Sometimes hard drives on computers startproduce different errors. In this case, you need to check the hard drive. In the framework of this article, we will consider the questions, because of what this process may occur, and also what software tools exist for diagnosing this problem.
File systems used in the OS familyWindows, are quite imperfect, which in many cases generates the appearance of various errors on hard disks that force you to check the hard drive.
This does not mean that on other systems everything is in order. Such problems can be everywhere. But in other systems, their main reason is that the hard drive "crumbles".
Especially critical errors are for the root orsystem disk, so to store important information, use a different part of the hard drive. Do not forget to periodically backup data that may be needed in the future and that you can not recover when the information store is out of order.
Let's take a look at the basic programs for checking the hard drive.
This application is built into Windows.It can be run either from the GUI or from the command line. To do this, select "Properties" - "Service" - "Execute check" from the context menu intended for checking the hard disk. In the window that appears, select the parameters of the operation, then click on the "Start" button.
If you try to check the system disk,a window with a warning that the moment of its implementation will be postponed until the next computer startup. This is due to the fact that the tested partition is used by the OS. When the computer is restarted, the program will be launched automatically on the command line before its start.
In addition to the graphical interface for running thisprogram, you can use the command line, which is entered from the administrator chkdsk c: / f / r. This command is an alternative graphical shell, its behavior is exactly the same as in the previous version.
In this case, the test must be performed either using a boot disk from this OS, or using a special Windows PE disk.
To do this, you need to boot into the console / recovery environment, in which to enter the above command.
This application can be hidden from the publicreviews in the menu, so you can use the search string. Utility console, enter the command Repair-Volume-DriveLetter Drive letter. A program is used to check the hard disk for errors. After the end of the application process, it will be reported that no errors have been found (NoErrorsFound) or a report will be presented.
Despite the fact that users of Windows OShave got used, that the good program should cost any sum of money, there is a weight of the applications concerning to free or OpenSource which cope with the problems not worse than their expensive analogues. One of these programs, with which you can check the hard disk for broken sectors and errors, is TestDisk. With its help you can perform not only diagnostics, but also restore the boot sector, find partitions that have been lost, and also solve a number of other problems that have arisen due to the manifestation of some errors on the hard drive.
The structure of the hard disk is created by the manufacturer.With insufficiently careful handling, the surface degrades, resulting in the appearance of broken sectors. As a result, some of the information becomes inaccessible for writing, as well as for reading. To detect them, you need to use special applications, one of which was named in the previous section of the article.
One of the programs to check the hard drive for broken sectors is Victoria, which is very popular among users of Windows OS.
It can be run both in graphical mode and in the command line. Versions up to 4.47 were designed for 32-bit systems, and from 4.47 for 64-bit systems.
To carry out a check in this programyou must select the section in the right field that you want to check. On the SMART tab, located above the left margin, click the Get SMART button on the right. This is a "native" test for the disk. Therefore, in the event that BAD appears near this virtual button, you need to think about buying a new hard drive and disposing of the existing one.
For further testing, go to the tab Tests,switch set to Ignore, close all running applications and disconnect from the Global network. After that, we launch by clicking the Start button. While this application is running, you do not need to try to use the computer, you must wait until the end of the verification process.
This program is for testing hard sectorsdisk uses the "Response time" parameter, which is shown to the user in the form of multi-colored indicators. If there are a large number of them (except for gray ones), you need to think about the fact that the hard disk requires replacement.
Victoria refers to programs for testing sectors of the hard drive, but with it you can perform formatting of the hard drive, eliminate its failures, block bad sectors.
This application is an analogue of the previous one, butsupports more models of hard drives. To get started with this program, you need to write it to a USB flash drive and make it bootable. Then download it and start testing. The program, like other analogues, does not heal the broken sectors, but tries to replace them with "healthy" ones from the reserve area. This application has several modes of operation, in which only testing can be carried out, and it is possible to carry out blocking of bad sectors.
In addition to the main applications with Englishinterface, the characteristics of which are listed above, there are hard disk verification programs in Russian. Utility, made in the title of the section, is designed to test the performance of hard drives. For this reason, the OS may be slow to work.
The test is performed on a specific hard diskwhen selecting the required size of the test file in the range of 50-1000 MB and the number of runs (1-9). After the testing is completed, information will be provided on the average write and read speed to / from the hard drive of the file selected previously, as well as blocks having a size of 4 and 512 KB.
This program is free. It, in addition to classic hard disks, supports work with SSD-drives.
When the "Seq Q32T1" button is clicked, random reading or writing with a block size of 512 KB is started.
If you click the "Seq" button, the sequential write and read test starts at a block size of 1 megabyte.
A similar test with a 4 kB block is performed when you press "4K".
This program works in any OS of the Windows family.
This program is designed to test harddisk. In addition, with its help you can check flash drives, as well as SSD-drives. It also has an interface in different languages, among which Russian is also present.
When you use it, you builddifferent graphs that can be compared among themselves using built-in functions. With this application, you can view information about the disk, including volume, serial number, firmware version, model, interface used, speed and mode for data transfer.
The program determines the size of the cache itself, how many times the computer was turned on when using the selected hard disk, and what time it was in working order.
The most important parameters are given immediately afterrun this application. They include SMART, the determination of the temperature of the disk and its general state, which specifies the wear of the hard drive, the number of read errors, erasure and some other indicators.
This is another of the programs for checking harddisk. It is Russified, so its use is not particularly difficult. With its help you can search for errors, testing and monitoring of hard drives. When searching for errors, the disk on which this process will be executed is selected.
The search for errors takes quite a long timeperiod. In the case of serviceable sectors, all cells in the middle field will be green. This can also be checked on the tab "Health". The status of the main parameters of the hard disk will be marked as "OK".
In the case of the presence of broken sectors, on the cell fieldwill be found not only green, but also red. When they are detected, even in a small amount of the disk is better to get rid of, because in time their number will increase.
This program is paid.With its help you can get information about the status of the hard drive. A program is designed to test hard disk sectors using SMART. With its help, with the support of the hard drive of these functions, you can adjust its noise level and manage power consumption. Also, when using this application, you can restore deleted data from the disk. In addition, you can defragment the disk, as well as search the online test results for a particular model of hard drives.
This program does not require installation on a computer.With its help, you can get SMART information, manage over the noise emanating from the disk, start and stop the spindle motor, check the surface of the hard drive in three different modes.
When verified in SMART mode, the information is presented in both readable and graphical mode. In the latter case, the same range of colors is used, as in other similar programs:
In the Surface Tests section, you can set the parametersverification. It can be carried out by way of verification, reading sectors or writing zeros in them. If this option is selected (Erase), all data is deleted.
There are many programs that implementHard disk check. Some of them are intended only for search of damaged sectors, while others can search for other errors, as well as monitor the hard drive. With certain applications, you can scan, defrag, recover lost data. It is possible to use both paid and free programs. To state unambiguously that the first are better than the second ones, so everyone should choose the application to use. The article contains only some of them, which are related to the most popular ones.
