One of the most unreliable components of any modern computer is a hard drive, also known as "hard drive, HDD, screw, hard, hard". According to statistics, most of the calls to service centers are caused precisely by problems with these devices. It would seem: taking into account the modern level of development of computer technology, the user does not need to know what to check the hard drive. Still, from the moment of its appearance, not a single decade passed, and "childhood diseases" must be overcome. In fact, this is not so, and the computer owner often has to understand what to check the hard drive. The reason is simple: there have not been any major changes in the principle of the "screws" operation: all the same disks covered with a layer of magnetizable material; Flying over them frames with heads; Stepper mechanism and motor, rotating spindle. Of course, the speed of rotation was increased, the density of recording was increased, and some other characteristics were improved. But all these improvements are evolutionary, so there is no need to expect any special changes in terms of reliability. The only exception is hard disks based on solid state memory (SSD), in which there are no moving parts at all. Accordingly, for them the question is how to check the hard drive is not at all relevant. At least, in its usual meaning.
For owners of more affordable classical "hard" you just need to know what to check the hard drive. Incorrect termination of the operating system, shake or overheating of the device - all this can lead to the appearance of unreadable parts of the magnetic surface, the so-called bad blocks (bads, bads). Recording to these sectors is impossible, however, as well as reading. The information contained in them can not always be restored. A "new" hard drive, the surface of which contains similar problems, should not be purchased. And the main one, which has already been rebuilding the broken sectors, it is better to prepare for the replacement.
How do you know the state of the surface? Nothing complicated in this. It is enough to launch a specialized program, specify the desired disk and see information about it. It is also possible to perform testing, which gives even more accurate results.
The simplest verification of the hard drive is based on the study of the SMART table data. In every modern HDD there is an integrated firmware that constantly records any changes in the monitored parameters: the temperature has risen above the allowable temperature - the counter has fixed it; There was an unreadable sector - this fact is registered.
Windows users need to download, install and run the HDDScan program. Specify the desired hard drive (it should be connected to the computer) and press the SMART button. The RSC parameter corresponds to the broken sectors: here the red sign indicates the presence of problem areas. The higher the number in the Value column, the worse the state.
More precisely, you can determine the wear by using a test. You must select Verify mode and click Start. The more long-read areas - the worse. The surface map is displayed here - in the largest window. Such a test is the most informative of all possible. It can also be found in the program Victoria.