How to find out the health of your hard drive. How to check a hard drive for serviceability and performance: instructions, recommendations and reviews

Today we will discuss the topic: How to check hard drive for mistakes and bad sectors in windows 7

There are several ways hard checks disk.

Checking the hdd for bad sectors using Windows

First of all, you can check your hard drive for bad sectors using regular funds diagnostics itself operating system. To do this, you need to go to the “Computer” tab, select the hard drive and click on it right click mouse, select the “Properties” tab

The Properties window will open. local disk, where you need to go to the “Service” tab and click on the “Run check” button

The following local disk check window will open in front of you - there you should check the boxes for the actions that you would like to perform, and then click the start button.

If during the check you selected the main disk on which the system is installed, then a warning from the system will appear on the monitor, where you will have to agree.

The next time you start the computer, a scan will run hard drive for bad sectors and errors.

If another drive was selected, the hard drive check window will appear, after which a notification about the completion of the check will appear.

How to check hdd for errors and bad sectors in windows 7 via cmd?

The next method is slightly different from the first. Go to the Start menu and enter “cmd” in the search field. Right-click on the result found, and then select “Run as administrator” from the drop-down menu

In the console window that opens, you should enter the command: “chkdsk d: /f /r” and press “Enter”

The check for broken parts will begin. hdd sectors, after which the result will be displayed.

A program to check your hard drive for errors and bad sectors

In addition, there are external programs for monitoring and correction hard drives your computer. One of them is HDDScan.

You can download this program from the official website, and in this article we will look at how to check your hard drive for bad sectors using it. So, click on the program icon. The main window will appear where you will see work area programs

Click on the “New task” button, which is located in the middle, and select “Surface test” from the drop-down menu

In the next window, select one of the test options and click the “Add test” button

Let's take a quick look at what each test means:

Verify - Reading is in progress into the internal buffer of the drive without transmission via the SATA, IDE or other interface. The operation time is being measured.

Read - Data is being read, transmitted, checked and the operation time is measured.

Erase - the program writes blocks of data to disk one by one, measuring the operation time (All data in the blocks will be deleted).

Butterfly Read - the same as the Read test, but the order of reading blocks is observed: reading starts simultaneously from the beginning and end of the range, block 0 and the last one are tested, then block 1 and the penultimate one.

For average testing, the Read test is usually suitable: after you check your hard drive, double-click on the test checking window and see the graph and test status

Regardless of your operating system (Windows XP, Windows 7, Windows 8), go to Computer (My Computer, This Computer), right-click on the drive you want to check, select " Properties".

In the properties window, go to the " tab Service" and click the " button Run check".

Check both boxes

Automatically fix system errors.

Scan and repair system sectors.

and press " Launch".

If you check the system volume (the disk on which the operating system is installed, usually drive C), you will see the message " Windows cannot check a hard drive that is at the moment used", click " Disk check schedule".

Then restart your computer/laptop; during boot, the process of checking and correcting errors on the disk will begin. It will last from several minutes to an hour (depending on the size of the section and physical characteristics hard drive). When finished, the operating system will boot.

Checking the hard drive using the chkdsk utility.

CHKDSK (short for check disk - disk check) - standard application in operating rooms DOS systems And Microsoft Windows, which checks the hard drive or floppy disk for errors file system(for example, the same sector is marked as belonging to two different files). CHKDSK can also fix file system errors it finds. (from Wikipedia)

In order to run the chkdsk utility, you need to run a command prompt with administrator rights, to do this:

IN Windows XP click - "Command line"

IN Windows 7 click "Start" - "All Programs" - "Accessories" "Command line" and select "Run as administrator".

IN Windows 8.1 right click on "Start" - "Command Prompt (Administrator)".

As a result, a command line console will open.

First of all, let's find out the syntax of the chkdsk utility:

CHKDSK [volume[[path]filename]] ]

Volume Specifies the mount point, volume name, or drive letter of the drive being checked, followed by a colon.
file name Files checked for fragmentation (FAT/FAT32 only).
/F Correcting disk errors.
/V For FAT/FAT32: output full path and the name of each file on the disk. For NTFS: display cleanup messages (if any).
/R Search bad sectors and restoring surviving content (requires /F).
/L:size For NTFS only: Set the log file size (in KB). If a size is not specified, the current size value is displayed.
/X Pre-dismount the volume (if necessary). All open handles to this volume will be invalidated (requires /F).
/I NTFS only: Less strict checking of index entries.
/C NTFS only: skip checking for loops within folder structures.
/B For NTFS only: re-evaluation damaged clusters on disk (requires /R)
The /I or /C options reduce Chkdsk execution time by skipping some volume checks.

Of all the command attributes, the two most often used to check a disk for errors are /f and /r. The final command looks like this:

chkdsk C:/F/R

With this command we will check partition C, correct errors on the disk and restore information from damaged sectors (if any).

After entering this command, you will be prompted to check the volume the next time the system reboots, click Y and a key Enter.

Now you need to reboot the system, when loading you will see a window prompting a check, do not click anything, just wait 10 seconds.

Checking for hard drive errors using Victoria.

The Victoria program is designed to check for errors in hard drives with IDE interfaces And Serial ATA. The program is completely ready-made solution for a comprehensive, deep, and at the same time the fastest possible assessment of the real technical condition HDD.

First of all, download ISO image programs with official website . Unzip the downloaded archive and burn it to CD/ DVD disc how to do this is described in the article How to burn to CD/DVD . After this, boot from the burned disk, how to do this is described step by step in the article How to boot from a CD/DVD disk or USB flash drive .

After booting from the disk within 10 seconds, select the program for your device (Victoria for the computer will load by default).

The program interface will launch. Press the F2 key so that the program itself finds the disk; if this does not happen, you must do it manually. To do this, press the "P" key. The same will have to be done if the system has several hard drives and you need to select one of them. If you have hard drives With SATA interface, then in the menu that appears Select HDD port, select - " Ext. PCI ATA/SATA". Move using the cursor keys "up", "down", and select using the "Enter" key.

Next, to check the disk surface, press the F4 key. In the window HDD scan menu: select the necessary verification parameters. By default, it is proposed to scan the entire disk from the beginning of "Start LBA: 0" to the end of "End LBA: 20971520". I recommend leaving these default values. Next point menu – I recommend leaving “Linear reading”, since it is intended for the fastest and most accurate diagnosis of the surface condition. In the fourth point, I recommend choosing the mode BB = Advanced REMAP since this mode checks the disk most efficiently and corrects errors on it without deleting information.

After this, a check will start for hard mistakes disk with correction of bad areas. This procedure can take from several tens of minutes to several hours. Depends on the volume and spindle speed.

When finished, remove the disc from the drive and restart the computer.

Video of checking a hard drive using the Victoria utility. Error elimination - DRSC+DRDY is missing or the screw does not remove BUSY

Experienced users are well aware that the serviceability of the hard drive can be affected by even minor influences, for example, voltage surges, mechanical shocks and shocks, static voltage etc. 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 your computer's hard drive for serviceability.

Main symptoms of a damaged hard drive

Already during the startup of the PC, it may buzz loudly or make cracking sounds. Such noise should immediately alert the computer owner and make him think about carrying out diagnosing hard disk. It is recommended to check this before carrying out the event. important element PCs are all important and personal files copy to external media or to another computer, since the test itself will place a significant load on the hard drive.

It is imperative to take care, before launching the program for verification, to ensure good cooling hard drive, for example, open the case cover system unit and clean the internal equipment from accumulated dust. The source of grinding noises during the operation of a hard drive is the contact of its read head with bad sectors. If no measures are taken, their number will gradually increase and may lead to the loss of HDD performance.

Verification procedure

Experts have developed many different special utilities to test the functionality of this important PC element. The procedure can also be carried out using the built-in Windows tools.

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 know how to use it. In addition to analyzing the surface of the hard drive, OS tools can, if possible, correct some errors.

The sequence of actions algorithm consists of the following stages:

Using Seagate SeaTools utility

This has already helped a significant number of PC owners solve the problem. convenient 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 has an intuitive interface. Having opened the utility, you will immediately see a displayed list of hard drives with which you can perform all the necessary tests. As a result, the user will be presented with a report, and most importantly, the program can restore faulty sectors.

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

Similar in functionality the above program. You can install it from official resource"support.wd.com".

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

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

This program should be discussed in more detail, since it currently provides high accuracy of testing results. The utility is available for installation on the “softportal.com” page.

The following sequential steps must be taken:

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

Good afternoon.

In today’s article I want to touch on the heart of the computer - the hard drive (by the way, many people call the processor the heart, but I personally don’t think so. If the processor burns out, buy a new one and there are no problems; if the hard drive burns out, then the information cannot be recovered in 99% of cases).

When to check your hard drive for functionality and bad sector? This is done firstly when they buy new hard disk, and secondly, when unstable work computer: you have strange noises (); when accessing a file, the computer freezes; long copying of information from one hard section disk to another; missing files and folders, etc.

In this article I would like to talk about in simple language, how to check a hard drive for problems, to assess its performance in the future, disassemble it as you go typical questions users.

And so, let's begin...

Updated 07/12/2015. Not long ago, an article appeared on the blog about restoring bad sectors (treating bad blocks) with the HDAT2 program - (I think the link will be relevant for this article). Its main difference from MHDD and Victoria is its support for almost any drive with interfaces: ATA/ATAPI/SATA, SSD, SCSI and USB.

1. What do we need?

Before starting the testing operation, in cases where the hard drive is not stable, I recommend copying everything important files from disk to other media: flash drives, external HDDs etc. ().

1) Needed special program for testing and restoring the performance of the hard drive. There are a lot of similar programs, I recommend using one of the most popular - Victoria. Below are the download links

2) Next, a multi-colored program window will appear in front of us: go to the “Standard” tab. The upper right part shows the hard drives and CD-Roms that are installed in the system. Select your hard drive that you want to test. Then press the “Passport” button. If everything goes well, you will see how your hard model disk. See picture below.

If the hard disk controller is working in AHCI mode(Native SATA), SMART attributes may not be received, with the message “Get S.M.A.R.T. command… Error reading S.M.A.R.T!” The impossibility of receiving SMART data is also indicated by the “Non ATA” highlighted in red when initializing a medium whose controller does not allow the use of ATA interface commands, including requesting SMART attributes.

In this case, you need to go into the BIOS and in the Config tab->>Serial ATA (SATA)->>SATA Controller Mode Option->>change from AHCI to Compatibility. After finishing testing with the Victoria program, change the setting as it was before.

You can read more about how to change ACHI to IDE (Compatibility) in my other article:

4) Now go to the “Test” tab and click the “Start” button. In the main window, on the left, rectangles colored in different colors will begin to appear. It's best if they are all gray.

You need to focus your attention on the red and blue rectangles (the so-called bad sectors, more about them at the very bottom). It’s especially bad if there are a lot of blue rectangles on the disk; in this case, it is recommended to run the disk scan again, only with the “Remap” checkbox turned on. In this case Victoria program will hide found ones bad sectors. In this way, hard drives that have begun to behave unstable are restored.

By the way, after such a restoration, the hard drive will not always work for a long time. If it has already begun to crumble, then I personally would not rely on the program. Subject to availability large number blue and red rectangles - it's time to think about a new hard drive. By the way, blue blocks on the new hard drive are not allowed at all! experienced users They are called bad sectors (meaning bad, unreadable). Such unreadable sectors can occur both during the manufacture of the hard drive and during its operation. After all, a hard drive is a mechanical device.

When working magnetic disks in the hard drive case they rotate quickly, and the read heads move above them. If the device is pushed, hit, or software error, it may happen that the heads hit or fall onto the surface. Thus, it is almost certain that a bad sector will appear.

In general, this is not a problem and many disks have such sectors. The disk file system is capable of isolating such sectors from file copying/reading operations. Over time, the number of bad sectors may increase. But, as a rule, a hard drive often becomes unusable for other reasons before bad sectors “kill” it. Bad sectors can also be isolated using special programs, one of which we used in this article. After such a procedure, usually the hard drive begins to work more stable and better, however, how long this stability will last is unknown...

Best wishes...

One of the most important parts for the average user personal computer(or laptop) is a hard drive (or hdd, hard drive). It is he who is responsible for preserving all important information, files and documents on the computer. Accordingly, since information is most often stored on a hard drive in a single copy (and very few people prefer to regularly do backups important data on cloud services or removable media), then the question hdd performance and its support becomes extremely relevant. Let's look at how you can check your hard drive for functionality.

How to check whether a hard drive is working or not?

First of all, it should be noted that the performance of the hard drive of a PC or laptop is assessed programmatic method, there are two options:

— checking with software built into the operating system;
— verification using specialized third-party programs;

Typically specialized third party programs have more features and more developed functionality, but they must first be found and installed.

Checking the performance of the hard drive using OS capabilities

So, how does the functionality built into the OS work? The following may help:

— CHKDSK utility
- SMART technology

CHKDSK (the name comes from the abbreviation of the phrase check disk - check disk) is a built-in program in Windows (and MS-DOS) and its purpose is to check and correct errors in the file system of the hard drive of a PC or laptop. To run this utility, the user must enter the appropriate command in command line OS, after which the check will be carried out during the next boot of the operating system. It should also be said that if necessary this utility can be launched automatically to check the computer before turning it on.
SMART (self-monitoring, analysis and reporting technology - or technology for self-monitoring, analytics and reporting) is a specially developed technology designed to constantly monitor the condition of the hard drive using built-in self-diagnostic tools. It is important that leading companies that specialize in hdd production (including Seagate) took part in the development of this technology.

SMART technology regularly monitors the status of the hard drive and works with two groups of characteristics:

— characteristics that reflect the gradual wear of the disk (for example, the number of on-off cycles completed, the number of spindle revolutions, etc.)
— current hdd performance characteristics

The saved data is then recalculated into a disk reliability value relative to a certain reference level. A lower value demonstrates a more worn-out condition of the hard drive and a higher likelihood of an early breakdown, failure, or an increase in the number of operational errors.

Thus, SMART technology allows you to perform next steps:

— track changes quality characteristics hard drive
— scan the surface of the drive
— replace questionable sectors of the hard drive with more reliable ones (if possible, transfer data from sectors in a less reliable state to more “healthy” sectors)

However, SMART technology does not allow hard drives to directly inform the user about potential problems or problems; this requires the use of additional software that provides analysis and display SMART characteristics. We will tell you later in Russian how to check your hard drive’s functionality using special programs.

Checking the health of the hard drive using special programs

Examples of programs with which you can independently check for performance hard computer or laptop disk:

- HDDScan
—Victoria
— HDDExpert and others

What these programs have in common is that they are all, in fact, a means for displaying and analyzing data obtained using SMART technology. Thus, their functionality is largely similar, only the appearance of the data presentation and less significant details differ.
HDDScan is a special program whose purpose is to HDD check and SSD for the presence of bad sectors, viewing the attributes of SMART technology, as well as working with some additional parameters operation of the hard drive (including power management, acoustic mode adjustment, and so on).
This program works successfully with various types storage devices, for example HDD with different types connections (ATA/SATA, USB, SCSI, IEEE 1394 or FireWire), SSD or even Flash drives(though in in this case only in test mode). The HDDScan utility has the following functionality:

— carrying out various tests of the hard drive (for example, linear verification, linear recording, linear reading)
— work (reading, analysis) with SMART data
— additional control operation of the hard drive (change in operating noise level, power saving mode, forced start or stop HDD spindle and more)

An additional feature of this program is the very flexible ability to adapt appearance utilities for a specific user by installing various skins. These skins (covers) can be downloaded on the Internet or created independently.

Victoria. This program for checking the health of the hdd is currently one of the most common. Interesting feature The program lies in the fact that it was developed by a Belarusian programmer (Kazansky S.O.). In general, the functionality of the program is standard and allows you to diagnose and analyze the operation of the hard drive, process SMART technology data, and, in addition, also correct errors and damaged sectors of hard disk. Additionally, using Victoria, you can measure the performance of a hard drive, plot a graph of the disk surface, hide hdd defects, view unstable disk sectors, and also perform easy formatting of the drive. Many users note the following advantages of this utility: no need for installation, low volume of the program itself, and high speed work. In fact, many experts call this program the best among free utilities for working with hard drives. However, it is important to note that officially this program is not updated and its development has been discontinued, but there are many builds and versions developed by fans of the utility.

HDDExpert is another sufficient popular program, which is used to check the performance of hard drives by processing SMART technology data and presenting them in a form more convenient for analysis. It should be noted that this program does not support the Russian language, however, this should not prevent its use, since the utility interface is quite simple. Among other things, one of the clear advantages of this program is that in addition to detecting errors, it gives recommendations for correcting them. However, it is important to clarify that some of the tips may be promotional in nature. The ease of use of the program and the limited capabilities for checking a hard drive only by analyzing SMART data make HDDExpert suitable for an initial and fairly superficial test of the drive.

Except specified programs You can also find others to analyze the hard drive of a PC or laptop and check its performance, but the functionality of most of them will be approximately the same. This assumes that everything similar utilities primarily in their work are associated with SMART technology and are intended mainly for more convenient and simple display of data from this technology.

Thus, if the question arises of how to check whether a hard drive is working or not, and you also need to check the overall performance and condition of the hard drive, just download one of the above programs. Any of these utilities can quickly hdd diagnostics and provide information about its condition, the presence/absence of bad sectors and their number, as well as give a forecast of the time during which you can use this drive relatively calmly.