Program for loading the hard drive. Programs for checking your hard drive for bad blocks (bad sectors)

aass, didn't use it. But I note that Victoria and MHDD are proven tools for serious diagnostics.

And Windows 7 can track SMART information. It will warn you if anything happens.

aass

Vadim Sterkin, Thanks for the answer and for the topic!
I agree with the assessment of the Victoria and MHDD programs, I myself use Victoria for serious diagnostics, but I try to test other programs, everything is learned by comparison.)

Dmitriy

When checking the hard drive with a standard program on Windows 7, it says that bad clusters were detected in null.sys... what kind of driver is this?

Dmitriy

Vadim Sterkin,

thanks...can the system slow down because of it?

Sanyok

Hello.
I ran (hypothetically) checking drive C: from the graphical interface with parameters similar to your screenshot. Clicked the "Schedule disk check" button. Changed my mind. How can I cancel this one-time system disk check before rebooting the system?
I myself assume that it may be entered into the Task Scheduler.” But I want to know for sure. I see no point in experimenting. Since, after such a check was completed successfully once (in practical reality), it would be entered into the “Scheduler” even as a one-time check, and should, in theory, be saved. After all, tasks from the “Scheduler” do not have the ability to self-delete (I think so). But I didn’t find any traces in the “Planner”. As you probably know, I didn’t receive an answer on the Internet or on the forum.

Simply put, I want to know where this mythical “Check Schedule” is located and what methods and methods Windows 7 offers for adjusting it. And then it turns out like this - click, and ala-ulu...

Sanyok

Yeah…
There were graphics, but they all came out. This is some kind of graffiti, black and white, with a register. Just like Battleship Potemkin.
(Yes, I Googled, but really for a slightly different request). Thank you.
You can plan this by checking two boxes in the chart, and canceling by going to the register. They got smart here. Well, okay, there’s nothing to do - I’ll post in the forum.

Yes, by the way, does it make sense to check the second (bottom) checkbox if the system is on an SSD? After all, as far as my knowledge is sufficient, the SSD controller itself periodically (when idle) scans the memory for faulty cells.
And this second checkbox, by definition, is intended to check for broken cells on the surface of the HDD.

Sanyok

Sanyok,

You turn on your TV with the remote control and set the wake-up timer. The next morning you wake up to the music of your favorite music channel. And life flows smoothly and measuredly. But at one fine moment it dawns on you - after all, tomorrow is Sunday. No problem, you tell yourself. With a slight movement of your hand and a screwdriver, without unplugging the TV from the mains, you remove the back cover, quickly replace a couple of resistors on the board and you’re done. Tomorrow you can sleep peacefully until lunchtime.
Do you feel what I mean?

Vadim Sterkin: Sanya, what do you mean, wise? You don’t have to split hairs by pressing all sorts of strange buttons, and everything will be fine :)

It's really funny, but also of course, of course Truth.
Yes, but it’s not quite out of place. I don’t see anything unpredictable or completely incomprehensible in checking the disk. And the conversation was about the fact that if you have already provided a graphical opportunity to schedule such a task, then be kind enough to provide the same opportunity to disable it, and not through one place (the registry). Either remove graphics when planning (do planning only through CMD), or provide the ability to disable this task using the graphical interface. As an engineer, in my technical practice and in the practice of interfaces of various industrial programs and IT, this is the first time I have come across something like this. Yes, and in Windows OS too.
That’s what I wanted to convey when I said, “We’ve been clever.”
When faced with a question, I noticed that this function causes complaints from the user in terms of frequent independent launches. But let's not talk about that. As unrelated to the topic.
And of course, thanks for the comments. Everything is clear to me here.

Regarding the bottom daw:

To perform a thorough disk scan, select the Scan and repair bad sectors option. In this mode, the scanning program attempts to find and correct physical errors on the hard drive itself, which may take much longer.

It doesn't say anything about the file system. More about physical disabilities. Some of us are wrong. Or I didn't understand something.
And further in the text:

To check for both file and physical errors, select both options: Automatically fix system errors and Scan for and repair bad sectors.

Please comment. I would like clarity on the issue.
So as not to press “all sorts of strange buttons”, and everything was fine. :-)

Vyacheslav

I am very surprised by the capabilities of checking and restoring a disk under Windows 8. Changing the partition size upward using Acronis Disk Director 11 ended with errors. I wanted to increase the size of the system disk using the empty space on the adjacent partition by 200 GB. As a result, this program reports that everything is OK, and the disk size in Explorer has not changed. I checked the disk using the OS - it said that there were errors and needed to be rebooted. After the reboot, nothing changed and a request appeared to reboot to fix it. As you can already guess, this also did not help. As a result, we have lost 200 GB, despite the fact that Acronis says everything is ok, but the system is not able to correct the errors found. Sadness. Do I need to format it?

Vyacheslav

Vadim Sterkin,

In fact, under Windows 7, a similar operation was always performed without problems. I always perform the task of expanding/narrowing a partition in 2 stages: first, we cut off a piece of space from the partition being compressed and transfer it to the “unallocated space” status from the required end of the partition, and then we expand another partition using this space (I do everything manually in 2 reboots in case of “jambs”, because Acronis performs a group of operations very strangely. There is a sad experience under Windows XP). So, if under Windows 7, after checking the disk, everything returned to normal and the free space did not disappear so easily, then under Windows 8 Acronis completed the first stage successfully, and when performing the second it broke down with errors, although then it reports that “everything is fine.” The problem was eventually resolved by booting from a Live CD from Acronis. It's a pity that this cannot be done under Windows 8. And I was counting so much on the “improved checking and correction of file system errors” promoted in the media. Of course, it is very difficult to trust that checking and background diagnostics of FS problems is working correctly. It is very confusing that the time to scan one partition under Windows 7 and under Windows 8 differs by orders of magnitude, for the better for the latter. Are all problems really so easily and quickly fixed? Maybe Windows 8 simply doesn’t notice most of them, or even worse, ignores them?

Vyacheslav

Vadim Sterkin,

Well, what option is there in Windows 8 to expand the partition size? I saw the Disk Management snap-in. Well, I didn’t see how it’s possible to cut the size of a logical volume from the desired end using “standard means”. There's also no way to move a partition within the unallocated space. If there is an analogue that I missed, tell me. Along the way, you did not quite correctly understand what I meant by the phrase “I had a bad experience under Windows XP.” And it was like this: after a reboot, this operation was performed and at that moment the electricity went out. Thus, I lost 2 partitions, although, in theory, there could have been 3 options: the second partition would have been lost, from which space was taken due to the incompleteness of the operation of moving NTFS service zones, or only the system partition would have been lost (although this is unlikely), or both partitions would be fine, and between them there would be some area of unmarked space. But I was very “lucky”. Let’s skip the topic of uninterruptible power supplies and it turns out that Acronis is a reputable company, and their products are sometimes dangerous to use in any way in the absence of alternatives from the OS. And then another “surprise” emerged. And even here everything is fine with the power supply. But as I already noted, the last problem was solved by booting from a Live CD from Acronis and a classic disk check, and not the over-optimized one from Windows 8, the benefits of which I have not yet felt. It seems to be there, but there seems to be no point. Or maybe I was using the disk check tool wrong. Unfortunately, this “optimization” still raises more questions and mistrust in me than answers.

Vyacheslav

Vadim Sterkin,

Irina

Conducted Windows hard drive diagnostics (chkdsk). There were no messages, but later it turned out that there was no free space. Although before the check, less than 50% of the disk was full. And now it shows 931 GB occupied. Was all the free space wasted? The disc is six months old.

I forgot to say, after that I checked with Victoria and reported that there weren’t even any errors.

Irina

This is not the case for me. We are not talking about the system disk. And about the external drive. I’ve already found out that the system marked all the free space as bad blocks. Now I’m trying to figure out whether it’s a failure or whether the screw has died.

Sergey

Vadim, I have the following problem: After running the chkdsk disk check utility, if both “daws” are checked, it asks to reboot and the check is performed, I don’t know what to call it, but it looks like MS-DOS - lines run quickly on a black background. After the next reboot, I look at the information in the Windows Logs - Application, text in English, “there are many letters,” but the meaning can be understood from a single sentence: “Windows has checked the file system and found no problems.” At the same time, a few lines above I was kindly informed that, they say, “Cleaning up 31 unused security descriptors.” Sometimes it is not “31 unused security descriptors” that are cleared, but more or, conversely, less. That is, something is still not quite right, and the program corrects it a little. Like, overall everything is fine, but the Bug died. So, no matter how many times I run this chkdsk, it requires a reboot to correct these errors, nothing else is detected. Previously, on another machine in Windows XP this happened rarely, but now it happens time after time.
The SSD drive is about a quarter occupied. The system is legal Windows 7 x64 Professional and is automatically updated. If you don’t run disk check, then there is no reason to worry, everything works fine, doesn’t glitch or crash. So, in connection with this, the question is - maybe there is no need to spoil your mood. I didn’t find a solution to the problem of these file system errors on the Microsoft website, and are they really errors?

far_town2 Kulyasov

Are there any methods to check if the power supply is sufficient? And due to its insufficient power, can freezes/errors occur in games?

Perhaps the most important component of a PC is the hard drive (HDD), since it contains all the information created by the user. Of course, any HDD needs timely maintenance, namely checking for errors and bad sectors, in order to avoid the loss of important information.

A “bad sector” is an unreadable sector on a hard drive. It can be natural: the factory state of some sectors of any hard drive, an inevitable manufacturing defect, or acquired - a successful power failure, a shock, a leak. Few people are interested in the appearance of bad sectors one by one; this is a routine that SMART successfully grinds up.
The emergence of interest in bad sectors is usually associated with the fact that you have a partially or completely unreadable disk. From this point of view, the classification is simple:

Broken sectors are permanent, for example, those associated with surface damage - something that cannot be restored.
Broken sectors are temporary, associated with non-fatal errors in logic, which is what you can try to pull out; strictly speaking, the question of the operability of the restored sectors remains open.

The number of bad sectors on the disk can be:

Constant within normal limits (live hdd). No action required.
Constantly above normal (usually the consequences of a blow). Sometimes it can be done with manual intervention.
Growing (crumbled due to age or design). Requires urgent replacement of the hard drive.

Reasons for the appearance of a bad HDD sector

To put it simply, the modern hard drive is a product of the evolution of the gramophone. The record spins, the head reads the record sector by sector, the control unit glues files from the read pieces. The head hovers above the surface of the plate, and when it stops, it falls. There are readable and unreadable sectors on the tracks; a sector itself is the minimum part of the track, Wikipedia will confirm.

This model is sufficient to demonstrate the main problems:

Damage to the surface of the disk—mechanical contact of the plate with the head—may cause the disk to shed, or may remain a fixed area.
A partial change in the surface properties (magnetization) of a sector (a typical reanimated sector) can be extended by referring to neighboring sectors.
Various logic errors, SMART arbitrariness, fs errors (everything corrects itself during operation and based on the results of self-diagnosis).
Shedding of the magnetic layer from the surface is known as a sign of old age, but may be a consequence of loss of tightness.

Contrary to popular belief, a blow to the case of a working HDD is not as bad as vibration. The head is held above the surface by such cunning magic that touching the surface requires a significant force, which is unlikely to occur upon impact, but is easily achieved by resonance.

How to check a disk for bad sectors and errors

It is worth remembering that the disk is checked for reading, checking sectors for writing will erase everything that was on the disk! Well, it’s also worth keeping in mind that for a proper test, the disk must be free from other tasks at the time of testing. Checking a hard drive for bad sectors is not a common task; Windows does everything that is necessary automatically.

Windows has long had a utility that checks and corrects hard drive errors, chkdsk. You can find the utility in the disk properties, the button is called “check disk”.
Any self-respecting manufacturer, when releasing a disk, puts on the website a diagnostic utility that not only monitors the condition of the HDD, but can also carry out service actions designed to alleviate its suffering, sometimes even including calibration. Checking hard disk sectors is a must for this class of programs.

In addition, there is a zoo of diagnostic, repair, “professional” tools, in which the devil himself would break his leg for a long time. And quite a large number of truly professional programs for analysis and repair. It is worth noting that most of them are destructive, that is, with their help you can kill a working hard drive in a way that not every master can restore.

Programs for checking your hard drive for bad sectors

For those who do not believe in chkdsk, graphical programs for checking the hard drive, or rather more or less gentle tools that do not punish for the wrong key, are HDD Regenerator, HDD Health. Graphical utilities show a health graph, tell you what parameters are being tested and, importantly, have adequately labeled buttons that make it easy to understand the program. Linux users are less fortunate; most utilities are console-based and require an understanding of the parameters.
Among the utilities from the manufacturer, it is worth remembering Seagate SeaTools - a convenient, powerful program, all its power is manifested only on native hard drives, but checking hard drive sectors is also available for “outsiders”

Checking HDD using Windows 7 and 10

Checking your hard drive for errors using Windows always involves running chkdsk in recovery mode. This launch can be done using the button in the disk properties.
“My Computer” -> “Properties” -> “Tools” → “disk check” “Run check”.

Or, if the button is missing, this occurs in some editions of Windows 10, this check can be easily launched from the command line as an administrator using the command
chkdsk c: /f where c: is the letter of the drive being checked. Checking the hdd for bad sectors in the case of a system partition will begin after a reboot, since checking requires exclusive access to the disk.

You should not run this command often, but the check window that appears at every boot is the reason for the question: “how to check a hard drive for errors” and the answer to this question, since it is usually associated with disk problems.

What to do if you detect bad sectors on your hard drive

Not so long ago, hard drives were released on which it was possible to manually reassign sectors, and this is why many people are convinced that formatting from Bios cures all illnesses. But alas, now calibration is so complicated that it is carried out once at the manufacturer. It should also be understood that most changes in surface condition are irreversible and nothing can be restored. It can often be reassigned without loss of capacity, although it all depends on the condition of the “patient”.

Options for hard drive states and subsequent actions:

The disk is working, works well, is stable, the percentage of bad ones is not growing - make a backup, forget that there are bad sectors on it and enjoy life.
The disk is basically working, the number of bad sectors is not growing, but when accessing a certain area there are problems - try to divide it into partitions without affecting the problem area, save for a new one.
The disk is not working, strong brakes, smart and BIOS warnings - change the hard drive.

Programs for recovering HDD drives

Victoria and Mhdd, any of these programs allows you to conduct a complete diagnosis and save the drive from many problems. They are launched from DOS and require careful study of the manual before starting, as they can irreversibly destroy the data or logic of the hard drive! In general, do not start without knowing what you are doing, especially since such hard drive maintenance has long been entrusted to the controller and in most cases he copes with it. If it's not broken, don't fix it; this old advice is most relevant when it comes to the broken sector.

3 more useful articles:

Many users of computers, smartphones, cameras, cameras and other electronic devices have at one time encountered…

Good day.

The hard drive is one of the most valuable pieces of hardware in a PC! Knowing in advance that something is wrong with it, you can have time to transfer all the data to other media without loss. Most often, testing a hard drive is carried out when purchasing a new drive, or when various kinds of problems arise: files take a long time to copy, the PC freezes when opening (accessing) the drive, some files stop being readable, etc.

By the way, on my blog there are quite a few articles devoted to problems with hard drives (hereinafter referred to as HDD). In this same article, I would like to collect in a “heap” the best programs (that I have ever dealt with) and recommendations for working with HDDs.

1.Victoria

Official website: http://hdd-911.com/

Rice. 1. Victoria43 - main program window

Victoria is one of the most famous programs for testing and diagnosing hard drives. Its advantages over other programs of this class are obvious:

has an ultra-small distribution size;
very fast operating speed;
many tests (information about the status of the HDD);
works directly with the hard drive;
free

By the way, I have an article on my blog about how to check the HDD for problems using this utility:

2.HDAT2

Rice. 2. hdat2 - main window

A service utility for working with hard drives (testing, diagnostics, treatment of bad sectors, etc.). The main and main difference from the famous Victoria is the support for almost any drive with interfaces: ATA/ATAPI/SATA, SSD, SCSI and USB.

3.CrystalDiskInfo

Rice. 3. CrystalDiskInfo 5.6.2 - S.M.A.R.T. readings disk

Free utility for diagnosing your hard drive. During operation, the program not only displays S.M.A.R.T. disk (by the way, it does this perfectly; on many forums, when solving certain problems with the HDD, they ask for readings from this utility!), but it also keeps track of its temperature, and general information about the HDD is shown.

Main advantages:

Support for external USB drives;
- Monitoring the health status and temperature of the HDD;
- S.M.A.R.T. schedule data;
- Manage AAM/APM settings (useful if your hard drive, for example, is noisy:).

4. HDDlife

Rice. 4. Main window of the HDDlife V.4.0.183 program

This utility is one of the best of its kind! It allows you to constantly monitor the status of ALL your hard drives and notify you of problems in a timely manner. For example:

there is little disk space left, which may affect performance;
temperature exceeding normal range;
bad SMART disk readings;
the hard drive doesn't have long to live... etc.

By the way, thanks to this utility, you can (approximately) estimate how long your HDD will last. Well, unless, of course, force majeure occurs...

5. Scanner

Rice. 5. Analysis of occupied space on HDD (scanner)

A small utility for working with hard drives that allows you to get a pie chart of occupied space. A chart like this allows you to quickly assess where to spend space on your hard drive and delete unnecessary files.

By the way, such a utility allows you to save a lot of time if you have several hard drives and are full of all sorts of files (many of which you no longer need, and searching and evaluating “manually” is tedious and time-consuming).

That's all. Have a great weekend everyone. Thank you, as always, for your additions and feedback to the article!

Good morning everyone!

I think that many users have encountered suspicious behavior of the hard drive: long copying/reading of files, brakes, loading up to 100%, clicking, inability to read any files, etc.

This behavior of the disk may indicate serious problems with it. In order to determine what is wrong with it, you have to resort to specialized service utilities.

In this article I want to highlight a few of the best utilities that can view S.M.A.R.T readings. (special hard drive self-monitoring technology), check the disk surface for the presence of bad blocks and try to restore its functionality (that is, try to reassign bad sectors to backup ones, see the link below for more details).

What is a bad block, how to check a disk using the Victoria utility (in detail for beginners, with examples and screenshots), see this article -

6 best utilities for checking a disk for bad blocks

Victoria/Victoria

Developer's website: http://hdd-911.com/

One of the best utilities for checking and treating bad blocks on your hard drive. The program performs testing, diagnostics, and treatment of the disk at a low level. In addition to HDD, Victoria supports other types of media: FDD, CD/DVD, USB/Flash/SCSI, and also “sees” drives under Windows via API and ports.

Note: I described how to work with Victoria in one of my previous articles, the link to it is provided just above.

Main features:

support for IDE/SATA controllers;
ability to view S.M.A.R.T. disk;
the ability to control acoustic noise;
tests to check the mechanics and surface of the disc;
obtaining full technical disk information;
ability to work under Windows and DOS;
Supports work on laptops;
support for low-level HDD formatting;
Benchmark functions.

HDDScan

One of the best programs for checking hard drives for Windows. Allows you to quickly assess the condition of the hard drive, check the drive for bad sectors, view S.M.A.R.T. attributes.

In addition, the program allows you to manage power, adjust the acoustic mode, and monitor the temperature of the drive (data can be displayed on the taskbar).

Main features:

Support for SSD drives;
Support HDD with interfaces: ATA/SATA, SCSI, USB, FireWire or IEEE 1394;
Drive test in linear verification, linear reading and linear writing modes;
Reading and analysis of identification information from hard drives with ATA/SATA/USB/FireWire/SCSI interfaces;
Changing the AAM, APM, PM parameters on drives with ATA/SATA/USB/FireWire interfaces (useful for those whose hard drive is very noisy during operation);
Works in all popular Windows OS: XP, 7, 8, 10.

HDTA2

HDAT2 is a system utility necessary for diagnosing and “treating” hard drives. One of the main differences between this utility and “Victoria” (presented above) is its support for a much larger type of disk (note: supported interfaces: ATA/ATAPI/SATA, SSD, SCSI and USB).

HDAT2 can operate in 2 modes:

disk level: diagnostics and “treatment” of bad sectors on identified drives. By the way, in addition to diagnostics, you can get any information about the disk (which can only be obtained programmatically);
file level: search, read and check records in FAT 12, 16, 32 file systems. Ability to check, delete and restore records of bad sectors and flags in the FAT table.

Important!

I recommend using HDAT2 from a boot disk or flash drive. The program will most likely not work correctly under Windows. On the developer's website, use the version "CD/DVD Boot ISO image"- it must be correctly written to a flash drive/disk, like any bootable media. You can read about this in one of my articles: .

MHDD

Developer's website: http://mhddsoftware.com/

MHDD is a service utility for accurate diagnostics and repair of drives (HDD). The utility allows you to work with disks at a low level, through the ports of the IDE controller. The program has a fairly high speed of scanning and “curing” the disk from “soft”-bad sectors.

Main functions:

accurate and very fast diagnosis of the hard drive condition, optimal algorithm for correcting bad sectors;
the ability to adjust the noise from the drive (AAM);
viewing S.M.A.R.T. readings;
error logs;
the ability to delete all information on the disk without the possibility of restoring it;
an attempt to warm up the drive and test it under extreme conditions;
the ability to test several hard drives at once.

Macrorit Disk Scanner

Macrorit Disk Scanner is a good and working tool for checking your hard drive for bad sectors. By the way, I want to especially note that the utility scans the disk very quickly- 1.5-2 times faster than, say, the famous Victoria! True, it will not help “cure” the disk - it simply does not have the functionality that Victoria has.

You can scan the entire disk or a specific range of sectors (useful on large disks when scanning may take too much time).

The utility allows you to work with all popular types of drives: IDE, HDD, SSD, SCSI, FireWire, RAID, SD cards, etc.

Macrorit Disk Scanner main window

In general, a good alternative to previous programs, especially when you need to quickly and easily find out the status of the disk.

Ashampoo HDD Control

Developer website: https://www.ashampoo.com/ru/rub/pin/0365/system-software/hdd-control-3

A multifunctional program for monitoring the status of all your drives in the system. Thanks to minute-by-minute monitoring of the status of your disks, the program will prevent the loss of information by warning you in time about any problems.

By the way, anyone who has used products from Ashampoo knows that their programs are designed so that any novice user can work with the program simply and easily. HDD Control is no exception to this rule; anyone who wants it can figure it out...

Main functions:

monitoring the status of drives online;
the ability to test the drive (several tests are available to get a “complete picture” of the drive’s condition);
notification of dangerous disk conditions leading to failure or possible loss of information;
possibility of disk defragmentation;
support for drives with interface: IDE, ATA, hard drives connected via USB and Firewire;
supports disks connected via RAID controllers;
viewing disk information: registration number, cache size, number of partitions, etc.;
It is possible to quickly clean the disk from junk files;
the ability to export data on the disk status and tests performed.

No matter how good the readings are after testing and diagnosing the disk, do not forget to back up important documents and files. As they say, once a year the stick shoots...

It’s better to spend 5 extra minutes on backup than to waste days and weeks of work.

HDDScan

The program is designed to check hard drives and SSDs for bad sectors, view S.M.A.R.T. attributes, changing special settings, such as power management, spindle start/stop, acoustic mode adjustment, etc. The drive temperature value can be displayed in the taskbar.

Features and Requirements

Supported drive types:

HDD with ATA/SATA interface.
HDD with SCSI interface.
HDD with USB interface (see Appendix A).
HDD with FireWire or IEEE 1394 interface (see Appendix A).
RAID arrays with ATA/SATA/SCSI interface (tests only).
Flash drives with USB interface (tests only).
SSD with ATA/SATA interface.

Drive tests:

Test in linear verification mode.
Test in linear reading mode.
Test in linear recording mode.
Butterfly reading mode test (artificial random reading test)

S.M.A.R.T.:

Reading and analyzing S.M.A.R.T. parameters from disks with ATA/SATA/USB/FireWire interface.
Reading and analyzing log tables from disks with a SCSI interface.
Launch S.M.A.R.T. tests on drives with ATA/SATA/USB/FireWire interfaces.
Temperature monitor for drives with ATA/SATA/USB/FireWire/SCSI interfaces.

Additional features:

Reading and analysis of identification information from drives with ATA/SATA/USB/FireWire/SCSI interfaces.
Changing AAM, APM, PM parameters on drives with ATA/SATA/USB/FireWire interfaces.
View information about defects on a drive with a SCSI interface.
Spindle start/stop on drives with ATA/SATA/USB/FireWire/SCSI interface.
Saving reports in MHT format.
Printing reports.
Skin support.
Command line support.
Support for SSD drives.

Requirements:

Operating system: Windows XP SP3, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 10 (NEW).
The program should not be run from a drive operating in read-only mode.

User Interface

Main view of the program at startup

Rice. 1 Main type of program

Main window controls:

Select Drive – a drop-down list that contains all supported drives in the system. The drive model and serial number are displayed. Nearby there is an icon that determines the expected type of drive.
S.M.A.R.T. button – allows you to get a report on the state of the drive based on S.M.A.R.T attributes.
TESTS button – displays a pop-up menu with a selection of read and write tests (see Figure 2).
TOOLS Button – Displays a pop-up menu to select available drive controls and functions (see Figure 3).
More button – shows a drop-down menu with program controls.

When you click the TESTS button, a pop-up menu offers you one of the tests. If you select any test, the test dialog box will open (see Figure 4).

Rice. 2 Test menu

When you press the TOOLS button, a pop-up menu will prompt you to choose from the following options:

Rice. 3 Function menu

DRIVE ID – Generates an identification information report.
FEATURES – opens a window of additional program features.
S.M.A.R.T. TEST – opens the S.M.A.R.T window. tests: Short, Extended, Conveyance.
TEMP MON – starts the temperature monitoring task.
COMMAND – opens a command line build window.

Test Dialog Box

Rice. 4 Test dialog box

Controls:

The FIRST SECTOR field is the initial logical number of the sector to be tested.
Field SIZE – the number of logical sector numbers for testing.
Field BLOCK SIZE – block size in sectors for testing.
Previous button – returns to the main program window.
Next button – adds a test to the task queue.

Test capabilities and limitations:

Only one surface test can be run at a time. This is due to the fact that the author of the program has not yet been able to obtain stable, high-quality results when running 2 or more tests simultaneously (on different drives).
A test in Verify mode can have a block size limit of 256, 16384 or 65536 sectors. This is due to the way Windows works.
The test in Verify mode may not work correctly on USB/Flash drives.
When testing in Verify mode, the drive reads a block of data into the internal buffer and checks its integrity; no data is transferred through the interface. The program measures the readiness time of the drive after performing this operation after each block and displays the results. Blocks are tested sequentially - from minimum to maximum.
When testing in Read mode, the drive reads data into the internal buffer, after which the data is transmitted through the interface and stored in the program’s temporary buffer. The program measures the total time of drive readiness and data transfer after each block and displays the results. Blocks are tested sequentially - from minimum to maximum.
When testing in Erase mode, the program prepares a block of data filled with a special pattern with a sector number and transfers the data to the drive, the drive writes the received block ( the information in the block is irretrievably lost!). The program measures the total time of block transmission and recording and drive readiness after each block and displays the results. Blocks are tested sequentially - from minimum to maximum.
Testing in Butterfly Read mode is similar to testing in Read mode. The difference is in the order in which the blocks are tested. Blocks are processed in pairs. The first block in the first pair will be Block 0. The second block in the first pair will be Block N, where N is the last block of the given section. The next pair will be Block 1, Block N-1, etc. Testing ends in the middle of a given area. This test measures reading and positioning time.

Task management window

Rice. 5 Task manager

This window contains the task queue. This includes all the tests that the program runs, as well as the temperature monitor. The manager allows you to remove tests from the queue. Some tasks can be paused or stopped.

Double-clicking on an entry in the queue brings up a window with information about the current task.

Test information window

The window contains information about the test, allows you to pause or stop the test, and also generates a report.

Graph Tab:

Contains information on the dependence of testing speed on the block number, which is presented in the form of a graph.

Rice. 6 Graph Tab

Map Tab:

Contains information about the dependence of testing time on the block number, which is presented in the form of a map.

Rice. 7 Map Tab

You can select Block Processing Time in milliseconds. Each tested block that took longer than the "Block Processing Time" will be logged in the "Report" tab.

Report tab:

Contains information about the test and all blocks whose testing time is greater than the “Block Processing Time”.

Rice. 8 Report tab

Identification information

The report contains information about the main physical and logical parameters of the drive.

The report can be printed and saved to an MHT file.

Rice. 9 Example of identification information window

S.M.A.R.T. report

The report contains information about the performance and health of the drive in the form of attributes. If, according to the program, the attribute is normal, then there is a green icon next to it. Yellow indicates attributes that you should pay special attention to; as a rule, they indicate some kind of drive malfunction. Red denotes attributes that are outside the norm.

Reports can be printed or saved to an MHT file.

Rice. 10 Example of a S.M.A.R.T. report

Temperature monitor

Allows you to evaluate the storage temperature. Information is displayed in the taskbar, as well as in a special test information window. Rice. 11 contains readings for two drives.

Rice. 11 Temperature monitor in the taskbar

For ATA/SATA/USB/FireWire drives, the information window contains 2 values. The second value is displayed in the taskbar.

The first value is taken from the Airflow Temperature attribute, the second value is taken from the HDA Temperature attribute.

Rice. 12 Temperature monitor for ATA/SATA disk

For SCSI drives, the information window contains 2 values. The second value is displayed in the taskbar.

The first value contains the maximum permissible temperature for the drive, the second shows the current temperature.

Rice. 13 Temperature monitor for SCSI disk

S.M.A.R.T. tests

The program allows you to run three types of S.M.A.R.T. tests:

Short test – usually lasts 1-2 minutes. Checks the main components of the drive, and also scans a small area of the drive surface and sectors located in the Pending-List (sectors that may contain read errors). The test is recommended for quickly assessing the condition of the drive.
Extended test – usually lasts from 0.5 to 60 hours. Checks the main components of the drive, and also completely scans the surface of the drive.
Conveyance test – usually lasts several minutes. Checks drive nodes and logs, which may indicate improper storage or transportation of the drive.

A SMART test can be selected from the SMART Tests dialog box, which is accessed by clicking the SMART TESTS button.

Rice. 14 SMART Tests Dialog Box

Once selected, the test will be added to the Tasks queue. S.M.A.R.T information window test can display the execution and completion status of a task.

Rice. 15 Information window S.M.A.R.T. test

Additional features

For ATA/SATA/USB/FireWire drives, the program allows you to change some parameters.

AAM – function controls drive noise. Enabling this function allows you to reduce drive noise due to smoother positioning of the heads. At the same time, the drive loses a little performance during random access.
APM function allows you to save drive power by temporarily reducing the rotation speed (or completely stopping) the drive spindle during idle time.
PM – function allows you to set the spindle stop timer for a specific time. When this time is reached, the spindle will be stopped, provided that the drive is in idle mode. Accessing the drive by any program forces the spindle to spin up and the timer is reset to zero.
The program also allows you to force stop or start the drive spindle. Accessing the drive by any program forces the spindle to spin.

Rice. 16 Information window for additional ATA/SATA drive capabilities

For SCSI drives, the program allows you to view defect lists and start/stop the spindle.

Rice. 17 Information window for additional SCSI drive capabilities

Using the Command Line

The program can build a command line to control certain drive parameters and save this line to a .bat or .cmd file. When you run such a file, the program is called in the background, changes the drive parameters in accordance with the specified ones, and closes automatically.

Rice. 18 Command line build window

Appendix A: USB/FireWire Drives

If the drive is supported by the program, then tests are available for it, S.M.A.R.T. functions and additional features.

If the drive is not supported by the program, then only tests are available for it.

USB/FireWire drives supported by the program:

Maxtor Personal Storage (USB2120NEP001)

Storage device	Controller chip
StarTeck IDECase35U2	Cypress CY7C68001
WD Passpopt	Unknown
Iomega PB-10391	Unknown
Seagate ST9000U2 (PN: 9W3638-556)	Cypress CY7C68300B
Seagate External Drive (PN: 9W286D)	Cypress CY7C68300B
Seagate FreeAgentPro	Oxford
CASE SWEXX ST010	Cypress AT2LP RC7
Vantec CB-ISATAU2 (adapter)	JMicron JM20337
Beyond Micro Mobile Disk 3.5" 120GB	Prolific PL3507 (USB only)
Maxtor Personal Storage 3100	Prolific PL2507
In-System ISD300A
	SunPlus SPIF215A
Toshiba USB Mini Hard Drive	Unknown
USB Teac HD-15 PUK-B-S	Unknown
Transcend StoreJet 35 Ultra (TS1TSJ35U-EU)	Unknown
AGEStar FUBCP	JMicron JM20337
USB Teac HD-15 PUK-B-S	Unknown
	Prolific 2571
All Drives That Support SAT Protocol	Majority of Modern USB controllers

USB/FireWire drives that the program may support:

Storage device	Controller chip
AGEStar IUB3A	Cypress
AGEStar ICB3RA	Cypress
AGEStar IUB3A4	Cypress
AGEStar IUB5A	Cypress
AGEStar IUB5P	Cypress
AGEStar IUB5S	Cypress
AGEStar NUB3AR	Cypress
AGEStar IBP2A2	Cypress
AGEStar SCB3AH	JMicron JM2033x
AGEStar SCB3AHR	JMicron JM2033x
AGEStar CCB3A	JMicron JM2033x
AGEStar CCB3AT	JMicron JM2033x
AGEStar IUB2A3	JMicron JM2033x
AGEStar SCBP	JMicron JM2033x
AGEStar FUBCP	JMicron JM2033x
Noontec SU25	Prolific PL2507
Transcend TS80GHDC2	Prolific PL2507
Transcend TS40GHDC2	Prolific PL2507
I-O Data HDP-U series	Unknown
I-O Data HDC-U series	Unknown
Enermax Vanguard EB206U-B	Unknown
Thermaltake Max4 A2295	Unknown
Spire GigaPod SP222	Unknown
Cooler Master - RX-3SB	Unknown
MegaDrive200	Unknown
RaidSonic Icy Box IB-250U	Unknown
Logitech USB	Unknown

USB/FireWire drives that the program does not support:

Storage device	Controller chip
Matrix	Genesis Logic GL811E
Pine	Genesis Logic GL811E
Iomega LDHD250-U	Cypress CY7C68300A
Iomega DHD160-U	Prolific PL-2507 (modified firmware)
Iomega
Maxtor Personal Storage 3200	Prolific PL-3507 (modified firmware)
Maxtor One-Touch	Cypress CY7C68013
Seagate External Drive (PN-9W2063)	Cypress CY7C68013
Seagate Pocket HDD	Unknown
SympleTech SympleDrive 9000-40479-002	CY7C68300A
	Myson Century CS8818
	Myson Century CS8813

Appendix B: SSD drives

Support for a particular drive largely depends on the controller installed on it.

SSD drives supported by the program:

Storage device	Controller chip
OCZ Vertex, Vertex Turbo, Agility, Solid 2	Indilinx IDX110M00
Super Talent STT_FTM28GX25H	Indilinx IDX110M00
Corsair Extreme Series	Indilinx IDX110M00
Kingston SSDNow M-Series	Intel PC29AS21AA0 G1
Intel X25-M G2	Intel PC29AS21BA0 G2
OCZ Throttle	JMicron JMF601
Corsair Performance Series	Samsung S3C29RBB01
Samsung SSDs	Samsung Controllers
Crucial and Micron SSDs	Some Marvel Controllers

SSD drives that the program may support:

Additional Information

Version HDDScan 3.3 can be downloaded version 2.8

Support:

It might be useful to read: