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what's best way to test hard drive

8

888qqq

Member
My computer is eight years old. I've recently run a lot of anti virus software and found at least one virus, but my computer still runs slow and the hard drive makes a lot of noise. I ran the Windows Built In Error Checking. After running this I did not receive any notification of a problem; the testing screen simply went blank. Does that mean that the program did not find a fault with the HD? Do HD tests test the quality of the HD heads? My understanding of computers is very rudimentary. Any replies would be appreciated.
 
Run Chkdsk to check the HDD for errors. If it find a bunch that's a problem.
In Windows Explorer or My Computer right click your drive. Choose Properties > Tools > Check Now.
See if that finds errors. If it does run it again but check the two boxes (Automatically fix... and Scan for....).
Run it again after using you computer for a few hours. If it finds more errors the disk is failing.

If the HDD is making more noise now that it used to, that's a pretty sure sign the disk about to fail.

Now would be a very good time to back-up and save anything important.
 
An 8 year old disk? with some modern tools you could do proper testing, but I doubt your OS includes them.
You need a bootup checkdisk with bad sector test. There are some programs that can do so, but not many.
If I was doing it myself I would have done a full low level format and then a physical disk check (if I wouldn't have replaced it outright). I would have recommended to have smart enabled but I don't think it even existed 8 years ago.
However, since you have basic knowledge of computers, probably have all your data on the drive then formatting is probably not an option, so...

Each manufacturer provides a suite of tools to test their own drives.
http://www.tacktech.com/display.cfm?ttid=287
That link I found (google for "HDD test") has links to each manufacturer's diagnostic's program.
 
Originally posted by: 888qqq
I tried Chkdsk twice and each time got a message saying: "Windows unable to complete the disk check".
Click to expand...

Be sure to disable anything thats running and I wouldnt attempt to do anything else while its checking.
 
Find out the manufacturer of the drive.
Then go to the companies website and get their diagnostic software.
Its does a much better job than just reading the smart information.
 
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