Checking disk for errors

A hard disk is a repository of all the information on the computer. Of course, for different users the information is of different value, but hardly anyone will want to lose it entirely. In order to avoid this unpleasant situation when the hard disk (HDD) fails due to the presence of broken sectors or accumulated errors on it, it is necessary to constantly check its status.

HDD is a very "gentle" part of the computer due to the fact that discs rotate inside it at an enormous speed, and readheads move above them. By and large, a hard drive can work for years while keeping it in the right temperature mode. In addition, hard drives are "afraid" of vibration and sudden shaking. Therefore, the most vulnerable to the destruction of HDD notebooks and netbooks. They most often need to check the disk for broken sectors.

Breakdowns of hard drives are huge: from physical deterioration to problems with microcontrollers. Write about them in this article does not make sense. We confine ourselves only to caveats and what is a disk check for errors.

HDD records information on special tracks - sectors. If one of them is damaged, then the information contained in it is lost. And, most likely, this track in the future will be unable to store information. It is checking the surface of the disk to identify the broken sectors. You can damage them in two ways: by doing the wrong formatting or by writing incorrect information. This type of error is called logical damage. And you can drop the disk - this will already be physical damage to the sectors. The second option is the most dangerous, since it can cause the entire HDD to become unusable. Laptops are subjected to constant vibrations and shakes during the transfer, this negatively affects the condition of the surface of the disks.

The disk check can be performed by the regular Windows tools. To do this, go to "My Computer", select the desired HDD with the right mouse button, go to "Properties". Then proceed to the "Tools" tab, select "Execute check" and mark the required items. This utility also allows you to restore sectors. By the way, physical damage is unlikely to be eliminated. To check the system drive (on which the operating system is installed), you will need to reboot. At the end of the work, you can see the number of spoiled sectors and the amount that was recovered.

To visually see the status of the hard drive, the HDD Scan utility is perfect. The time of checking the hard drive depends on its volume and the power of your computer. In the program window, you will see the graphical marks of the entire tracks in green and red in the broken ones. Checking the disk for broken sectors will allow you to estimate the percentage of corrupted tracks as a percentage. Also in many utilities, you can see the status of disks in a graphical form. Some programs have the function of restoring the broken sectors.

I would like to note that checking the disk for errors will determine the current status of your HDD. If it is critical, then you need to worry about replacing the drive.