How to Check Disk Health in Windows – Simple Methods for SSD & HDD
To check the disk we can do it through 2 methods, one is Windows inbuilt tool like command prompt command CHKDSK and WMIC and Windows Drive Properties tool. Second way is this third party software like Crystal Disk Info.
But the question is why is it important to know How to check disk health in Windows and it is necessary to do?
Introduction :-
In today’s digital age, every thing has become digital due to which even important things have been converted into digital data. Everything which is in digital form is saved on HDD or SDD, whether it is offline or online like photos, videos and documents and even the OS (Operating System) is also saved on SDD or HDD. If we do not check the health of our disk on time, then we can lose this data. However, data recovery can also be done but in some cases it may not be possible.
Therefore, it is important that we keep track of the disk health of our PC or Laptop timely and save the data before the HDD or SDD gets damaged.
In this blog I will tell you how to check disk health in Windows.
Signs That Your Disk May Be Failing
- Computer performance becomes slow or computer freezes frequently.
- Grinding or clicking noise from hard drive.
- Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) errors.
- Files become difficult to access and become corrupted.
- The data that is retrieved by the SSD is called read in technical language and whatever is saved or opened is called write. Difficulty in this can also be a sign of disk failure.
If you notice any of these symptoms, then definitely check the disk health of your computer so that you can backup the data in time and avoid losing it.
How to Check Disk Health in Windows Using Windows Built-in Tools
Option 1. Command Prompt:-
Let us see how we can know the health of our disk from command prompt.
First Command :- CHKDSK
CHKDSK is a command line tool which scans the files in our computer’s hard disk and fixes the errors that occur in them. And it fixes the bad sectors so that Windows does not use them again.
How to use this command see the image below:-
Press the Windows button and type cmd right click on it and Run as Administrator.
I just type CHKDSK and hit enter Its scanning has started as you can see above image.
But this command can only scan and give you a report, if you want it to fix and resolve as well then you will have to add something in the command.
I just type CHKDSK and hit enter Its scanning has started as you can see above image.
But this command can only scan and give you a report, if you want it to fix and resolve as well then you will have to add something in the command.
Here I did it with the command e: (drive name) /f (for fix errors) /r (for find bad sectors and recover redundant information) Command is chkdsk e: /f /r and hit enter its scan and fix errors and windows to use bad sector in hard disk.
Second Command:- WMIC
WMIC is a also command line tool. This command is only used to get information about any section of the Windows system. With this tool, we can get the status and information of RAM, CPU, BIOS, Hard Disk etc. We cannot fix or resolve any error in the disk with this command.
For information of different sections, commands are also of the same type along with WIMC. Like in this blog we are finding out the health of the hard disk, so commands for that “WMIC diskdrive get status”
It will give status of Hard Disk .
How to Check Disk Health Using Third Party Software
If you want to get detailed health information of your disk then you can use third party software.This software provides disk health information in S.M.A.R.T (Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology) attributes.
S.M.A.R.T attributes are parameters that provide technical information about disk health.Although there are many third party tools to check disk health, I would recommend CrystalDiskInfo tool because it is light weight and has a user friendly UI without any cost.
How to use this Software
After the software is downloaded, double click on it and then install it by clicking Next.
After installation, run it by double clicking on its icon on desktop or it will open automatically.
Here you can view the disk health in details along with the parameters of SMART Attributes.
How to Maintain Disk Health:-
- Take Backups Regularly.
- Prevent from overheating.
- Remove unwanted software and files.
- Do not shut down the system suddenly.
- Keep using Disk Health Tools.
Conclusion:-
Ignoring disk health can result in data loss or system failure. Whether you use Windows inbuilt tool or any third party tool, checking disk health is very important. Now you have learned how to check disk health in windows. Now take care of your PC and follow the tips. So that you can avoid data loss in future.
Frequently Asked Questions :-
To check the disk we can do it through 2 methods, one is Windows inbuilt tool like command prompt command CHKDSK and WMIC and Windows Drive Properties tool. Second way is this third party software like Crystal Disk Info. and In this blog I have taught you how to check disk health in Windows. Read the entire log carefully.
Yes, this is a Windows tool run in command prompt which checks the disk health and then fixes it.
No, repairing it is a very complicated task. It can only be replaced.
This command can be used in many ways, checking and fixing disk health with using chkdsk is explained in detail in this blog.
when your disk health is 30% or less then it should be replaced. This is the condition when the risk of disk failure or system failure increases. To avoid data loss, it should be replaced quickly.