There are many free hard drive testing programs available to help you determine what, if anything, is wrong when you suspect there may be a problem with a hard drive.
Tools like Windows Error Checking and the chkdsk command are included in your Windows-based operating system already but some others, like those below, are available from hard drive manufacturers and other developers.
WinDFT (Hitachi Drive Fitness Test) is a great software for testing internal and external HDD as well as USB flash memory. The tests leave filesystem untouched and thus do no harm. In this guide we are telling how to install WinDFT and use its range of tools as good as you can. 800-HITACHI was established to give our U.S. Customers easier access to Hitachi products and service information. Services provided by 800-HITACHI (800-448-2244).
Depending on the issue found, you may need to replace your hard drive if it fails some part of one of these hard drive tests.
Many excellent Commercial Hard Drive Repair Software programs are available as well. Be sure to first try the free hard drive diagnostic software options below before paying for any program!
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Seagate SeaToolsWhat We Like
What We Don't Like
Seagate SeaTools is free hard drive testing software that comes in two forms for home users:
SeaTools Bootable and SeaTools for DOS support Seagate or Maxtor drives and run independent from your operating system on their own USB drive or CD, respectively.
SeaTools for Windows installs on your Windows system. Use it to perform basic and advanced testing of any kind of drive—internal or external—from any manufacturer.
For those looking for SeaTools Desktop, SeaTools Online, or Maxtor's PowerMax software, please note that the two tools above have replaced all three. Seagate now owns the Maxtor brand.
Seagate's SeaTools programs are excellent programs. They're used to test hard drives by professional computer services but are easy enough for anyone to use.
The Windows version of SeaTools works with Windows 10 through Windows XP.
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HDDScanWhat We Like
What We Don't Like
HDDScan is a free hard drive testing program for all types of drives, no matter the manufacturer. It includes a SMART test and a surface test.
The program is easy to use, is completely portable, supports almost all drive interfaces, and seems to be regularly updated.
Use HDDScan in Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, and XP, as well as Windows Server 2003.
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DiskCheckupWhat We Like
What We Don't Like
DiskCheckup is a free hard drive tester that should work with most hard drives.
SMART info like reading error rate, spin-up time, seek error rate, and temperature is displayed, as well as short and extended disk tests.
Details in the SMART section can be configured to send an email or display a notification when their attributes exceed the manufacturer's recommended threshold.
Hitachi Hard Drive Diagnostics Download
Hard drives that have a SCSI or hardware RAID connection are not supported and can not be detected by DiskCheckup.
DiskCheckup works with Windows 10/8/7/Vista/XP and Windows Server 2008/2003.
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GSmartControlWhat We Like
What We Don't Like
GSmartControl can run various hard drive tests with detailed results and give an overall health assessment of a drive.
View and save SMART attribute values like the power cycle count, multi-zone error rate, calibration retry count, and many others.
GSmartControl runs three self-tests to find drive faults:
GSmartControl can be downloaded for Windows as a portable program or as a regular program with a normal installer. It works with Windows 10 through Windows XP. It's also available for Linux and Mac operating systems as well as included in a couple of LiveCD/LiveUSB programs.
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Windows Drive Fitness Test (WinDFT)What We Like
What We Don't Like
Windows Drive Fitness Test is free hard drive diagnostic software available for use on most drives available today.
The download link below installs the Windows Drive Fitness Test software to the Windows OS, but you can't use the program to scan the drive that has Windows installed. Only USB and other internal hard drives can be scanned with Windows Drive Fitness Test.
Install WinDFT to Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, and XP.
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Samsung HUTILWhat We Like
What We Don't Like
Samsung HUTIL is a free hard drive diagnostic utility for Samsung hard drives. HUTIL is sometimes called ES-Tool.
Samsung's HUTIL tool is available as an ISO image for burning to a CD or USB drive. This feature makes HUTIL operating system independent and a better testing tool, in general, than those designed for use within Windows. It's also possible to run HUTIL from a bootable floppy disk.
Because Samsung HUTIL is a bootable program, you'll need a working hard drive and OS to burn it to a disc or USB device.
HUTIL will only test Samsung hard drives. HUTIL will load and find your non-Samsung drive but you will not be able to run any diagnostics on the drive.
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Western Digital Data Lifeguard Diagnostic (DLGDIAG)What We Like
What We Don't Like
Western Digital Data Lifeguard Diagnostics is free hard drive testing software that's available for download in both a portable Windows program as well as a bootable, ISO file and allows for a number of hard drive tests.
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Bart's Stuff TestWhat We Like
What We Don't Like
Bart's Stuff Test is a free, Windows-based hard drive stress test.
There aren't a lot of options in Bart's Stuff Test and it's not as thorough as some other tests on this list.
All things considered, Bart's Stuff Test is a decent addition to your hard drive testing arsenal, especially if you're having problems testing with an ISO based tool above but want something besides the Windows default tool.
Bart's Stuff Test is said to work only with Windows XP through Windows 95. However, we tested the most recent version of Windows 10 and Windows 8 without any errors.
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Fujitsu Diagnostic ToolWhat We Like
What We Don't Like
Fujitsu Diagnostic Tool is a free hard drive testing tool designed for Fujitsu hard drives.
The Fujitsu Diagnostic Tool is available in both a Windows version and an operating system independent, bootable DOS version. However, the bootable version is designed for floppy disks—an image that works with a CD or USB drive is not available.
Two tests are available with Fujitsu Diagnostic Tool, a 'Quick Test' (about three minutes) and a 'Comprehensive Test' (time will vary based on hard drive size).
The Windows version of Fujitsu Diagnostic Tool should work in all versions of Windows, from Windows 10 to Windows 2000.
Fujitsu Diagnostic Tool will perform hard drive tests on Fujitsu drives only. If you have any other make of hard drive, try one of the manufacturer independent tests listed toward the beginning of this list.
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HD TuneWhat We Like
What We Don't Like
HD Tune is a Windows-based hard driver tester that works with any internal or external hard drive, SSD, or memory card.
You can run a benchmark read test with HD Tune, check the health status with Self-Monitoring Analysis and Reporting Technology, and run an error scan.
Only Windows 7, Vista, XP, and 2000 are said to be supported, though we used HD Tune in Windows 10 and Windows 8, too.
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Free EASIS Drive CheckWhat We Like
What We Don't Like
Free EASIS Drive Check is a hard drive tester that incorporates two main testing utilities—a sector test and a SMART value reader.
The SMART test lists more than 40 values about a hard drive while the sector test checks the surface of the media for reading errors.
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The report of either test can be read straight from the program when complete, configured to be sent to you by email or printed off.
Free EASIS Drive Check is said to work with Windows 2000 through Windows 7, but I was able to use it properly on Windows 8 and 10 as well.
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Microsoft Windows Built-In Error CheckingWhat We Like
What We Don't Like
Error Checking, sometimes referred to as scandisk, is a hard drive testing tool that comes with Microsoft Windows that can scan your hard drive in search of a wide range of errors and correct many of them.
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Hitachi Life Studio External Hard Drive SoftwareMacrorit Disk ScannerWhat We Like
What We Don't Like
Macrorit Disk Scanner is a simple program that checks for bad sectors on a hard drive. It's easy to use and you can start using it in no time since it's fully portable and doesn't need to be installed.
The majority of this screen is used as a visual representation of the progress of the scan and clearly indicates if there's damage.
The operating systems that run Macrorit Disk Scanner include Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, XP, Windows Home Server, and Windows Server 2012/2008/2003.
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Ariolic Disk ScannerWhat We Like
What We Don't Like
Ariolic Disk Scanner is similar to Macrorit Disk Scanner in that it's just a read-only scan of a drive to check for bad sectors. It has a minimal interface with only one button, and is easy to understand if any parts of the drive contain bad sectors.
The program is portable and just over 1 MB in size.
Hitachi Hard Drive Diagnostic Tool
One thing that's different than Macrorit Disk Scanner is that Ariolic Disk Scanner lists the files where read errors occurred.
We tested Ariolic Disk Scanner in Windows 10 and XP only, but it should also work with other versions of Windows.
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This page contains information about installing the latest Hitachi Hard Drive driver downloads using the Hitachi Driver Update Tool.
Hitachi External Hard Drive For Mac
Hitachi Hard Drive drivers are tiny programs that enable your Hard Drive hardware to communicate with your operating system software. Maintaining updated Hitachi Hard Drive software prevents crashes and maximizes hardware and system performance. Using outdated or corrupt Hitachi Hard Drive drivers can cause system errors, crashes, and cause your computer or hardware to fail. Furthermore, installing the wrong Hitachi drivers can make these problems even worse.
Hitachi External Hard Drive 320gb
Recommendation: If you are inexperienced with updating Hitachi device drivers manually, we highly recommend downloading the Hitachi Hard Drive Driver Utility. This tool will download and update the correct Hitachi Hard Drive driver versions automatically, protecting you against installing the wrong Hard Drive drivers.
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