7 Ways to Check Hard Disk Health on Windows

A hard disk is a critical hardware accessory in your computer because you cannot run your PC without it. Knowing the state of your hard drive is a fundamental question among PC users. Here is how to check the hard disk life on your computer.

Do you have start-up challenges on your computer? Do you experience lagging while operating your Windows operating system? All these can result from a failing hard drive on your PC.

Failing hard drive issues are annoying because they can cause you to lose data. However, you can prevent such unfortunate disasters by knowing the state of your hard drive.

Knowing the state of your hard drive is critical because you can back up and replace the data on your failing hard drive before disaster strikes. You can check the status of your hard drive using various ways.

Below is the ultimate guide on how to check the hard disk life on your computer.

This post highlights seven methods for checking the hard disk life on your PC. The seven hard disk checking methods include:

1. BIOS tool.
2. HDD manufacturer tool.
3. Optimize and defrag tools.
4. Windows CHKDSK tool.
5.  WMIC tool.
6. Windows third-party HDD tools.
7. BIOS HDD third-party tools.

The content below explains how you can use the seven methods to check the status of your hard drive.

1: BIOS tool 

You can check the status of your hard drive by using the UEFI or BIOS tool on your PC. Below are steps to access the UEFI or BIOS section on your PC.

Step 1: Turn off your computer by pressing and holding the power button for at least five seconds to shut it down.

Step 2: Press the power button and wait for the BIOS screen to post the hotkey for accessing the BIOS/UEFI section. The BIOS/UEFI hotkeys can either be the Delete, F2, or F12 keys, depending on the type, model, and motherboard manufacturer of your PC.

Step 3: Navigate to the Diagnostics section on your BIOS/UEFI before running the Hard Disk test.

Step 4: The HDD diagnostics test will run a series of tests to ascertain the state of your hard drive.

2: HDD manufacturer tool 

Hard drive manufacturers release a diagnostic and repair tool with every release of their hard drives. The HDD manufacturer tool method requires you to identify the type of HDD on your PC. You can follow the steps below to identify the manufacturer of your HDD before using the HDD manufacturer tool.

Step 1: You can start by pressing the Windows + R keys on your keyboard to access the Run utility tool.

Step 2: Type msinfo32 in the Run utility search box before pressing the Enter key.

Step 3: Click on the Components option in the left column.

Step 4: Click on the Storage option before clicking on the Disks section.

Step 5: Locate the manufacturer of your HDD under the Model section on the right.

Step 6: Download the HDD diagnostic tool for your hard drive from their official site.

Step 7: Install and run the HDD diagnostic tool for your hard drive to get the state of your HDD.

3: Optimize and defrag tools

You can use the defragmentation and optimization tool if your HDD is slow when retrieving files on your PC. You can follow the steps below to use the defragmentation and optimization tool on Windows OS.

Step 1: Start by clicking on the Search icon at the bottom left of the Taskbar before typing Disk Defrag in the search box.

Step 2: Locate the Defragment and Optimize Drives app before clicking on the Run as administrator option.

Step 3: Wait for the Defragment and Optimize Drives app to load all your logical drivers.

Step 4: Select the drive you want to defragment before clicking on the Analyze button at the bottom right.

Step 5: You can click on the Optimize button on the bottom right after getting the result of the state of your HDD.

4: Windows CHKDSK tool

You can use the Windows CHKDSK tool to check the readability status of your HDD. Follow the steps below to use the Windows CHKDSK tool on your PC.

Step 1: Click on the Search button before searching for the Command Prompt app.

Step 2: Click on the Run as administrator option to launch the CMD console.

Step 3: Type the CHKDSK Command in the CMD console before hitting the Enter key.

Step 4: Type the CHKDSK /f /r Command to fix the bad sectors on your hard drive.

5: WMIC tool

You can use the WMIC tool to run a Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology (S.M.A.R.T.) diagnostic tool to check and fix your HDD. Follow the steps below to use the WMIC tool.

Step 1: You can use the above method to launch the CMD console with administrator privileges.

Step 2: Type the WMIC Command in the CMD console before hitting the Enter key.

Step 3: Wait for the WMIC console to launch before typing [diskdrive get status] and hitting the Enter key.

6: Windows third-party HDD tools

You can use Windows third-party HDD tools if you want a check and repair HDD with a user-friendly interface tool. You can download and install third-party HDD applications on your Windows OS to fix minor HDD issues on your hard drive. Below are some of the top third-party HDD applications you can use.

7: BIOS HDD third-party tools

You can use BIOS HDD third-party tools if you cannot access your Windows OS. Bad sectors on your HDD can prevent you from accessing your operating system. You can use the advanced disk repair tools below to fix bad sectors on your HDD.

However, you should be careful when using the above MS-DOS tools because you can easily wipe your entire hard drive instead of fixing it.

Conclusion

Checking the status of your hard drive is always a good idea because it gives you an edge when planning for a new hard drive. Knowing the status of your hard drive also accords the opportunity to back up your data in advance. It is challenging to recover data once your HDD fails.