Sometimes we can notice that our computer is showing some signs of fatigue . Normally we attribute it to an operating system problem , a virus or malware. But it can also be due to problems in accessing stored information. That’s why we’re going to see how to detect operating problems on your hard drive .
It is possible that with the passage of time your disk has some damaged sector. This can mean that when you try to read or write in these sectors you run into problems and it takes longer than usual to offer the information, to save it, etc. For this there are certain tools that facilitate the diagnosis of repair hard drive.
CHKDSK, Microsoft’s tool to detect hard drive problems
CHKDSK is a Microsoft tool that has been accompanying this system for years. It allows us to check the status of our hard drive without using external tools. We can check both the system disk, that is, the disk on which Windows is installed, as well as any other disk that we have connected.
To execute it in Windows 10, just press the right mouse button on the start button. We choose the option System symbol as Administrator and we just have to type chkdsk / scan. This starts the revision of the disk, which will take more or less depending on the size of the disk and its technology. It is not the same to review an SSD disk as a traditional hard drive.
If we do not find any problem we can give our hard disk for good . If any problem is detected we will have to try to correct it with the tool itself . For this we can execute the following command after the previous analysis: chkdsk C: / F / R , where C: will be the disk unit that we want to analyze, / F that solve all the problems found and / R that retrieves the information if possible .
If the disk being reviewed is where Windows is installed, CHKDSK will ask us if we want to run it the next time the computer is restarted . This is the best option if we have detected any inconvenience. Most of the problems of a disk can be solved with this simple tool.
Other tools to check hard drive problems
In the case that the problems have not been solved we can go to different tools. If what we are looking for is a more visual solution we can use CrystalDiskInfo . It is a program that installs like any other software and analyzes the status of the discs.
CrystalDiskInfo informs us of the possible problems that the disks may have, indicating if their status is good, is at risk or is bad . It also tells us the type of existing faults, such as the defective sectors indicated above.
Hiren’s Boot, the Swiss Army knife to solve problems
There is a collection of tools like Hiren’s Boot that we have to download and burn to a DVD. You can also create a USB memory through which you can start the computer. We restart the computer and choose to start with the DVD or memory where we have Hiren. In the menu that we will find, we have the option to choose Hard Disk Tools .
It is a collection where the solutions of the main disk manufacturers are . With them we can analyze the hard drive of the computer and correct the possible problems that may be encountered. When using a disk other than the one we are analyzing, DVD or USB memory, we will be able to execute the repairs without any inconvenience. In some cases it is necessary to arm yourself with patience. Recovering a disc in this way can take a long time, by analyzing each of the sectors.
Finally, we must bear in mind that if we have detected a problem on the disk and we do not trust it, it will be better to change it . Within Hiren’s there are tools that will allow us to clone the disk, that is, create an identical copy on a new disk and thus discard any problem in the future. The recovered disk can be used to store information that is not important, although it should never be used for backup copies , for example.