The hard drive is extremely important hardware component PC. Therefore, the user may need to solve problems related to testing the hard drive for errors, as well as correcting them. What tools can be used for this? What are the most common errors in hard drive operation?

What problems can arise with the hard drive?

Before considering how to test hard drive, we will study what may be the reason for carrying out an appropriate check. What problems might arise in his work?

To use the utility in question, you need to go to the “Computer” section, then right-click on the icon hard drive. There may be several of them, in which case it makes sense to check each one in turn. After right-clicking on the hard drive icon in the menu that opens, select the “Properties” option. In the window that appears, go to the “Service” tab. Then click on the “Run check” button and follow the instructions.

In some versions of Windows, the utility in question is not configured to test the logical drives on which system files OS. But in this case, the Disk Check program provides an option: initiating testing of the hard drive upon subsequent boot operating system. You can select it and immediately restart Windows: during the startup process, the system itself should ask the user for permission to scan the disk on which the system files are located.

So now we know how to test a hard drive using the popular built-in Windows tool- Chkdsk programs. This solution allows you to quite effectively correct file system errors. But what if the supposed malfunction of the hard drive is associated with the appearance of bad sectors on it? How to test the hard drive of a laptop or desktop for relevant damage?

A wide range of solutions can be used for these purposes. The most popular of them include programs such as:

• Data Lifeguard Diagnostic.
• HDD Scan.
• Ashampoo HDD Control.
• Victoria HDD.
• AIDA64 (formerly Everest).
• MHDD.

Let's study their features.

Hard drive testing: Data Lifequard Diagnostic

This program was developed by the Western Digital brand, which is one of the world's most famous manufacturers hard drives. How to test a hard drive for errors using this software?

The corresponding program operates in several modes. The most informative mode from the point of view of reflecting information about errors on the disk is the extended testing mode - Extended Test. In particular, it can be used to find damaged sectors on the surface of the hard drive platters. If they are detected, the program will prompt the user to use an algorithm through which bad sectors will be excluded from those used by the hard drive to write and read files.

Hard drive testing: HDD Scan

Another popular solution for checking disks is HDD program Scan. How to test the hard drive of a laptop or desktop computer using it?

The application in question also contains several tests. Among those that may be useful for us is the Surface Tests test. It, like the previous solution, allows you to analyze the surface of the disk platters for damaged sectors. It is noteworthy that the program in question allows you to detect not only bad sectors, but also those that have problems with reading and writing. Thus, HDD Scan can identify areas on the surface of the hard drive platters where the reading speed can be tens of times lower than normal values. In practice, this may mean, as in the case of bad sectors, it is desirable to exclude the corresponding sections from those used by the hard drive for writing files.

Disc testing: Ashampoo

Another popular program is Ashampoo HDD Control. How can I test my hard drive for errors with it?

It is worth noting that the application in question contains a fairly large number of tools for checking the hard drive, as well as working with detected disk problems. Of these, you can use, for example, the option for testing the surface of the device plates - Test Surface.

Based on the results of the corresponding test, it shows sectors that have high reading rates, as well as bad sectors.

Victoria HDD

The next popular solution for checking hard drives is Victoria HDD. It may be noted that this program allows you to both test the hard drive on Windows 7 (8 or any other) and check the hard drive via the DOS command line.

This feature increases the versatility of the solution under consideration. In addition, the corresponding software has very good functionality.

Thus, the program allows you to test your hard drive for bad sectors, reassign their use, and classify areas of the hard drive surface into different categories depending on the speed of reading files from them.

If English is used graphic version the program in question, you need to run it, then go to the Tests tab. It contains tests of the surface of the hard drive platters. If necessary, you can configure the program's actions when bad sectors are detected:

• ignoring the problem (with its subsequent reflection in the test results);
• sector reassignment;
• deleting sectors;
• restoration of damaged disk areas.

If necessary, you can use each of specified modes running the program one by one.

Hard drive testing: AIDA64 program

Many users are interested in the question of how to test a hard drive. Now old versions of the corresponding software are available on various portals on the Internet. The fact is that in the newest modifications the program is called differently, its name sounds like AIDA64.

It is worth noting that this type The software is one of the most functional solutions for testing hardware performance. For example, using the program in question, you can test the speed of your hard drive, and more. You can also use it to measure performance RAM, processor, flash drives.

The functionality of the program includes various stress tests, which involve testing in maximum load mode. The corresponding type of tests can also be carried out for the computer’s hard drive.

Checking the disk for errors: MHDD program

According to IT experts, the MHDD program is one of the most functional solutions for checking hard drives for errors. When considering which program to test a hard drive, specialists can choose the MHDD solution because:

• it includes a qualitative test of the surface of hard drive platters;
• it can be launched in a bootable format - for example, from a flash drive, which allows you to test the hard drive before installing any operating system on it;
• the program includes a large number of useful tests, as well as disk repair tools;
• the corresponding software is free.

Of course, the solution in question can also work from the operating system. The specific way to use it depends on the nature of the problem with the disks, on the hardware configuration on a particular PC, and on the specifics of the operating system used, if it is pre-installed on the computer.

MHDD program: testing the disk

Let's consider a number of practical nuances of using the corresponding popular program. Let's agree that the user needs to use the boot version of this software. To do this, you need to make a device with which the program will be launched, for example a flash drive or CD.

After the device is ready, you need to configure booting from it in the BIOS. By the way, many users also ask the question of how to test a hard drive through BIOS. Computer manufacturers may well implement the necessary options in the appropriate software interfaces to check the performance of hard drives.

When working with the MHDD program, one nuance should be taken into account: the solution in question does not work with hard drives, which are connected to the computer in Slave mode. If this is the case, the drives need to be reconnected, and only then should they be tested.

After starting the program installed on bootable USB flash drive or CD, you must select the specific drive that will be tested. Then enter in command line SCAN command, which initiates a media scan. If you do not need to set any additional scanning parameters, you need to press F4 to launch the corresponding test.

But indicate additional options may still be required. For example, if we talk about the Start LBA option, it is used to indicate specific blocks on the hard drive from which the program should scan the disk. In turn, the End LBA option is intended to indicate those blocks that are checked at the end of disk testing. However, by default the program checks the entire surface of the hard drive platters.

How to test a hard drive for errors and then reassign bad sectors using the MHDD program interfaces? It’s very simple: the Remap option is used for this. If you select the Erase Delays option, the program will ignore bad sectors, which will speed up scanning the disk if there are a lot of bad sectors on its surface.

The MHDD disk scanning program works quite informatively: the scanned sectors are displayed on the user's screen in real time. In a separate section of the interface of the corresponding software, the number of different blocks is counted.

Resume

Check state of hard disk can be created either using built-in Windows tools or using special programs. At the same time, tools of the first type are designed mainly for correcting errors in file system, the second - to identify and correct bad sectors in accessible ways.

Specialized ones can be supplied in both graphical and console versions. Some of the corresponding solutions can be used in a boot modification: its use is possible even if the operating system is not installed on the computer.

It can be noted: how to test external hard disk is practically no different from the procedure for testing the built-in hard drive. For this, the same solutions can be applied, the main thing is to connect them to the PC correctly. But this is only possible if the computer supports the communication interfaces through which the external hard drive is supposed to be connected.

All modern houses have desktop computer or laptop. Some people need it for games, others for work or study. In any case, photographs, some important records, contact details of people, necessary addresses, etc. are stored on the computer. And the place where all this information is stored is a hard drive.

It’s not for nothing that experienced programmers say that in a situation where the computer has hard error disk, formatting it is a real disaster. After all, formatting is fraught with the loss of all information. But this is the case if appropriate measures are not taken. But if you notice some errors and malfunctions in the disk in time and correct them, then you can avoid this global catastrophe

The main causes of HDD problems are “bad” sectors – sections of disk space that are somehow damaged.

They are divided into physical and logical. The latter appear due to software errors and can be corrected, while physical ones cannot be corrected. In the latter case, you will have to replace the hard drive.

Such damaged areas can appear on both magnetic and standard SSD drives.

Reasons for appearance bad sectors and errors

Hard drive failures depend on the type of damaged areas:

1. logical“broken” - displayed when there is malware or viruses, as well as when there is a sudden loss of power or power cable during recording;
2. physical“broken” - found on a completely new product. Then you need to contact the manufacturer with a request to replace the product.

In magnetic drives, “broken” sectors can appear as a result of wear of the moving parts of the device, when foreign bodies get into the disk mechanism, or from a simple fall on the floor. In the latter case, the magnetic head of the disk is scratched, which leads to errors.

SSD drives give errors because they have tried to write any information to them many times.

It is quite possible to check the hard drive for “broken” sectors. Windows has an application called "chkdsk" (check disks). You need to open the folder on your desktop or in the Start menu "My computer" by clicking on the drive to be scanned. Using the context menu, select “Properties” - “Service”. Under the phrase “Check” there will be a button, by clicking on which you will be able to see the number of “broken” sectors.

During the test, the computer will eliminate errors of logical “broken” sectors, as well as mark areas with physical damage.

Attention! You can run the scan system manually, but if Windows independently detects “bad” sectors, the utility will launch itself when the system starts.

Checking utilities

Some software does not have built-in verification. For such cases, there are special programs that help identify “broken” sectors and errors and, if possible, correct them.

"Victoria"

It is a popular software for searching damaged areas. In addition to various methods of analyzing and reassigning problem areas, it has a function for searching for damaged contacts in a cable, as well as a function for assessing the performance of the hard drive. The only “disadvantage” of the program is the lack of official assemblies. Therefore, experts recommend using it separately from the OS.

"HDD Regenerator"

This utility uses its own methods to restore “bad” sectors (a combination of high and low signals) and supports any drive connection interfaces.

The downside is the high cost of the license ($90).

One of the best and multifunctional utilities for checking a device for damaged areas. Has the following functionality:

• restores and reconfigures sectors;
• fixes partition tables;
• recovers files and creates them backups;
• selects files in the table;
• copies data from remote partitions;
• creates backup copies of data.

This utility uses several methods to identify problems, as well as the ability to monitor SMART attributes and clean up the hard drive.

Important! The program supports everything Windows versions, however, it does not scan/test the drive where the OS is installed.

With it you can scan one or several hard drives at the same time.

"Seagate Seatools" for Windows

The application supports all modern Windows systems. It can be used to do both basic and advanced testing. Simpler than "Seagate Seatools" for DOS, but less powerful.

The hard drive is one of the computer components that have a limited lifespan. Therefore, when buying a hard drive former use or a computer from hand, you should check the state of its performance. Otherwise, you risk having to replace it, which will cost no less than $45. You will learn how and by what criteria to determine the condition of a hard drive in this article.

Factors that indicate the health of the hard drive

In order to understand how long the hard drive of a computer or laptop will last, it is enough to pay attention to two points:

• S.M.A.R.T;
• Number of slow or BAD sectors.

Let's watch S.M.A.R.T.

Any diagnosis of a hard drive begins with checking it. in which the mass is recorded useful information for the entire operating time of the hard drive.

There are a lot of programs that allow you to view S.M.A.R.T. hard drives. One of them is Aida64. You can download it from the manufacturer. Free trial version quite enough not only to consider S.M.A.R.T. , but also so that, for example, .

Download and install Aida64 of any version.

Downloading Aida64 from the official website

Good S.M.A.R.T in Aida64

All information on the selected hard drive will be displayed on the right side of the window.

Ideally, all positions should be without exclamation marks or red crosses.

Example of bad S.M.A.R.T

An interesting position in S.M.A.R.T. is Power on time count. This is the number of hours worked. A value up to 10,000 is more or less acceptable. Although there is hard drives, worked and 25,000. In general, the lower this indicator, the better.

Also deserves special attention. This is the number of sectors remapped. It must be equal to 0, otherwise the hard drive can be considered unreliable.

Checking the hard drive surface

After S.M.A.R.T. checked and its condition is satisfactory (without exclamation marks or red crosses), then you can start checking the surface of the hard drive for the presence of slow and unreadable BAD sectors.

Hello friends. Checking the hard drive or how to check a hard drive for errors and bad sectors, we will talk about this in detail today.

In the previous article I showed. Today you will learn about programs for testing hard drives and other storage media. At the end of the review I posted short video lesson.

Checking our disk

It is useful for anyone who has a computer to know about the status of the hard drive or drives, if there are several of them. After all, the hard drive stores information that is important for some, and not so important for others. So, in order not to lose it, I recommend making backup copies at least once a month.

You can purchase a portable disk or flash drive for storage important information, you can also use regular CDs and DVD discs. If you don’t know how to save information on optical plastic discs, then I recommend reading.

You can test your computer disks in different ways And special programs. In this article we will look at:

• Checking the disk using Windows 7
• Useful Victoria v4.3
• HDDScan program
• Ashampoo HDD Control 2

There are, of course, many other useful and worthy programs and utilities, but in this publication we will only talk about these 4 methods.

How to check your hard drive using Windows 7

Any hard drive or flash drive can be checked for functionality using Windows tools. I wrote more about this here. Here is a simple algorithm for the necessary actions.

Go to My Computer, select the desired hard drive or flash drive, right-click on it and go to Properties.

Check the boxes you need or all and click Start.

This procedure can take a long time, everything will depend on the size of the storage medium that you want to check for errors and bad sectors.

Checking the disk with Victoria program

Victoria one of the main programs that I personally use to check the hard drive through Windows or if the operating system does not start at all, then through boot disk with this utility.

After downloading Victoria version 4.3, you need to go into the archive, unpack it or run the file with a green cross called Victoria43.

We launch the program, it is on English, if you don’t know this language, don’t be alarmed, I will help you figure it out.

The Standard window describes the main characteristics of the storage medium: its model, serial number, disk size, how many cylinders, sectors it has, and so on.

In the Smart tab you can view the status of the hard drive. Click on the Get Smart button and look at the indicators that appear. Since my hard drive is new, my indicators are normal, SMART status = Good. You may have different meaning and information.

Smart is a technology of analysis, self-control and reporting. Using it, you can view and evaluate the condition of the hard drive, its built-in self-diagnostic equipment, and also predict the possible time of its failure.

To test the storage media, go to the Test tab and click on the Start button. If you have a lot of green, orange, red and blue rectangles (sectors) - this is not good. Ideally, all sectors should be light gray and grey.

If you have damaged sectors marked “Err X”, then after completing the test, check the box next to the word Remap and run the test again. The Victoria program will try to restore these sectors and fix errors on the hard drive.

Checking the hard drive may take a long time, so be patient, it all depends on the amount of information on the media. In the meantime, testing is underway, I recommend reading the article on how to set up your computer yourself or.

Checking the hard drive using HDDScan

HDDScan is a program for diagnosing and testing hard drives in English.

After downloading, you need to run the file called HDDScan.

Choose required device Select Drive, on the right there will be basic information about it.

Click on the blue round button and select the desired action. Go to Surfase Test - select and run the test.

Check the boxes next to Verify or Read and click the Add Test button. I do not recommend choosing Erase - it erases data.

Once you click add a test, it will start automatically and will appear in the lower Test Manager window.

Double-click on RD-Read, go to the test that has started and look at its process, you can see it on the Graph.

View on Map. At the top there are navigation buttons for controlling the Pause, Stop and Report test process, cluster and testing speed in KB/s, and on the right is the sector scanning time in numbers from< 5 до >500 milliseconds.

In the third column of Report you can see the scanned clusters and sectors of the storage medium, and at the very bottom the progress of the test process is shown as a percentage.

Upon completion of the test, a corresponding message will appear in the task manager window.

If for some reason you did not like the first three methods, then I suggest for your reference a powerful and useful utility for diagnosing hard drives and storage media from Ashampoo.

Cool program Ashampoo HDD Control 2

I have already worked with this utility for diagnosing and monitoring hard drives from Ashampoo. I really liked this program, so I decided to mention it in this article.

After you download and install Ashampoo HDD Control 2. Depending on language pack, the program can be in both Russian and English.

It has a simple and accessible interface that anyone can understand.

Here you can see probably almost all the information about the hard drive or flash drive that you want: model, partitions, size, condition, performance, temperature and much other useful information.

This program has extensive capabilities and many settings; at the top there are seven navigation tabs:

1. Control
2. Defragmentation
3. Testing
4. Disk Cleanup
5. Removing Internet Traces
6. Deleted files
7. Content Analysis

You can browse through all seven tabs and explore useful information.

We are interested in checking the hard drive, go to the Testing tab, click Scan hard drives, select the one you need and click on the magnifying glass that says Start. This test can measure the speed of your hard drive.

In order to check the surface of the disk, you need to return to the Control tab and click Surface Test.

After this, the Hard Disk Surface Testing window will appear, which contains the following symbols: blue square - not yet tested, green - excellent, red (already bad) - at least one bad sector.

The scanning time will again depend on the volume and speed hard disk or flash drive.

In conclusion

Today we discussed in detail the topic of checking a hard drive or how to check a hard drive for errors and bad sectors. To do this, we used four methods: standard means Windows, useful Victoria, the HDDScan utility and the cool Ashampoo HDD Control 2 program.

Now let's watch a short video tutorial on how to check your hard drive.

Checking the hard drive | website

You may have questions related to checking your hard drive. You can ask them below in the comments to this article, and also use the form with me.

Thank you for reading me on

Despite the fact that recently solid state drives They are increasingly conquering the niche of the main memory module of computers and laptops; their market share is not so large. Good old mechanical hard drives have a much lower cost, which is why they are still popular. However, they have the ability to fail, like any other equipment. This article is devoted to the question of how to check a hard drive for serviceability at home, without resorting to the help of service centers. Moreover, here we will provide options that will help you restore the functionality of a partially damaged hard drive.

A little about the hard drive itself

The classic hard drive of a laptop or computer consists of several so-called “pancakes” with a ferrimagnetic coating, onto which information is written using heads, and with their help it is read. These discs rotate at high speeds, ranging from 5400 to 10,000 rpm. For comparison, the same rotation speed is found in an industrial cutting tool, commonly referred to as a “grinder”. Impressive?

It is during rotation that reading or writing occurs. But if you hit or push the hard drive during operation, the heads can make an almost imperceptible scratch on the surface. And although it is small, the clusters in this area become unreadable, and the computer tries to access them again and again. As a result, after unsuccessful attempts to read information, it freezes. How can I check my disk for such areas?

Testing software Victoria

One of the popular utilities for testing hard drives is Victoria. Although it can also be run from under the operating system, today we will learn how to check the hard drive for serviceability through the BIOS. The website of the manufacturer of this utility contains information on how to make a boot disk or flash drive with it. In the BIOS of a laptop or computer, you need to set it to boot from removable media, after which, when you turn on your device with the bootable media connected, you will see the interface of this program. Select your hard drive by pressing the "P" key on your keyboard and start scanning it using the "F5" key.

Now you can go and do your business. Depending on the disk size, scanning will take from 1 to 3 hours. As a result, on the right side you will see a legend of the disk map, which will indicate the number of sectors of each type. If there are sectors that take more than 1.5 seconds to read, or bad sectors in the frame below, it means that the hard drive is faulty and needs to be restored or replaced. So, you already have one way in your arsenal on how to check the health of the hard drive on a laptop or computer.

Testing via HDD Regenerator

You will have to prepare bootable media in the same way by downloading the utility from the developers’ website. This utility is easier to use, but takes a little longer to work. It is believed that this best way, since it is easier to check the hard drive for serviceability; moreover, it provides more information.

To start checking, select your disk by entering its number from the list. After this, you will need a menu item called Normal Scan. In the next submenu, select Scan, but do not repair. Then everything follows the standard pattern: you can go about your business. After a period of time, you will receive a hard drive map on which you can see which areas are damaged. If the drive is good, the entire card should be white, with no "D" or "B" letters. What other test can you use to check if your hard drive is working properly?

One of the difficult options is MHDD

Working with this utility is very similar to the previous option. As in other cases, you should first prepare bootable media to launch it without starting the operating system.

After starting, you will need to select the desired hard drive, if you have more than one. The selection is made by entering the desired number from the list. After this, initialize the disk using the “F2” key and enter the SCAN command. It starts scanning the surface of the hard drive. If necessary, you can scan not the entire surface, but a specific area of ​​clusters.

The program interface is reminiscent of the Victoria we already know. As is the case with it, the result should not be any sectors that could not be considered a program or took too long to read.

Now you know all the common ways to check the health of your hard drive. There is no point in installing these programs on your computer; a bootable USB flash drive is enough.

Recovering a hard drive using Victoria

Of course, knowledge about the malfunction alone is not enough; you need to fix it. But it is physically impossible to cure problem sectors. The programs simply block the hard drive's access to problem areas, so they are completely erased from the map, and it does not access them.

In the case of the Victoria program, before starting the scan after pressing the “F5” key, you simply need to specify one of the recovery options in the fourth line of the window. As a result, not only scanning will occur, but also problem sectors will be re-partitioned, and you will put your disk in order if it has not completely failed. Now you know not only how to check your hard drive for serviceability, but also how to restore it.

Recovery using HDD Regenerator

The very name of this program says that it is designed to treat problematic disks, and this is actually true. In order for sectors to be re-partitioned during scanning. When starting, in the last menu, instead of Scan, but do not repair, select Scan and repair. This operation will take a little longer, but all problem areas of the surface will be erased.

It is worth noting that if the recovery lasts more than 5-6 hours, then most likely the disk has completely failed and cannot be restored. This applies to all recovery programs.

Scanning using BIOS without utilities

Some laptops and computers can check the hard drive and RAM without additional utilities. Therefore, in the question of how to check a hard drive for serviceability through the BIOS, you can not complicate your life by preparing bootable media, but use standard tools.

However, they may not always be intended for recovery. To be fair, it is worth noting that they will still allow you to make an initial diagnosis without unnecessary problems, which means you definitely shouldn’t neglect them.

What about removable hard drives?

Drives of this type are also mostly mechanical devices packaged in a special pocket. So how can you check if your external hard drive is working properly? All the same methods apply to them, except for the Victoria program, since it will not be able to detect it. The main thing is to connect it to the USB connector of your computer or laptop before turning it on, so that it can correctly recognize it. After this, the procedure does not change, you can simply check it. Or run a script to restore damaged clusters.

Now you know all the ways to check your hard drive for serviceability without the help of professionals. This information will help you save a lot of money on trips to service centers, because malfunction of hard disks are one of the most common in computer technology.