The easiest option with which to verify the status of our hard drive is using the application Defragment and optimize drives that we can find installed by default in Windows 10 and Windows 11. Defragmentation is the process by which the data stored on the hard drive is reorganized. All the related pieces of fragmented data are put back together and lined up in a neat and orderly successive manner. That is why defragmentation not only improves disk health, but generally improves PC performance.
While traditional SAT hard drives may be losing weight to the considerably faster Solid State Drives (SSDs), they are still very popular as an affordable way to store all of our stuff. . Although SSDs work differently and do not require defragmentation since defragmentation is related to where the data is physically stored on the disk, which is not a relevant factor with SSDs, they sometimes require optimization.
Therefore, if we notice that our HDD is slowing down, we must check how fragmented it is. To do this, we use the Start menu search box to type defragment and select the Defragment and optimize drives tool.
Once open, we select the unit and click on Optimize for which we will need administrator rights. Once this is done, it will run a scan for fragmented files and optimize the drive for better performance. This will make us notice that our PC is faster again. Of course, we must be careful not to defragment the hard drive in the case of an SSD, since it is not required and can even reduce its useful life.
Use command line tools in Windows
Windows has two command line tools such as CHKDSK and WMIC that will allow us to locate errors on our hard drive and repair them.
Try CHKDSK
Both Windows 10 and Windows 11 also have an integrated command line tool called CHKDSK, which is responsible for scanning our hard drive to help us find system errors, as well as possible bad sectors. It also helps us check your health status by showing us any possible errors. The tool will attempt to analyze and fix potential issues and will let us know if it finds a larger problem that it is unable to fix.
In order to use it, we must first launch the Command Prompt, for which we are going to use the Start menu search engine, where we type CMD and select the Run as administrator option.
Next, to perform a scan and repair of the disk we write:
chkdsk C: /f /r /x
Keep in mind that C: corresponds to the letter of the unit that we want to analyze. In addition, the /f parameter causes the command to fix all detected errors automatically. In turn y /r causes all bad sectors on the disk to be found and if possible, the data.
To solve failures with CHKDSK on drives formatted as NTFS we write:
chkdsk /scan
In this way, if we notice somewhat suspicious behavior in the disk units, before things get worse we can use this command.
Use WMIC command
We are talking about an application that runs on the command line and that allows us to carry out many tasks of an administrative nature, including the possibility of verifying the health status of our hard drive. To do this, it uses the SMART function of the disks to see their status and provide a simple conclusion since it is a very basic command.
To do this, we launch the Command Prompt and run it as administrator. Later we execute the following command and press Enter:
wmic
Next, we type this other command and press Enter:
disk drive get status
Once analyzed, it will show us the state in which it is located. If everything goes well, it should simply show us OK.
third party applications
We can also use third-party applications specially designed to help us check the status of our hard drive. These programs use the SMART function of hard drives to get and display data, just like WMIC does. In addition, they show much more detail so that we can obtain much more complete and accurate results.
HD Tune
With this complete tool we will be able to control the state and the performance of our hard drive. We will be able to see from the state of health to the reading and writing speeds, in addition to having a series of additional useful tools on many occasions, for example, a thermometer with the temperature of the disk, an error finder, a status monitor and even a tool to perform secure erases to a hard drive. We can in 15 days from its official website. The price of your license is 24.95 euros.
In order to read the SMART data, click on the tab «Health» and on the screen we will see how SMART has a series of controls and records. If the values appear white, everything is normal, the hard drive does not have to fail. As errors are detected, these entries change between yellow, alert, and red, which indicates that the disk can fail at any time and we can lose our data.
In order to check all the sectors of a hard drive, click on the “ErrorScan«. From here the program will analyze our entire hard drive and show us the status of each sector. In this way we can know at all times if any part of the disk is damaged or may be causing some type of problem. It has two types of analysis.
The quick scan analyzes the surface of the disk and it would show us serious errors. It also has a slow scan analyzes sector by sector the entire hard drive. It is a very slow process that can take days. Once the type of test we want to do has been selected, click on the Start button and wait for it to finish. Lastly, the buttonspeed map» it will show us, instead of the detected errors, the disk reading speed in each of the sectors.
The best
This is a powerful free application that allows us to both check the health of our drives and measure the performance they offer us. It also offers us a function through which we will be able to know the SMART data of each of the PC’s disks.
Worst
Its user interface is a bit dated and in need of a major update, which directly affects the location of the features available here.
CrystalDiskInfo
If we prefer to use a free tool, CrystalDiskInfo can be a great option since it is as simple as it is powerful. With it we will obtain all the required information such as temperature, health status, types and characteristics of the hard drive, as well as other attributes such as the read and write error rate, activation time, etc. We can download its 32-bit or 64-bit version. In addition, it is possible to download its portable version so that its installation is not necessary and it can be executed from external storage devices such as a hard drive, flash drive or memory card.
Once we run the tool, we must wait a few seconds until it loads and we can see a complete report of our hard drive, such as its health status, temperature, and other details such as the number of hours in operation, the transfer mode, and the supported features. Inside the tab Function we can have access to its advanced options.
Pros
This is a program focused on the operation of disk drives that is characterized by its ease of use and multiple functions available. It has a portable version and also offers us all kinds of information related to the computer’s disks.
cons
Some of the data available and that is presented in the program’s interface can be difficult to understand by users who are less experienced in this type of content.
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