Easy Ways to Check Hard Disk Health on Windows

The hard drive is one of the key components of a computer. This hardware serves as a place to store data on the computer. Because it is non-volatile memory, the data contained in the hard disk will not be lost even if the computer is turned off.

A computer is usually equipped with a built-in hard disk of different sizes (usually calculated in gigabytes or GB). Computer users can also replace and install their own hard disks if needed. This is usually done when the default hard disk is damaged and can no longer be used.

The life of a hard disk can vary depending on usage, hard disk quality, and other things. In addition, the hard disk can also be damaged quickly if it has a manufacturing defect. Then can we check the health of our computer hard disk? The answer is of course you can.

Checking the health of this hard disk is not by removing it from the computer and then disassembling it, but by reading the data submitted by the system. Here are some ways to easily check hard disk health on a computer running Windows OS.

1. Using Hard Disk Manufacturing Tools

The first way to check the health of the hard disk is to use special tools or tools provided by the hard disk manufacturer. The majority of large manufacturers usually have provided free tools to monitor the health and performance of our hard disks. Here are the steps to do it.

• Find out the manufacturer of the hard disk you are using. To find out through the system you can go to Device Manager on the computer (go to Control Panel or do a search by typing "Device Manager".
• If the Device Manager tab is already open, select the Disk drives option > click the triangle symbol > note the hard disk model that appears.
• Then open Google Search and type your hard disk model number in the search tab. The search results that appear will usually directly indicate the brand or manufacturer of the hard disk.
• After knowing the hard disk manufacturer's name, visit their official website > go to their support page > search for their hard drive utility.
• Download the available tools and install them on your computer.
• The tools provided by each manufacturer may have different functions, but they do have a diagnostic feature that allows you to check the health of your hard drive.
• Since the author's computer uses a Seagate drive, you can directly download the manufacturer's hard drive diagnostic tools here.

2. Using the Windows CHKDSK Tool

This Windows CHKDSK tool can scan your computer's hard disk for system errors and bad sectors. Also, if there is a problem with your hard disk, this tool can help pinpoint what the problem is.

This tool can also fix problems that can be fixed and will let you know if there are bigger problems that can't be fixed. So, you can use this tool to scan and fix problems on your hard disk if possible. Here are the steps to use this tool.

• Right-click on the hard disk you want to check for health, then select Properties.
• Select the Tools menu on the tab that appears, then select the hard disk checking option available in the dialog box that opens.
• Then click Check or Check now to start the checking and repair process.
• If your hard disk is safe, a message will usually appear that you don't need to scan or check the health of the hard disk.

3. Using the WMIC Command

You can also do this hard disk health check by relying on the computer's default system. WMIC itself is a command-line interface that allows computer users to perform administrative tasks, including checking the health of the hard disk.

This command uses the S.M.A.R.T or Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology feature to view the hard disk status by providing simple conclusions, such as "OK" or "Pred Fail" etc.

Even though this relatively very basic command only provides very brief information, it is one of the fastest ways to find out the status of a hard disk. Here are the steps to do it.

• Press Windows key and R at the same time to open the search dialog.
• Type "cmd" then click Ok to open a Windows command prompt.
• Type "wmic" then hit enter.
• When the WMI interface is ready, type "diskdrive get status" and press enter again.
• Then the status of your hard disk will be displayed.

If the status is "OK" it means the hard disk is fine, while if the status is "Pred Fail" it means the S.M.A.R.T feature has failed or has an error, one of which is caused by bad sectors on the hard disk.

4. Using Third-Party Hard Disk Checking Tools

You can also use third-party tools to check the health of your hard disk. These tools usually display more complete information about the status of your computer's hard disk.

To carry out its tasks and retrieve data, this tool uses the same S.M.A.R.T features as the WMIC command. But again the information they provide is more detailed.

There are several third-party hard disk checking tools that you can download and install on your computers, such as CrystalDiskInfo, Hard Disk Sentinel, and HDDScan.

CrystalDiskInfo for example, this tool is quite simple but reliable. This free and very lightweight tool offers a lot of necessary information, such as temperature, health status, hard disk type, and features, and other statuses such as read/write error rate and playback time, etc.

After these tools are installed, then you just have to run them and let them work. By default, the CrystalDiskInfo tool will check the health of the hard disk every 10 minutes and notify you if the hard disk has problems.

These tools may contain advertisements, so make sure you use the “Custom Installer” option to uncheck the unneeded options.

Well, that's four ways to check hard disk health that you can easily use on a Windows computer. If you encounter a problem with your hard disk that is causing your computer to crash, it may be time for the hard disk to be replaced.