If your PC's hard drive is not functioning properly and wish to know what the issue is, then you should always use some good hard drive diagnostic tools. Many diagnostic tools are available out there but finding the best ones is not an easy task.
Some of the tools are inbuilt to your OS already while hard drive manufacturers also offer these tools. So in order to help you find the great ones, today we have a list of 10 Awesome Hard Drive Diagnostic Tools. Some of these tools are paid, while others are free of cost. We hope you will find these hard drive testing tools useful. Check the list out and pick the ones that suit your needs the best!
Here goes the list..
Microsoft Windows Inbuilt Error Checking
Here is how you can use it:
1. Open My Computer.
Infotech
Some of the tools are inbuilt to your OS already while hard drive manufacturers also offer these tools. So in order to help you find the great ones, today we have a list of 10 Awesome Hard Drive Diagnostic Tools. Some of these tools are paid, while others are free of cost. We hope you will find these hard drive testing tools useful. Check the list out and pick the ones that suit your needs the best!
Here goes the list..
Microsoft Windows Inbuilt Error Checking
Here is how you can use it:
2. Then right-click on the drive you want to check for issues (usually C:), followed by a click on the Properties menu item.
3. Select “Tools” then click on the "Check Now".
3. Select “Tools” then click on the "Check Now".
4. You will see options in the next window:
6. Let this scan complete.
7. Restart the PC if asked to do so.
SpinRite
This tool is one of the most sophisticated and efficient third party hard drive testing and repairing tools present out there. It has been in the market for quite some time now, so many people who have used it themselves would recommend you this tool. It is a professional tool and costs US$89.
Samsung HUTIL
This tool's main aim is checking a Samsung hard disk drive but it is installed inside a computer, irrespective of the status of your PC's OS. The drives that are returned to Samsung are mostly NTF(No Trouble Found) after checking. So you should always make sure to first check the drive properly to see if it is actually defective or not, using some of the fundamental troubleshooting of Hutil. This will save you the trouble of replacing and and your precious time too.
Seagate SeaTools
Seagate SeaTools is probably one of the most popular and widely used tool for Windows. It is quite a sophisticated and handy tool that lets you easily and quickly get to know the condition of the disc drive in your external hard drive, desktop or notebook PC. It offers many tests which will check the physical media on Seagate/Maxtor or any other disc drive !
Maxtor hard drive tools
This tool supports Maxtor hard drives. Seagate has now acquired Maxtor, but still it offers amazing diagnostic services especially for Maxtor Drives.
Hard Drive Mechanic
This is another awesome hard drive diagnostic tool that can help you easily repair many hard drive issues which cause many errors and problems on a computer. It is a really efficient tool and costs US$69.97.
Fujitsu Diagnostic Tool
As the name suggests, this one is a tool especially designed for Fujitsu hard drives. It is present in both a Windows version and a bootable DOS version. But the downer is that the bootable version is designed for floppy disks and not CDs. But on the whole it is a great tool and the best part is that it is free of cost!
Bart's Stuff Test
This tool is a Windows-based hard drive stress testing tool. It does not offer as many options as some of the other tools present out there, but still it will be a great addition to your hard drive diagnostic tools, especially if you want something besides Window's default tool. The best part is that till tool is free of cost!
Hitachi Drive Fitness Test
This one is a free of cost tool which can be used for checking almost all types of drives present out there. This tool is available as an ISO file that you can burn to a CD and then use to boot the PC.
AIDA32
This one is a really cool and totally professional system information, diagnostics and benchmarking tool that runs on Win32 platforms. It collects the details of the PC. It allows viewing information on screen, printing it, and saving in many formats such as HTML, CSV or XML. It boasts many awesome features especially for corporate usage, such as command-line switches, network audit and audit statistics, remote system information and network management.
5. Hit the Start button.
- Automatically fix file system errors will correct many file system errors detected. This is highly recommended.
- Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors will perform a search for areas of the hard drive that may be damaged or unusable. If found, this tool will mark those areas as “bad” and prevent your computer from using them in the future. This is a very useful feature but may extend the scan time as much as a few hours.
6. Let this scan complete.
7. Restart the PC if asked to do so.
SpinRite
This tool is one of the most sophisticated and efficient third party hard drive testing and repairing tools present out there. It has been in the market for quite some time now, so many people who have used it themselves would recommend you this tool. It is a professional tool and costs US$89.
Samsung HUTIL
This tool's main aim is checking a Samsung hard disk drive but it is installed inside a computer, irrespective of the status of your PC's OS. The drives that are returned to Samsung are mostly NTF(No Trouble Found) after checking. So you should always make sure to first check the drive properly to see if it is actually defective or not, using some of the fundamental troubleshooting of Hutil. This will save you the trouble of replacing and and your precious time too.
Seagate SeaTools
Seagate SeaTools is probably one of the most popular and widely used tool for Windows. It is quite a sophisticated and handy tool that lets you easily and quickly get to know the condition of the disc drive in your external hard drive, desktop or notebook PC. It offers many tests which will check the physical media on Seagate/Maxtor or any other disc drive !
Maxtor hard drive tools
This tool supports Maxtor hard drives. Seagate has now acquired Maxtor, but still it offers amazing diagnostic services especially for Maxtor Drives.
Hard Drive Mechanic
This is another awesome hard drive diagnostic tool that can help you easily repair many hard drive issues which cause many errors and problems on a computer. It is a really efficient tool and costs US$69.97.
Fujitsu Diagnostic Tool
As the name suggests, this one is a tool especially designed for Fujitsu hard drives. It is present in both a Windows version and a bootable DOS version. But the downer is that the bootable version is designed for floppy disks and not CDs. But on the whole it is a great tool and the best part is that it is free of cost!
Bart's Stuff Test
This tool is a Windows-based hard drive stress testing tool. It does not offer as many options as some of the other tools present out there, but still it will be a great addition to your hard drive diagnostic tools, especially if you want something besides Window's default tool. The best part is that till tool is free of cost!
Hitachi Drive Fitness Test
This one is a free of cost tool which can be used for checking almost all types of drives present out there. This tool is available as an ISO file that you can burn to a CD and then use to boot the PC.
AIDA32
This one is a really cool and totally professional system information, diagnostics and benchmarking tool that runs on Win32 platforms. It collects the details of the PC. It allows viewing information on screen, printing it, and saving in many formats such as HTML, CSV or XML. It boasts many awesome features especially for corporate usage, such as command-line switches, network audit and audit statistics, remote system information and network management.
