagate SeaTools

A significant number of PC owners have already been helped to solve the problem by this handy application. It is free, fully Russified and effectively copes with the diagnosis of hard drives from most manufacturers. It is available for download at seagate.com.

The application is equipped with an intuitive interface. Having opened the utility, you will immediately see the displayed list of hard drives with which you can perform all the necessary tests. As a result, a report will be displayed to the user, and most importantly, the program can restore bad sectors.

The application is also distributed freely, but only works for the equipment of one particular manufacturer. western digital". However, since they are widespread in the Russian Federation, this program can help a significant number of users.

The functionality is similar to the above program. You can install it with official resource support.wd.com.

It allows not only to make a free check of a broken HDD, but also to get detailed information S.M.A.R.T., as well as to carry out a large number of different equipment tests.

In addition, the utility works effectively with flash drives, RAID, SSD.

We should dwell on this program in more detail, since it currently provides high accuracy of test results. The utility is available for installation on the softportal.com page.

You need to do the following steps:

Note: It is not recommended to check the "Erase" box, as this will erase all files.

Conclusion

Winchester is one of the weakest points modern computer. Its normal service life does not exceed five years, but clearly indicate exact time impossible.

Therefore, the only way out is to regularly check and diagnose its condition.

Good day.

The hard drive is one of the most valuable pieces of hardware in a PC! Knowing in advance that something is wrong with it, you can transfer all the data to other media without loss. Most often, hard disk testing is carried out when buying a new disk, or when various kinds of problems appear: files are copied for a long time, the PC freezes when opening (accessing) the disk, some files stop being read, etc.

On my blog, by the way, there are quite a few articles on problems with hard drives (hereinafter referred to as HDD). In the same article, I would like to collect in a "heap" best programs(which I have dealt with) and recommendations for working with the HDD.

1.Victoria

Official website: http://hdd-911.com/

Rice. 1. Victoria43 - the main window of the program

Victoria is one of the most famous programs for testing and diagnosing hard drives. Its advantages over other programs of this class are obvious:

1. has an ultra-small distribution size;
2. very fast work speed;
3. a lot of tests (information about the state of the HDD);
4. works "directly" with the hard drive;
5. free

By the way, I have an article on my blog about how to check the HDD for bads in this utility:

2.HDAT2

Rice. 2. hdat2 - main window

Service utility for working with hard drives (testing, diagnostics, treatment of bad sectors, etc.). The main and main difference from the famous Victoria is the support for almost any disk with interfaces: ATA/ATAPI/SATA, SSD, SCSI and USB.

3.CrystalDiskInfo

Rice. 3. CrystalDiskInfo 5.6.2 - S.M.A.R.T readings. disk

A free utility for diagnosing a hard drive. During operation, the program not only displays S.M.A.R.T. disk (by the way, it does this perfectly, on many forums when solving certain problems with the HDD - they ask for readings from this particular utility!), But it also keeps a record of its temperature, general information about the HDD is displayed.

Main advantages:

Support external USB disks;
- HDD health and temperature monitoring;
- S.M.A.R.T. data;
- Manage AAM/APM settings (useful if your hard drive is noisy for example: ).

4.HD Life

Rice. 4. Main window of HDDlife V.4.0.183

This utility is one of the best of its kind! It allows you to constantly monitor the status of ALL your hard drives and notifies you in time of problems. For example:

1. there is little disk space left, which can affect performance;
2. exceeding the normal temperature range;
3. bad SMART disk readings;
4. the hard drive "left" not long to live ... and so on.

By the way, thanks to this utility, you can (approximately) estimate how long your HDD will last. Well, unless, of course, there is a force majeure ...

5.Scanner

Rice. 5. Analysis of the occupied space on the HDD (scanner)

A small utility for working with hard drives, which allows you to get a pie chart of the occupied space. Such a chart allows you to quickly assess what is being spent on hard drive space and delete unnecessary files.

By the way, such a utility saves a lot of time if you have several hard drives and are full of all sorts of files (many of which you no longer need, and “manually” searching and evaluating is dreary and long).

That's all. Have a good weekend everyone. For additions and comments to the article, as always, thank you!