How can i test whether a HDD is broken

Conrad11 · 10 Dec 2006 at 17:11

Hi there,

How can i check if a HDD is broken without having windows installed?

Thanks.

squiffy · 10 Dec 2006 at 17:13

Read/write test from DOS, left for a day or so.

rpstewart · 10 Dec 2006 at 17:32

The drive manufacturer's own diagnostic tools are usually pretty good. There are links for all the major manufacturers in the sticky at the top of the forum.

Conrad11 · 10 Dec 2006 at 18:25

What about once i have windows insatlled, is there any utilities then?

Jay_t · 11 Dec 2006 at 12:33

You will have to download the correct program for your harddisk & then install this onto a floppy disk. Then you must boot the pc from this floppy and follow the onscreen instructions. It doesn't matter if you have windows installed or not.

ByteJuggler · 11 Dec 2006 at 15:39

Just an aside: Most of the manufacturers diagnostic tools discs are also available as bootable ISO CDROM images, which may be burnt to a CDR and then used to boot from (regardless of whether Windows is installed or not.) Also, while it is recommended to use the disc from your manufacturer, it is actually the case that most of these diagnositc discs do a reasonable job even on drives from other manufactureres these days.

Low level tools in general tend to not run on top of Windows due to Windows typically getting "in the way."

Download the right disc, burn it, and diagnose your hdd... :-)