4 Ways to Check Hard Disk Health in Windows

Check Hard Disk Health: Hard disk is one of the key components in a computer. This hardware functions as a data storage 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.

4 Ways to Check Hard Disk Health in Windows
4 Ways to Check Hard Disk Health in Windows

4 Ways to Check Hard Disk Health in Windows

A computer is usually already equipped with a hard disk default with different sizes (generally calculated in gigabytes or GB). Computer users can also replace and install their own hard disk if needed. This is usually done when the default hard disk is damaged and can not be used anymore.

The lifetime of a hard disk can vary depending on usage, the quality of the hard disk, and other things. In addition, the hard disk can also be easily damaged if it experiences production defects from the manufacturer. 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 unpacking it, but by reading the data conveyed by the system. Here are some ways to easily check the health of your hard disk on a computer running Windows OS.

1. Using Hard Disk Manufacturing Tools

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

  • Find out the manufacturer of the hard disk that you are using. To find out through the system you can go to the Device Manager on the computer (go to the 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 the model number of your hard disk in the search tab. The search results that appear will usually immediately indicate the brand or manufacturer of the hard disk.
  • After the name of the manufacturer of the hard disk is known, visit their official website> open the support page> look for their hard drive utility.
  • Download the available tools and install it on your computer.
  • The tools provided by each manufacturer will most likely have different functions, but they have diagnostic features that allow you to check the health of your hard drive.
  • Because the author’s computer uses a hard drive made by Seagate, you can directly download the manufacturer’s hard disk diagnostic toolshere.

2. Using the Windows CHKDSK Tool

How to check the health of this second hard disk does not require you to download and install any application on the computer. That’s because this tool is a Windows default tool that can be directly used. The tool name is Windows CHKDSK.

This Windows CHKDSK tool can scan your computer’s hard disk to find system errors and bad sectors. Additionally, if there is a problem with your hard disk, this tool can help show what the problem is.

This tool can also fix problems that can be fixed and will notify you if there are larger problems that cannot be fixed. So, this tool you can use to scan and fix problems on the hard disk if possible. Following are the steps to use this tool.

  • Right-click on the hard disk that you want to check its health, then select Properties.
  • Select the Tools menu on the tab that appears, then also 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, usually a message will appear that you do not need to scan or check the health of the hard disk.

3. Using WMIC Commands

How to check hard disk health that you can also do just by relying on the computer’s built-in 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 SMART or Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology features to view the status of the hard disk by giving simple conclusions, such as “OK” or “Pred Fail” etc.

Although this command is still very basic, it only gives very short information, but this method is one of the fastest to find out the status of the hard disk. Here are the steps to do it.

  • Press the Windows and R keys together to open the search dialog.
  • Type “cmd” then click Ok to open the Windows command prompt.
  • Type “wmic” then press enter.
  • When the WMI interface is ready, type “diskdrive get status” then press enter again.
  • Then the status of your hard disk will be displayed.

If the status is “OK” means the hard disk is fine, whereas if the status is “Pred Fail” means the SMART feature has failed or error, one of which is caused by a bad sector 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 their duties and retrieve data, this tool uses the same SMART features as the WMIC command. But once 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 computer, such asCrystalDiskInfo,Hard Disk SentinelandHDDScan.

CrystalDiskInfo for example, this tool is quite simple but reliable. This free and very lightweight tool offers a lot of information needed, such as temperature, health status, type and features of the hard disk, and other statuses such as read / write error rates and playback times, and so on.

After these tools are installed, then you just run it 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 a problem.

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

Well, that’s four ways to check the health of the hard disk that you can do easily on a Windows computer. If you find a problem with your hard disk that is causing the computer to error, it might be time for the hard disk to be replaced.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *