How to Examine the Condition of Your Hard Drive

Many things may go wrong with your computer, but few are as difficult as a hard disk failure. The hard drive (also known as a hard disk or HDD) contains all of your personal data, software files, and even the operating system of your computer. If this fails, your computer is effectively rendered worthless.

Here are several techniques to assess the health of your HDD and common signs to look out for. All of these recommendations are intended for Windows 10 PC users, although most of them are also applicable to Windows 11 users.

Hard drive failure symptoms

How does a failed drive seem or sound? The key symptoms include lengthier boot-up times after a full shutdown and the dreaded blue screen of death (when nothing but a blue screen appears on your computer screen). Another clue is if your computer begins shutting down randomly or if it displays BIOS problems when you turn it on.

When your computer recovers after a shutdown, your disk check application may run automatically, providing you with an overview of its problems. If the utility does not run on its own and you are unclear whether the problems are caused by your hard drive, follow the procedures below to rule out hard drive failures.

How to Perform an HDD Health Check

A hard disk might fail altogether within weeks of its initial fault. To set your mind at ease, it’s critical that you don’t lose any time conducting these tests. Follow the steps below to acquire the most complete picture of your hard drive’s health.

1. CONTACT HP SUPPORT ASSISTANT

If you possess an HP desktop or laptop computer, you’re in luck since it comes with a hands-free tool that will diagnose disk issues in a few simple steps. To launch your HP Support utility, follow these steps:

In the search area of your start menu, type “HP Support Assistant” and click to launch it.

Choose Fixes and Diagnostics on the left side of the application window, then Run Hardware Diagnostics. If the new diagnostic tool isn’t already installed on your computer, you’ll be prompted to download and install it.

Select the system test for a hard drive, which is usually labeled “disk read verify” or something similar.

The test takes a few minutes to perform, but once completed, your HP Assistant will inform you whether your hard drive is functioning properly.

Not an HP customer? A comparable application or software to assess hard disk health should be included with your PC. You may always visit your computer manufacturer’s website or contact their support staff for further information.

2. USE THE WINDOWS CHKDSK TOOL

A CHKDSK command prompt action is another simple approach to check your disk. Here’s how to go about it:

Enter “cmd” into the start menu’s search field. This will launch the Command Prompt window. If you are given the choice, select Run as Administrator.

When the window opens (it should seem like a little black box with white text), type “chkdsk”.

Allow the software to run by pressing Enter.

Until the application is finished, you will see some text scrolling across the screen. Interrupting the process, navigating away from the tab, or shutting off the computer are all bad ideas. An interruption will not exacerbate your disk issues, but it may lead you to miss the final result of the scan, which is necessary to determine the health of your HDD.

When you conclude the hard drive test, you should receive a quick report of any faulty sectors or faults that need to be fixed on your hard drive. If there are no errors, your HDD is in good condition.

3. VERIFY THE BIOS

If you’re familiar with your computer’s BIOS, you may utilize it to verify disk health status. Here’s how it’s done:

Turn off and then on your computer.

Press the F12 key immediately after it boots up and before the OS logo shows. This key may change depending on your manufacturer. F2 or Delete are required on some PCs.

From the boot screen, you can now access the BIOS and discover a disk check option in the settings. This varies depending on your PC, so you may need to dig around in your BIOS to discover it. An HDD health check scan should provide the same results as the phase 1 scan.

4. THIRD-PARTY MONITORING SOFTWARE SHOULD BE USED

Third-party software products that automate disk scanning and repair can be purchased. Some antivirus vendors may also include them in packages with tools that diagnose and manage “PC health” or something similar.

Use any third-party tool with caution, as there is no assurance that it will detect anything unusual from your PC’s native utilities. However, if you are unfamiliar with PCs and need to check for many issues at once, a third-party program may be useful.