Hard Disk Optimisation and Monitoring: How to do it?

The hard drive is the heart of the computer, all information passes through it. All data is only stored on the hard drive - from work documents, holiday photos, videos or music to virtually all firmware. That's why it's important to know in advance what might be wrong with our HDD or SSD to avoid data loss. The good or bad performance of the drives in a PC directly affects its performance. This means that you need to keep a close eye on the condition of your HDD or SSD in order to fix any possible problems as soon as possible. First of all, we should pay attention to the fact that there are several signs or situations that will allow us to suspect that something is wrong with the computer's storage unit. Below, we will talk about some of them that we should pay attention to in order to determine that there is something wrong with the hard drive or SSD.

Some programs that are commonly installed regularly close for no apparent reason, at least at first. We encounter unexpected error messages in programs when performing read or write tasks to disc drives. If we have a mechanical hard drive built in, we hear noises and humming coming from the drive itself. Occasionally Windows will display the dreaded blue screen with drive related codes. The time to search or run programs increases dramatically. Some data loss occurs without deleting files. We also notice an increase in temperature in the area where the hard drives are installed. When we turn on the computer, the operating system cannot recognise some of these drives in the usual way. All this means that the life of the hard drive is coming to an end.

Defragmentation and drive optimisation application

The easiest way to check the health of your hard drive is to use the Disk Defragmentation and Optimisation app, which is installed by default in Windows 10 and Windows 11. Defragmentation is the process of reorganising the data stored on your hard drive. All related pieces of data are reassembled and aligned again in a consistent, clean and orderly manner. This is why defragmentation not only improves the health of the disc, but also improves the overall performance of the PC.

Traditional SAT hard drives may be losing heavily to solid state drives (SSDs), which are much faster, but they are still very popular as an affordable way to store all of our stuff. Although SSDs work differently and don't require defragmentation, they still sometimes require optimisation. So if we notice our HDD slowing down, we should check how fragmented it is.

HD Tune

With this comprehensive tool, we will be able to monitor the health and performance of our hard drive. We will be able to see everything from health status to read and write speeds, as well as a number of additional tools useful in many cases, such as a thermometer with disc temperature, error finder, status monitor and even a tool to safely delete data on the hard drive. A 15-day trial version can be downloaded from the official website. The licence costs €24.95. To read the SMART data, click on the Health tab and on the screen we will see that SMART has a number of controls and registers. If the values are displayed in white, everything is normal, the hard drive should not fail. As errors are detected, these values change between yellow, alert and red, which tells us that the drive could fail at any time and we could lose our data.

To check all sectors of your hard drive, click on the ‘Error Scan’ tab. From here, the software will analyse the entire hard drive and show us the status of each sector. This way, we will always know if any part of the disc is corrupted or if there might be some problem. The program has two types of analysis. The fast scan analyses the surface of the disc and shows serious errors. There is also a slow scan that scans the entire hard drive sector by sector. This is a very slow process that can take several days. Once you have selected the type of test, click on the ‘Start’ button and wait for it to complete. Finally, the ‘Speed Map’ button will show us the read speed of the disc in each sector instead of the errors detected.

This is a powerful free application that allows us to both check the health of our discs and measure their performance. In addition, it offers a feature through which we can find out the SMART data of each of the computer's drives. On the other hand, its user interface is somewhat outdated and needs a serious update, which directly affects the layout of the features available here.

CrystalDiskInfo

If we prefer to use a free tool, CrystalDiskInfo can be a great option, as the program is as simple as it is powerful. With its help, you will get all the information you need such as temperature, health status, hard drive types and characteristics, as well as other attributes such as read and write error rates, activation times, etc. You can download its 32- or 64-bit version from the developer's website. You can also download a portable version of the program, which does not require installation and can be run from external storage devices - hard drive, storage device or memory card.

This is a disc drive-oriented program that is easy to use and has many available features. It has a portable version and also offers all sorts of information related to computer discs. As a disadvantage, some of the data available and presented in the program's interface can be difficult to understand for users who are not experts in this type of content. Another way to check if your hard drive or SSD has failed is to run a performance test. In this type of test, the drives are put under maximum load to measure their performance, which if something goes wrong will cause them to fail instantly.

If you find that read or write speeds are too slow, or the test simply fails to complete due to an error, then there is something wrong with the drive. If it's an SSD drive, the memory chips may already be damaged and it's time to buy a new one before it fails permanently. If it's a regular hard drive, perhaps it's too full or fragmented, hence the problems. Or, of course, it could also be failing.

Conclusion

Regularly monitoring the health of your hard drive or SSD is crucial for preventing data loss and maintaining optimal computer performance.

Remember, while SSDs generally require less maintenance than traditional HDDs, they still benefit from optimization. By taking the time to check your drive's health and performance, you can extend its lifespan and protect your valuable data. Early detection of problems allows for timely backups and replacements, minimizing disruptions to your work and personal life.

So, don't ignore the health of your computer's heart - give it the attention it deserves.