How to test the hard drive of a computer and a laptop?

A hard disk is an extremely important hardware component of a PC. Therefore, the user may need to solve the problems associated with testing the hard drive for errors, as well as their correction. What tools can be used? What errors in the hard drive can be called the most common?

What kind of problems can there be with the hard drive?

Before considering how to test a hard disk, we will study what can be the reason for performing an appropriate test. What problems can arise in his work?

It should be noted that the PC hard drive is a device that is characterized by a sufficiently high sensitivity to external influences. Shake-up, drop of hard drive (even in the least impact on it) can lead to damage to various components that enter the structure of the hard drive. It should be noted that the current models of carriers are sufficiently protected from the influence of such factors: thus, as a rule, they implement the function of suspending the rotation of the rotor during a sharp mechanical action on the disk. But it can not always work perfectly. Learn this, as well as check the status of the hard drive as a whole will help the program that allows you to test the hard drive of your computer. What mistakes can the corresponding software reveal?

Among these are the presence of bad sectors on the surface of disc plates. That is, those for which data can not be recorded. In some cases, bad sectors do not allow you to read files already written to disk.

Correction of the corresponding parts of the hard disk is extremely difficult. It is easier to configure the hard drive so that the bad sectors present on the surface of its plates are not used at all. Instead of them, in turn, the reserve sectors that are available on most modern hard drives can be used.

The next common type of hard disk problems is the placement of files on it with errors. In this case we are talking, rather, about the problems in software maintenance of the hard drive using the operating system or application programs having the appropriate purpose. In turn, file system errors are completely correctable. However, a special program may be required for their detection. To test the hard disk for errors in the file system, by the way, you can also use the built-in tools of Windows. But in some cases, a deeper analysis of the file system through specialized solutions may be required.

How can they be? How to test a hard disk with their help?

Symptoms of hard drive problems

However, before trying to apply any of the appropriate solutions, you can try to diagnose the problem based on the behavior of the computer, in order to subsequently choose the best program.

The fact that the operating system of the PC starts to work with noticeable braking, loads for a long time, handles even small files with significant delays, says, most likely, that bad sectors appeared on the hard drive in the amount that makes it difficult for the OS to work stably.

In the event that the speed of the operating system is not reduced and file processing is not observed, however, the programs close automatically, they hang or work unstably, - there are probably errors at the file system level of the disk.

In many cases, the occurrence of problems in the operation of the hard drive is due to the actions of the computer virus. Therefore, before using a particular software hard disk testing tool, as well as correcting the detected errors, it is recommended to scan the computer with an available anti-virus program. It is highly desirable that the anti-virus database in it be the freshest. Once all the viruses found are removed from the PC, you can already start checking the hard drive. Let's consider what means can be used.

Correcting file system errors: using Windows tools

How can I test a PC hard drive for errors in the file system? For these purposes, as a rule, it is enough to use the built-in Windows solutions. They are in almost all modern versions of this operating system for desktops and laptops. The main one will be the "Disk Check" program or Chkdsk.

This solution can be used both through the graphical interfaces of the operating system, and through the command line. The first option is usually more simple for a novice user, while the second one may require a higher qualification in terms of using Windows diagnostics.

To use this utility, go to the "Computer" section, then right-click on the hard disk icon. There may be several, in this case it makes sense to check each one in turn. After right-clicking on the hard drive icon in the opened menu, select the "Properties" option. In the window that appears, go to the "Tools" tab. Then click on the button "Execute verification" and follow the instructions.

In some versions of Windows, the utility in question is not configured to test the logical disks on which the OS system files are located. But for this case the program "Disk Check" provides an option: initiating testing of the hard drive with the subsequent loading of the operating system. You can select it, and immediately reboot Windows: the system during the startup itself must ask the user for permission to scan the drive on which the system files are located.

So, now we know how to test a hard drive using the popular built-in Windows tool - the Chkdsk program. This solution allows you to effectively fix file system errors. But what if the alleged failure of the hard drive is associated with the appearance of bad sectors on it? How can I test the hard drive of a laptop or desktop for proper damage?

For these purposes, a wide range of solutions can be used. The most popular of them include such programs as:

• Data Liferguard Diagnistic.
• HDD Scan.
• Ashampoo HDD Control.
• Victoria HDD.
• AIDA64 (formerly Everest).
• MHDD.

Let us study their features.

Testing the hard drive: Data Lifequard Diagnostic

This program was developed by Western Digital, which is one of the world's most famous manufacturers of hard drives. How can I test a hard disk for errors with this software?

The corresponding program works in several modes. The most informative in terms of reflecting information about errors on the disk can be called the extended test mode - Extended Test. In particular, it can be used to find damaged sectors on the surface of hard disk plates. If detected, the program will prompt the user to use an algorithm by which bad sectors will be excluded from those used by the hard drive to write and read files.

HDD testing: HDD Scan

Another popular solution for testing drives is the HDD Scan program. How can I test the hard drive of a laptop or a desktop computer with it?

The application in question also contains several tests. Among those that may be useful for us, the Surface Tests test. It, like the previous solution, allows analyzing the surface of disk plates for damaged sectors. It is noteworthy that the program in question can detect not only bad sectors, but also those that have problems with reading and writing. So, HDD Scan can detect areas on the surface of hard drive plates, at which the reading speed can yield dozens of times to normal values. In practice, this may mean, as in the case of bad sectors, it is desirable to exclude the corresponding sections from those used by the hard drive to write the files.

Disk testing: Ashampoo

Another popular program is Ashampoo HDD Control. How to test a hard disk for errors with it?

It should be noted that the application in question contains a sufficiently large number of tools for checking the hard drive, as well as working with the detected problems of disks. Of these, you can use, for example, the option to test the surface of the plates of the device - Test Surface.

Based on the results of the relevant test, the program shows sectors that have high readings, as well as bad sectors.

Victoria HDD

The next popular solution for testing hard drives is the Victoria HDD. It can be noted that this program allows you to test the hard drive on Windows 7 (8 or any other), and to verify the hard drive through the command line DOS.

This feature increases the universality of the solution in question. In addition, the corresponding software has very good functionality.

So, the program allows you to test the hard disk for broken sectors, reassign their use, classify the hard disk surface areas into different categories depending on the speed of reading the files from them.

If you use the English graphic version of the program in question, you need to start it, after - go to the Tests tab. On it there are tests of the surface of the plates of the hard disk. If necessary, you can configure the program actions when there are bad sectors detected:

• Ignoring the problem (with subsequent reflection in the test results);
• Sector reassignment;
• Removal of sectors;
• Restoration of damaged areas of the disk.

If necessary, you can use each of these modes of the program in turn.

Testing hard drives: AIDA64 program

Many users are interested in the question of how to test the hard drive with Everest. Now on different portals on the Internet are available old versions of the corresponding software. The fact is that in the newest modifications the program is named differently, its name sounds like AIDA64.

It should be noted that this type of software is one of the most functional solutions in terms of testing equipment performance. For example, with the help of the program under consideration it is possible to test the speed of the hard disk, and not only. Using it, you can also measure the performance of RAM, CPU, flash drives.

The functional of the program includes various stress tests, which involve testing in the mode of maximum load on the hardware. Appropriate type tests can be performed for the computer's hard drive.

Checking for errors: MHDD

According to IT experts, the MHDD program is one of the most functional solutions for checking hard drives for errors. Considering which program to test a hard disk, experts can choose the MHDD solution, because:

• It includes a qualitative test of the surface of the plates of hard disks;
• It can be launched in a bootable format - for example, from a USB flash drive, which allows you to test the hard drive before installing any operating system on it;
• The program includes a large number of useful tests, as well as tools for fixing disks;
• The corresponding software is free.

Of course, this solution can work from the operating system. The way in which it is better to use it depends on the nature of the problem with the disks, on the configuration of the equipment on a particular PC, and on the specific operating system used, if it is previously installed on the computer.

MHDD: Test the disk

Let's consider a number of practical nuances of application of the corresponding popular program. We agree that the user has a need to use the bootable version of this software. To do this, you need to make a device with which you will run the program, for example, a USB flash drive or CD.

After the device is ready, the BIOS must be configured to boot from it. By the way, the question of how to test a hard disk via BIOS is also asked by many users. Computer manufacturers can fully implement the necessary options in the appropriate software interfaces to verify the performance of hard drives.

When working with MHDD, one should take into account the nuance: the solution in question does not work with hard disks that are connected to the computer in Slave mode. If this is the case, disks must be reconnected, and only then initiate their testing.

After running the program installed on the boot drive or CD, you must select a specific drive that will be tested. After you enter the command SCAN at the command prompt, which initiates a scan of the media. In case you do not need to set any additional scanning parameters, you need to press F4 to start the corresponding test.

But you can still specify additional parameters. For example, if you talk about the Start LBA option, it is used to specify specific blocks on the hard drive from which the program should check the disk. In turn, the End LBA option is used to specify which blocks are checked at the end of the disk test. However, by default, the program checks the entire surface of the winchester plates.

How to test a hard disk for errors with subsequent reassignment of bad sectors using the interfaces of the MHDD program? It's very simple: the Remap option is used to do this. If you select the Erase Delays option, the program will ignore the bad sectors, which will speed up the disk check if there are a lot of bad sectors on its surface.

The program for scanning MHDD disks is quite informative: on the user's screen, the scanned sectors are displayed in real time. A number of different blocks are counted in a separate section of the corresponding software interface.

Summary

You can check the status of the hard disk either with the built-in tools of Windows, or with the use of special programs. In this case, the tools of the first type are designed mainly to correct errors in the file system, the second - to identify and correct bad sectors in accessible ways.

Specialized programs for diagnosing the hard disk can be supplied in both graphic and console versions. Some of the relevant solutions can be used in the bootable version: it can be used even if the operating system is not installed on the computer.

It can be noted: how to test an external hard drive is practically the same as testing a built-in hard drive. For this, the same solutions can be applied, the main thing is to connect them correctly to the PC. But this is possible only if the computer supports those communication interfaces through which the external hard disk is supposed to be connected.