How to check Ssd disk for errors? Currently, the most requested alternative to traditional hard disk drives (HDDs) is solid state drives (SSDs). A distinctive feature of an SSD disk is that it is a non-mechanical storage device based on memory chips.

The main advantages of SSD drives are:
- high speed of work (speed of reading / writing information);
- stable file reading time;
- high mechanical resistance (shock and vibration resistance);

Lack of noise during operation;
- low power consumption;
- small dimensions and weight.

However, despite all the advantages, SSD drives also have significant disadvantages:
- Higher cost per gigabyte compared to HDD disks;
- limited number of rewriting cycles;
- impossibility of recovering deleted information and information after electrical damage.

Considering the main disadvantage of SSD drives (limited number of rewriting cycles), you should timely diagnose and monitor the status of your SSD drive.

Checking the status of SSD-disks provides for diagnostics of the drive for errors, analysis of usage statistics and estimated service life. All these factors make it possible to assess the real state of the tested disk and take the necessary measures to prevent the loss of valuable information.

There are specialized programs for solving the problem of diagnosing and monitoring the status of SSD disks. In this case, consider free programs that support the Russian interface:
- SSD Life
- Hard Disk Sentinel
- CrystalDiskInfo

SSD Life

SSD Life allows you to assess the health of your SSD drive and display this information in a simple and convenient way. After starting, based on the data received from the controller, depending on the intensity of disk usage, the utility calculates and displays the percentage of health and the estimated remaining life of the disk. In addition to general information about the state of the disk, by clicking on the "S.M.A.R.T." button, the results of analysis of various S.M.A.R.T. parameters will be displayed in a separate window.

On the official website, you can download a free portable version (does not require installation and provides statistics on the state of the disk immediately after launch) and the installation version (requires installation and allows you to check the status of the disk in the background.

Hard Disk Sentinel

Hard Disk Sentinel software is designed to monitor and analyze the health of hard drives. Allows you to diagnose and warn of problems caused by reduced performance and possible failures. The program runs in the background and constantly monitors the status of disks in real time, including temperature readings and S.M.A.R.T. parameters, and also measures the current data transfer rate. The program has a wide range of additional options that allow you to configure various parameters.

Free Trial version can be downloaded from the official website.

CrystalDiskInfo

CrystalDiskInfo - allows you to assess the status of hard drives that support S.M.A.R.T. Monitors and determines the health status and current temperature of your disk.
The program displays detailed information about the disks (firmware, serial number, interface, switching cycles, total operating time, etc.), as well as the characteristics of the S.M.A.R.T. self-diagnosis system. (reading errors, performance, operating time, number of on-off cycles, temperature, etc.). The program allows you to effectively check your disk for bad sectors.

On the official site, you can download a free portable version (does not require installation) and an installation version (requires installation and allows you to check the status of the disk in the background).

The programs discussed above are designed to diagnose and monitor disks, have different functionality and the final choice depends only on your preferences. By analyzing the information received, you can draw appropriate conclusions about the reliability of the disk and thus protect yourself from possible problems in the future.
The only recommendation that you should definitely follow is to regularly monitor the health of your disk and back up valuable information.

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, start / stop spindle, acoustic mode adjustment, etc. It is possible to display the drive temperature value in the taskbar.

Capabilities and requirements

• 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).
• USB flash drives (tests only).
• SSD with ATA / SATA interface.

• Linear verification test.
• Test in linear reading mode.
• Linear recording test.
• Butterfly Reading Test (Artificial Random Reading Test)

• Reading and Analyzing S.M.A.R.T. parameters from drives with ATA / SATA / USB / FireWire interface.
• Reading and analyzing log tables from SCSI disks.
• S.M.A.R.T. launch tests on ATA / SATA / USB / FireWire drives.
• Temperature monitor on ATA / SATA / USB / FireWire / SCSI drives.

• Read and analyze identification information from ATA / SATA / USB / FireWire / SCSI drives.
• Changing AAM, APM, PM parameters on ATA / SATA / USB / FireWire drives.
• View information about defects on a SCSI drive.
• Spindle start / stop on ATA / SATA / USB / FireWire / SCSI drives.
• Saving reports in MHT format.
• Printing reports.
• Support for "skins".
• Command line support.
• Support for SSD drives.

• 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 read-only drive.

User interface

The main view of the program at startup

Figure: 1 Main view of the program

Main window controls:

• Select Drive is a drop-down list that contains all supported drives in the system. The drive model and serial number are displayed. There is an icon next to it that determines the type of the drive.
• S.M.A.R.T. button - allows you to get a report on the state of the drive, based on the attributes of S.M.A.R.T.
• TESTS button - shows a pop-up menu with a choice of read and write tests (see Fig. 2).
• TOOLS button - Shows a pop-up menu for selecting available controls and functions on the drive (see Figure 3).
• More button - Shows a drop-down menu with program controls.

When you press 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).

Figure: 2 Test menu

When you press the TOOLS button, a pop-up menu will prompt you to select one of the following options:

Figure: 3 Function menu

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

Test Dialog Box

Figure: 4 Test Dialog Box

Control elements:

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

• 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 managed to obtain stable high-quality results when running 2 or more tests simultaneously (on different drives).
• The Verify test may have a block size limit of 256, 16384, or 65536 sectors. This is due to the peculiarities of Windows.
• Verify test may not work properly on USB / Flash drives.
• When testing in the Verify mode, the drive reads the data block into the internal buffer and checks their 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 the Read mode, the drive reads data into the internal buffer, after which the data is transmitted via the interface and stored in the temporary program buffer. The program measures the total readiness time of the drive and data transfer after each block and displays the results. The blocks are tested sequentially - from minimum to maximum.
• When testing in Erase mode, the program prepares a data block filled with a special pattern with a sector number and transfers the data to the drive, the drive writes the received block ( information in the block is irretrievably lost!). The program measures the total block transfer and write time 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 lies 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 the specified area. This test measures the reading and positioning times.

Task management window

Figure: 5 Task manager

This window contains the task queue. This includes all 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 about the dependence of the testing speed on the block number, which is presented in the form of a graph.

Figure: 6 Graph Tab

Map Tab:

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

Figure: 7 Map Tab

You can select “Block Processing Time” in milliseconds. Each block tested 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 test time is longer than "Block Processing Time".

Figure: 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.

Figure: 9 Sample Identity 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 next to it is a green icon. Attributes that you should pay attention to are indicated in yellow, as a rule, they indicate some kind of malfunction of the drive. Attributes that are outside the normal range are shown in red.

Reports can be printed or saved to an MHT file.

Figure: 10 Sample S.M.A.R.T. report

Temperature monitor

Allows you to evaluate the temperature of the drive. Information is displayed in the taskbar, as well as in a special window of information about the test. Figure: 11 contains readings for two drives.

Figure: 11 Temperature monitor in 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.

Figure: 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 allowable temperature for the drive, the second shows the current temperature.

Figure: 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:

1. Short test - usually lasts 1-2 minutes. Checks the main nodes of the drive, and also scans a small area of \u200b\u200bthe drive surface and sectors in the Pending-List (sectors that may contain read errors). This test is recommended for quick assessment of the drive's health.
2. Extended test - usually lasts from 0.5 to 60 hours. Checks the main components of the drive, and also scans the entire surface of the drive.
3. Conveyance test - usually lasts a few minutes. Checks drive nodes and logs that may indicate improper storage or shipping of the drive.

A SMART test can be selected from the SMART Tests dialog box accessed by pressing the SMART TESTS button.

Figure: 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 progress and completion status of the task.

Figure: 15 S.M.A.R.T.information window test

Additional features

For ATA / SATA / USB / FireWire drives, the program allows changing some parameters.

1. AAM - the function controls drive noise. Enabling this function allows you to reduce drive noise due to smoother head positioning. At the same time, the drive loses a little in performance during random access.
2. APM - the function allows you to save power to the drive by temporarily reducing the rotation speed (or complete stop) of the drive spindle during idle time.
3. PM - the 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. Any program accessing the drive will force the spindle to spin up and reset the timer to zero.
4. The program also allows you to stop or start the drive spindle forcibly. Any program accessing the drive will force the spindle to unwind.

Figure: 16 Information window of additional features of the ATA / SATA drive

For SCSI drives, the program allows viewing defect lists and starting / stopping the spindle.

Figure: 17 Information window of additional features of SCSI drive

Using the command line

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

Figure: 18 Command line build window

Appendix A: USB / FireWire Drives

If the drive is supported by the program, 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:

USB / FireWire drives that the program may support:

USB / FireWire drives not supported by the program:

Appendix B: SSD Drives

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

SSD drives supported by the program:

SSD drives that the program may support:

Additional Information

HDDScan 3.3 you can download version 2.8

The reliability of hard drives and SSDs is far from ideal - sooner or later they fail, which can lead to serious problems, up to the complete loss of the data stored on them. Of course, in most cases, information (in whole or in part) on externally "dead" hard drives can be restored, but you will have to contact professionals (since you need special equipment and appropriate technical training), and the solution of this problem will cost a very round sum. Therefore, it is better to try to prevent the occurrence of such situations.

In this regard, the most reliable is regular data backup. However, even with a scrupulous approach to the backup task, you may not have time to copy important information, because a disk failure "according to the law of meanness" always happens unexpectedly. At the same time, the danger of data loss can be avoided by monitoring the state of the hard disk using the specialized S.M.A.R.T.-monitoring utility. We will consider several such programs in this article.

S.M.A.R.T.-monitoring in a nutshell

Today, all modern HDDs and even solid-state drives (SSD) support the self-diagnosis technology of drives - S.M.A.R.T. (Self-Monitoring Analysis and Reporting Technolodgy), which was specially designed for timely detection of an impending drive failure. This technology is based on continuous monitoring of the readings of special sensors. These sensors display the current values \u200b\u200bof S.M.A.R.T.-parameters, each of which shows the state of a certain vital part of the hard disk (the number of read or write errors, temperature, disk operation time, performance, information retrieval speed, etc.). Parameter values \u200b\u200bduring normal operation of the disk may vary in certain intervals. At the same time, for any parameter, the manufacturer has defined a certain threshold value - the minimum safe value that cannot be exceeded under normal operating conditions.

The S.M.A.R.T.-monitoring utilities regularly scan hard drives, extract S.M.A.R.T.-information from sensors and temperature sensors (temperature sensors that all modern hard drives are equipped with), analyze it and monitor changes in the state of all attributes. When critical changes are detected that indicate a significant drop in disk reliability, the programs inform the user that data storage on the hard disk has become unsafe. According to the assurances of a number of developers, this happens no later than a day or two before the failure of the hard drive, which provides the user with some reserve time for which you can manage to make copies of all the information, and maybe even replace the hard drive. It is worth noting that all S.M.A.R.T.-monitoring utilities run in the background, require a minimum of hardware resources, and therefore their functioning for the user will be completely effortless and in no way interfere with the main work process.

Unfortunately, the use of such monitoring utilities is not a panacea, since they cannot always predict the failure of a drive. The reason for this state of affairs lies in the fact that hard drives are composed of electronic and mechanical components. The wear of mechanical parts occurs gradually, and this is a controlled process, due to which utilities, as a rule, successfully predict a disk failure due to the fault of "mechanics". Failure of electronic components most often happens completely unexpectedly and therefore is practically unpredictable. However, according to statistics from Seagate, about 60% of hard drive failures are caused by the mechanical components of the drive. This means that you should not ignore the S.M.A.R.T.-disk diagnostics system in any case.

S.M.A.R.T.-disk monitoring programs

There are quite a lot of utilities on the market that provide disk monitoring by controlling S.M.A.R.T. parameters. and temperature. Some utilities are limited to reading and displaying them, others interpret the obtained values \u200b\u200band issue their own verdict about the state of the disk in the form of a certain conditional percentage of its health, sometimes also with recommendations to the user on what should be done in a given situation.

All known S.M.A.R.T.-monitoring programs, as a rule, recognize and scan internal hard drives without any problems. With external drives, the situation is more complicated - not all utilities can fully work with such devices (even with the official support of this type of disks by the developer) - see the table. Moreover, most developers are generally silent about which specific external drives in their offspring (including paid ones) are supported. In addition, even if the selected utility recognizes a specific external drive, it is not at all a fact that the program will be able to determine the health status of the drive, since not all controllers of USB hard drives support S.M.A.R.T. commands. As for SSD-drives, their recognition, coupled with diagnostics, as a rule, does not cause any special problems - however, provided that the utility you like has support for solid-state drives.

Hard Disk Sentinel 4.0

Developer: H.D.S. Hungary

Distribution size:12.3 MB

Work under control: Windows (all versions)

Distribution method: http://www.hdsentinel.com/download.php)

Price: Standard - $ 23; Professional - $ 35

Hard Disk Sentinel is an established solution for S.M.A.R.T.-monitoring the health of hard drives (internal and external) and solid state drives. The program is presented in several commercial editions; for a wide range of users, the basic edition of Standard and the extended Professional are of interest, as well as the portable edition Portable for laptops. The main difference between the professional edition and the Standard edition is the availability of functionality for backing up data (periodically or in case of problems with the disk). In addition, there is a free DOS edition that allows you to control temperature and S.M.A.R.T. IDE / SATA hard drives connected directly or through external controllers.

The program monitors the attributes of S.M.A.R.T. and temperature, scanning hard disks in automatic mode after a specified number of minutes and on demand, and displays on the Overview tab the performance and health level of the selected disk with a description of its current state and a list of problems that have arisen during the operation (Fig. 1). Additionally, this tab shows the total disk operating time and an approximate estimate of its remaining lifetime, as well as the temperatures of all monitored disks, their capacity and the amount of free space. You can also get more detailed information about temperatures (the "Temperature" tab), for example, see the dynamics of changes in average and maximum temperatures. In addition, a brief verdict on the status of the disk is displayed in the system tray (Fig. 2) and on the disk icons in Explorer.

Figure: 1. Overview of disks in Hard Disk Sentinel

Figure: 2. Brief information
about the state of the disk in the tray
(Hard Disk Sentinel)

As for the values \u200b\u200bof S.M.A.R.T.-parameters, they also provide comprehensive information (tab "S.M.A.R.T.") - this makes it easy to track the changes that have taken place (Fig. 3). You can even compare S.M.A.R.T. values \u200b\u200bonline if you want. selected disc with values \u200b\u200bof discs of the same model. All information obtained during monitoring can be easily saved in the form of a text or HTML report and, if necessary, sent to the specified e-mail address. In the event of a malfunction or temperature rise, the program can warn the user with a sound signal or message and immediately (with appropriate settings) start the data backup process.

Figure: 3. Monitoring S.M.A.R.T.-parameters in Hard Disk Sentinel

Additionally, the utility shows detailed information about hard drives (manufacturer, model, serial number, etc.) and measures the data transfer rate in real time. In addition, it can be used to test a disk for operability (disk head approach test, disk surface test, etc.).

Hard Drive Inspector 3.96

Developer:AltrixSoft

Distribution size:2.64 MB

Work under control: Windows 2000 / XP / 2003 Server / Vista

Distribution method: http://www.altrixsoft.com/ru/download/)

Price: RUB 600

Hard Drive Inspector is a convenient solution for S.M.A.R.T.-monitoring of external and internal hard drives, as well as SSDs. The program is presented in several editions: the Professional edition is positioned as a tool for monitoring hard drives, and the SSD edition is designed to work with solid-state drives. The program supports two operating modes - simplified and advanced. The simplified mode, which is aimed at newbies, only displays the most important information about the current state of the drives. Advanced mode provides access to a wide range of technical data, analyzing which professionals can get a more detailed picture of the condition of the disks.

Checking S.M.A.R.T.-attributes is carried out automatically at specified intervals. During the analysis of all vital parameters of the disk, the values \u200b\u200bof conditional indicators of its state are calculated: "reliability", "performance" and "no errors", which are displayed on the "Basic information" tab along with the numerical value of the temperature and the temperature diagram (Fig. 4) ... This information is accompanied by technical data about the drive model, capacity, total free space and running time in hours (days). In the advanced mode, in addition, comprehensive information about the parameters of disks is provided (buffer size, firmware name, a list of supported data transfer modes, etc.), the values \u200b\u200bof S.M.A.R.T.-parameters with flags are displayed (Fig. 5). In case of critical changes in SMART parameters, the program can (after the appropriate settings) inform the user about this in a variety of ways - by displaying a message on the screen, sounding a sound signal, sending a message to the specified email address, etc. It is even possible to launch some third-party program, which makes it possible to perform urgent actions to save data immediately after a hazard is detected (for example, start a data backup procedure).

Figure: 4. Basic information about the current state of the disk in Hard Drive Inspector

Figure: 5. S.M.A.R.T.-attributes "in detail" in Hard Drive Inspector

In addition, the utility can be used to automatically control the noise generated by hard drives (allows you to reduce the noise level at the expense of a small performance drop), and improved power management (reduces the power consumption of the hard disk - also at the expense of some performance drop).

Active SMART 2.92

Developer: Ariolic Software, Ltd

Distribution size: 5.12 MB

Work under control: Windows 2000 / XP / Server 2003 / Server 2008 / Vista / 7

Distribution method: shareware (30 days demo version - http://www.ariolic.com/ru/download.html)

Price:$ 24.95, for Russian users - 650 rubles.

Active SMART is a program for monitoring hard drives by controlling S.M.A.R.T. parameters. and temperature. The utility provides an automatic check of the disk status when the system boots, carries out continuous monitoring at a specified time interval and can quickly scan disks on demand (useful on low-power PCs). The status of the monitored disk is shown in the tray, and the data obtained during the analysis is displayed in the form of a pivot table (Fig. 6) and detailed reports on each of the monitored SMART parameters (indicating values, threshold, TEC date and graph of attribute value changes) - Fig. ... 7. To analyze the situation, a graph of changes in the disk temperature in real time and an event log are also provided, which records the entire history of S.M.A.R.T.-events of the disk. There is support for various types of notifications (pop-up message, sound signal, letter to the specified postal address and network message) when critical events occur for the controlled devices (including for individual S.M.A.R.T. attributes).

Figure: 6. Summary of disk status in Active SMART

Figure: 7. Values \u200b\u200bof S.M.A.R.T.-attributes
with a graph of changes in the selected attribute (Active SMART)

Additionally, the program provides general information about the hard drive (model, capacity, serial number, a list of all available disk partitions indicating the remaining free space on each of them, supported and enabled disk transfer modes, etc.) and allows you to find out what types of data the disk is full.

HDDlife 4.0

Developer: BinarySense, Ltd

Distribution size:6.68 MB

Work under control: Windows 2K / XP / 2003 / Vista / 7

Distribution method: shareware (14-day demo version - http://hddlife.com/files/v4/HDDlifeRus%204.0.183.msi)

Price: HDDLife - free; HDDLife Pro - 20 euros (for Russian users - 300 rubles)

HDDLife is an easy-to-use utility designed to monitor the health of hard drives and SSDs (from version 4.0) in an intuitive manner. The program continuously monitors S.M.A.R.T. for all disks installed in the system and based on the results of the analysis, it issues its own conclusion about the state of the disk in the form of a certain conditional percentage of its health (Fig. 8). This approach is ideal for beginners who are unlikely to be told about specific S.M.A.R.T.-values, and the percentage of "health" will help them navigate the situation. There are several ways to get an idea of \u200b\u200bthe health of your disks. So, already by the appearance of the indicator in the system tray and disk icons in the explorer, you can immediately see how “healthy” the controlled disk is. In addition, through the main window of the utility, more detailed data on the state of the device is available. In the event of critical situations (lowering the level of "health" to critical, reaching a critical temperature, etc.), an alert system is provided. A hint message in the system tray, a sound signal, or a text message sent over a computer network or by e-mail can act as such an alert.

Figure: 8. Verdict on the "health" of the disk,
issued by HDDlife Pro

Additionally, the utility displays the performance level of the hard disk, and also shows data on the operating temperature of the device, its capacity, free space and the time spent on the disk.

CrystalDiskInfo 4.3.0

Developer:Hiyohiyo

Distribution size:1.42 MB

Work under control: Windows 2000 / XP / 2003 / Vista / 2008/7

Distribution method:freeware (http://crystalmark.info/download/index-e.html)

Price:is free

CrystalDiskInfo is a simple tool for S.M.A.R.T.-monitoring the health of hard drives (including many external HDDs) and solid state drives. The program has a compact distribution, is free and has all the necessary functionality for organizing disk control.

Disks are scanned automatically after a specified number of minutes or on demand. The temperatures of the monitored devices are displayed in the notification area (the corresponding option must be enabled), and detailed information about the drives installed in the computer, including the values \u200b\u200bof the basic S.M.A.R.T.-parameters, the temperature and the program's verdict on the state of the devices, are in the main utility window (Fig. 9). In addition, you can see on the graph how certain parameter values \u200b\u200bhave changed over time. For some parameters, functionality is provided for setting threshold values \u200b\u200band sending notifications by e-mail if the parameter exceeds the set threshold.

Figure: 9. Monitoring disks in CrystalDiskInfo

Additionally, the program includes tools for Automatic Noise Cancellation Management (AAM) and Advanced Power Management (APM).

Acronis Drive Monitor 1.0

Developer: Acronis, Inc.

Distribution size: 18 MB

Work under control: Windows XP (SP2 +) / Vista / 7/2003 (SP2) / Server 2008

Distribution method: freeware (http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/download/drive-monitor/)

Price: is free

Acronis Drive Monitor is a utility for monitoring the "health status" and temperatures of hard drives (including external drives) and SSDs through the S.M.A.R.T. self-diagnostic system. The program is free, has minimal functionality for organizing disk monitoring and is able to integrate with Acronis backup products, but it has a very bulky distribution kit and does not have Russian-language localization.

The utility scans disks on its own according to a schedule preset by the developers (monitoring of individual disks can be canceled) and displays the resulting information on the Disks tab (Fig. 10). The minimum data is the level of "health" of the disk in percent (Health), an indicator of the number of days of operation (Power On Time) and temperature (Disc temperature; the values \u200b\u200bof critical temperatures are written in the settings). Theoretically, information about the situation is also displayed in the system tray, but their information content is highly questionable (there is no list of disks, data on their temperatures and health level). Information regarding S.M.A.R.T.parameter values presented in traditional text form, no graphs (in particular, temperature graphs) are provided. For monitored disks, a log of critical events is kept in the log. If problems are detected, the utility informs the user about this (by displaying a text message on the screen or sending it by e-mail) and can automatically create a task for backing up data. The latter is implemented only if you have one of the corresponding Acronis products (Acronis True Image Home 2012, Acronis Backup and Security 2011) on your computer.

Figure: 10. Resulting information about disks in Acronis Drive Monitor

Conclusion

Any user wants to know about the impending failure of a hard disk or solid-state drive. This is quite realistic, if you entrust the monitoring of device data to one of the utilities discussed in the article, which will allow you to get information in advance about a possible disk failure and provide a certain time limit to prevent data loss. Which of the utilities to choose is a matter of taste, however, in our opinion, the CrystalDiskInfo program stands out from the free solutions, and among the commercial tools reviewed, Hard Disk Sentinel is the most impressive.

The choice should be made considering which drives are supposed to be monitored, since not all utilities support SSDs and not all can handle external drives. In addition, it is worth paying attention to the peculiarities of the presentation of accumulated data in utilities. In most decisions, an impressive set of S.M.A.R.T.-parameter values \u200b\u200bis presented to the user's judgment, which are not very clear to the general user, but can tell a lot to professionals. At the same time, products with a different approach to displaying SMART parameters are also presented on the market - instead of "incomprehensible" abstract numbers, a certain conditional value is given in them, reflecting the general state of the disk as a percentage (for example, the "health" of the disk in HDDlife), which will allow you to correctly assess disk situation even for a beginner.

The solid state drive has a fairly long service life thanks to wear leveling technologies and reservation of certain space for the needs of the controller. However, during long-term operation, in order to avoid data loss, it is necessary to periodically assess the health of the disk. This is also the case when you need to check after purchase of a used SSD.

Checking the status of the solid-state drive is performed using special utilities based on S.M.A.R.T. data. In turn, this abbreviation stands for Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology and translated from English means self-monitoring, analysis and reporting technology... It contains many attributes, but here more emphasis will be placed on the parameters characterizing the wear and life of the SSD.

If the SSD was in operation, make sure that it is detected in the BIOS and directly by the system itself after connecting it to the computer.

Method 1: SSDlife Pro

SSDlife Pro is a popular utility for assessing the health of solid state drives.

Erase Fail Count shows the number of unsuccessful attempts to clear memory cells. Essentially, this indicates the presence of bad blocks. The larger this value, the higher the likelihood that the disk will soon become inoperable.

Unexpected Power Loss Count - parameter showing the number of sudden power outages. This is important because NAND memory is vulnerable to such phenomena. If a high value is found, it is recommended to check all connections between the board and the drive and then retest. If the number does not change, the SSD most likely needs to be replaced.

Initial bad blocks count displays the number of failed cells, therefore it is a critical parameter on which further disk performance depends. It is recommended here to look at the change in value over time. If the value remains the same, then most likely the SSD is fine.

For some disc models, there may be a parameter SSD Life Leftwhich shows the remaining resource as a percentage. The lower the value, the worse the state of the SSD. The disadvantage of the program is that the S.M.A.R.T. only available in the paid Pro version.

Method 2: CrystalDiskInfo

Method 3: HDDScan

HDDScan is a program designed to test drives for performance.

If any parameter exceeds the permissible value, its status will be marked with "Attention".

Method 4: SSDReady

SSDReady is a software tool for estimating the lifetime of an SSD.

Method 5: SanDisk SSD Dashboard

Unlike the software discussed above, SanDisk SSD Dashboard is a proprietary Russian-language utility designed to work with solid-state drives of the same name.

Conclusion

Thus, all of the methods discussed are suitable for assessing the overall health of an SSD. In most cases, you will have to deal with the SMART data of disks. For an accurate assessment of the performance and remaining life of the drive, it is better to use proprietary software from the manufacturer, which has the appropriate functions.

When purchasing a laptop or desktop computer, it is advisable to use solid state drives (SSD). Compared to traditional hard disk drives (HDDs), each ssd drive test shows their advantages. The advantage of solid state drives is stable and fast operation, less power consumption and superiority in all parameters, except for cost. But that doesn't mean SSDs are completely flawless.

Because of the design of solid state drives, they have a low lifespan of 5 to 7 years. Knowing what to watch out for and how to protect your drive can significantly extend its operating time.

Solid state drives, unlike hard drives, do not physically move the platters. This property creates immunity from many of the problems of old hard drives. Despite being immune to mechanical damage, other SSD components may malfunction.

Solid state drives require a power supply and capacitor, which are often prone to failure. This is especially true in cases of power failure or power surges. A power outage can damage data on solid state drives, even in a fully functional drive.

Another possible problem with SSDs is the limited number of read or write cycles. All types of flash memory have a similar problem.

The average battery life of SSDs has been measured over the years, so don't be paranoid. Modern SSDs have become less susceptible to read and write problems than older versions.

If you want to know about errors and the performance of an SSD drive in order to have time to back up important information, then you can check it.

Checking errors and performance using programs

To check the performance of an SSD disk, special programs are used, the functionality of which ensures the execution of error tests. Let's take a look at this software.

CrystalDiskInfo

The free utility CrystalDiskInfo checks the speed of reading and writing a disk. Displays data about the state of temperature, health. Supported S.M.A.R.T technology for assessing the status of the drive. CrystalDiskInfo has an installable and portable version. When working with the installed version, the status of solid-state drives is monitored in real time. The icon of the program in use appears in the system tray. The CrystalDiskInfo utility will effectively check SSD for bad sectors.

SSD check:

1. Download, install and run the CrystalDiskInfo program.
2. Scanning the drive to assess its condition and the presence of errors. The result is then issued.
3. The main actions are performed in the "Service" tab in the main menu. There is functionality for setting disk rescanning.

SSD Life

SSD errors and health are determined using the SSD Life software. This free utility is designed only for working with SSD disks. It provides proactive monitoring of declining health levels. There is a portable and installation version. The second option visually displays the status of the disk online, so that the user has the opportunity to track the situation in advance.

The working window of the application has an extremely simple interface. It shows the predicted operating time of the drive, total operating time, status assessment, etc. The report data is updated with special keys at the bottom.

SSDReady

You can diagnose the SSD using SSDReady. Its functions are:

1. Monitoring the status of the SSD disk.
2. Estimation of the potential duration of work.
3. Other relevant statistics.

The application analyzes the data read and written to the disk on a daily basis. It is an excellent option for checking drives for general performance and errors.

DiskCheckup

To test an SSD hard drive for performance and speed, you can use the DiskCheckup utility. This software provides monitoring of S.M.A.R.T attributes of an individual drive. As with the above programs, this application displays hard disk statistics. The information helps to track the health status of the device. The functionality of the product is almost no different from the described applications.

HDDScan

HDDScan is a free utility that diagnoses different types of hard drives. The program will be a handy tool that will help the user to search the hard drive for errors. It supports showing S.M.A.R.T attributes and changing certain parameters.

This product can be used to continuously test a drive to prevent degradation. The application will help you avoid the loss of important files by creating backups.

SSD Warning Signs

A ticking or incessant buzzing of a disc is considered a sure sign of disc breakage. Unlike HDDs, SSDs do not make a loud noise, but there are certain signs of bad disk sectors. Let's take a look at these issues and how to fix them.

Damaged SSD storage sectors

These situations occur when the computer tries to save or read a file. The process takes too long and fails. As a result, the system displays a message about the error that has occurred.

Common symptoms of bad block corruption:

1. System performance is slow, especially when using large files.
2. The presence of frequent errors when transferring files.
3. Abnormal closing or freezing of active applications.
4. A request to restore the computer's file system.
5. The file cannot be written or read on the hard disk.

If you observe such symptoms, you should run any of the above utilities to check for physical problems with the disk. If the errors are confirmed, then you need to immediately create backup copies of the information and think about purchasing a new SSD drive for replacement.

Files cannot be written or read

There are two ways that bad storage sectors affect files:

1. The system detects a bad block while writing data to the drive. This entails a failure of the system to write data.
2. Bad block detected by the system after writing data. Refusal to read this data.

In the first case, the data will not be written at all, so it will not be damaged. The system automatically blocks access to found faulty units. They will be ignored in subsequent entries. If this is not done automatically, then the user needs to save the file to another folder or copy it to the cloud. Then the computer is restarted, and the file is saved in the desired location.

If the second case occurs, the data is not easy to obtain. Several methods need to be used to recover data from a damaged SSD. It will be very difficult to recover data. The presence of bad blocks indicates permanent data loss.

The file system needs to be restored

A message about this error pops up on the screen due to an incorrect shutdown of the computer (not through "Shutdown"). This used to mean developing bad blocks in an SSD or a problem in a connector or port.

Nowadays such problems are solved quite simply. Windows, Linux and Mac have built-in tools that repair damaged file systems. After such errors, the operating system prompts the user to start using the appropriate tools. It is required to follow the instructions to restore the file system.

During this process, there are chances of losing some data, and recovery is a rather long process. This is another reason to periodically back up your files.

Frequent crashes when loading

If the computer crashes during the boot process, but after restarting it works fine, then the hard drive is to blame. This is due to damaged storage sectors or is a sign of disk failure. Better to create a backup before the files are lost forever.

The check is performed by the aforementioned diagnostic programs. When creating a backup copy of data, you can format the disk and reinstall the OS.

The disk is read-only

This doesn't happen often. The solid state drive refuses to perform operations related to writing data to disk. The drive continues to operate in read-only mode. The disk does not change files, and data can be easily moved to another storage location.

Don't throw away an SSD like this right away. You can connect it as an additional hard drive or external hard drive to other computers. You need to make sure that the operating system is not booted from the solid state drive.

If the SSD is still in read-only mode, all files can be restored before formatting.

A number of diagnostic applications are used to test the solid state drive. Most of them have simple functionality that monitors the status of the SSD disk online. If your computer has such a disk, then you can use the functionality of the programs to carry out regular monitoring. This will enable timely health checks and prevent unwanted data loss.