Hard Drive Testing

arjgrundy · 15 Sep 2016 at 09:00

Hello all

Does anybody know if there is any free software to verify/test hard drives. I want to check some new drives for bad sectors. I know there shouldn't be any on a brand new drive but for work purposes, every new drive needs to be tested.

Thanks

Adam

lude1962 · 15 Sep 2016 at 09:08

if they're business class pc's normally theres a bios option to test hdd's

ie HP DST springs to mind

bledd · 15 Sep 2016 at 09:43

Partition Wizard has a built in testing section..

https://www.partitionwizard.com/

Freeware

Besides that, each HD manufacturer will have a utility for testing their own drives.

In Windows, doing a full format on a new drive also performs a disk check. Takes a while to do each disk.

lude1962 · 15 Sep 2016 at 10:13

arjgrundy said:
Hello all

Does anybody know if there is any free software to verify/test hard drives. I want to check some new drives for bad sectors. I know there shouldn't be any on a brand new drive but for work purposes, every new drive needs to be tested.

Thanks

Adam

A few points, if its for work docs should be saved on a backed up server, also the time wasted checking a new drive that still may fail isn't worth it, ie testing drive 2hrs, replace failed hdd and image 1hr, 1 hour per drive wasted.

arjgrundy · 15 Sep 2016 at 10:36

lude1962 said:
A few points, if its for work docs should be saved on a backed up server, also the time wasted checking a new drive that still may fail isn't worth it, ie testing drive 2hrs, replace failed hdd and image 1hr, 1 hour per drive wasted.

Appreciate that but as part of the process for the work we do, hard drive testing is a process we have to carry out before using the drives

arjgrundy · 15 Sep 2016 at 10:37

bledd said:
Partition Wizard has a built in testing section..

https://www.partitionwizard.com/

Freeware

Besides that, each HD manufacturer will have a utility for testing their own drives.

In Windows, doing a full format on a new drive also performs a disk check. Takes a while to do each disk.

Cheers Bledd, will take a look

bledd · 15 Sep 2016 at 11:12

lude1962 said:
A few points, if its for work docs should be saved on a backed up server, also the time wasted checking a new drive that still may fail isn't worth it, ie testing drive 2hrs, replace failed hdd and image 1hr, 1 hour per drive wasted.

You don't sit there watching the whole thing..

Set and forget..

Semple · 15 Sep 2016 at 11:13

HD Tune Pro also has a good suite for testing each sector of a drive.

lude1962 · 15 Sep 2016 at 13:49

bledd said:
You don't sit there watching the whole thing..

Set and forget..

not if hes testing in a users machine, user cant work

KIA · 16 Sep 2016 at 21:16

Quick:

HD Tune

Long:

badblocks
smartctl

darael · 17 Sep 2016 at 00:57

Hard Disk Sentinel is what I'd recommend, however it isn't free. But as it's for work, surely it's a small price to pay for peace of mind?

arjgrundy · 18 Sep 2016 at 11:46

KIA said:
Quick:

HD Tune

Long:

badblocks
smartctl

Thanks, will take a look

arjgrundy · 18 Sep 2016 at 11:46

darael said:
Hard Disk Sentinel is what I'd recommend, however it isn't free. But as it's for work, surely it's a small price to pay for peace of mind?

Will take a look at that too, thanks for the recommendation

Neutral · 18 Sep 2016 at 15:22

arjgrundy said:
Hello all

Does anybody know if there is any free software to verify/test hard drives. I want to check some new drives for bad sectors. I know there shouldn't be any on a brand new drive but for work purposes, every new drive needs to be tested.

Thanks

Adam

If it's Western Digital they have a proper testing software on their website