How to test the hard drive for working: the two most effective ways

It would seem that it can be more reliable in terms of storing valuable information than an electronic device in the form of a traditional drive (HDD)? Perhaps, you, the distinguished user, will think of a "newly-made receiver" - a solid-state hard drive. However, despite the high technological level of the latter, the risk of data loss still remains great. However, when a user knows how to test the hard drive for performance, and at the same time periodically watches its working state, the degree of reliability and comfortable use of any hard drive increases at times. If you want to understand how to implement all this in practice, find out what to be afraid of and how to avoid unforeseen operational situations, then we invite you to familiarize yourself with the material of this article. Believe me, a few minutes of reading will eventually turn into a kind of life experience that will help you avoid many mistakes in the future, including data loss.

What does the hard drive provide?

The mechanical type of drives, and this article will deal specifically with such hard disks, is a storage device that consists of several main parts:

• The hermetic block is the frame of the HDD.
• A printed circuit board is a hard disk controller (usually green, located at the bottom of the device).
• The head unit is a mechanical module, through which the process of reading and writing data to the hard drive occurs.
• A disk with magnetic spraying (pancake) - this is the area of the HDD on which information is stored.
• The electric drive of the spindle is a device that causes the plates to rotate at a given speed.

It should be noted that, depending on the modification of the hard drive, the number of reading heads and magnetic disks can be different. Of course, the more memory components in the device, the higher the capacitive values of HDD.

How good is your hard drive?

Follow the instructions below and you will get a practical answer to the question you are asking: "How to check the hard drive for working?" So:

• Download and install the utility Victoria on your computer.
• Run the specified software with administrator rights.
• After opening the working window of the program, activate the Smart tab.
• Next, click on the Get Smart button.
• If the value of GOOD is displayed in the next located check-box, then you can safely breathe - your hard drive is in perfect order!

However, in order to perform a full scan of your media, you must use the TEST tab. After you use the Start button to start this utility, you will need to wait for the test process to finish. It is worth noting that the presence of red and blue sectors is not a good sign at all, such graphic indicators indicate that the accumulation area has damaged or bad sectors. However, the program we are considering to test the hard drive also has some recovery tools.

Digital repair of a hard drive is like?

After the test analysis process (using the Victoria utility) is completed, select the Remap item and restart the test with the same Start key. The program will "try" to correct all detected errors and restore bad sectors.

By the way, depending on the physical capacity of your drive, the duration of the running process also varies. It may well happen that time will take a lot. So be patient and wait - there are miracles, and you will have time to make sure of it!

Simple and effective "Windows Restorer": the standard method of "curing" HDD

There is no access to the Internet, and you can not install the above software, and the difficult question of "how to check the hard drive's performance" is waiting for its permission? No problem! Follow the simple guidelines:

• Go to the Start menu.
• Then left-click on the item "This computer".
• Hover the marker on the desired partition of the hard drive and press the right button of the manipulator.
• Select Properties from the drop-down list.
• Click the "Tools" tab.
• Activate the "Check" button.
• Before starting the process of "Restoring the health of the hard disk", check the two items in the next window.

In some cases, for example, when you want to analyze the state of the system partition (C :), you will need to reboot the OS. The following recovery steps will be displayed on the monitor screen in the form of command lines and changing numerical values - be sure to wait for the completed verification process to be completed!

Summing up

Well, now, you know how to test the hard drive's performance. However, we should not forget that timely preventive maintenance of the hard drive has a favorable effect on the long-term operational life of this product. Run a defragmented HDD every two weeks, clean your hard drive of digital garbage and do not forget about the overall optimization process for your OS. That's all. Correct operation of your drive and long years of service!