‘HDD Test’ and Diagnostic Software for Windows – Bad Sectors Fixing Tools

Windows has some in-built tools to test your hard disk for errors like chkdsk. But, these Windows in-built tools don’t have the feature of diagnosing and testing, so many tools were built to fix the errors on a hard disk.

Testing and Fixing tools:

  • HDD Regenerator
  • Hitachi Drive Fitness Test
  • Seagate SeaTools
  • HDD Health
  • HDDScan
  • chkdsk

1. HDD Regenerator

HDD Regenerator software scans the hard disk for errors and bad blocks and then help in fixing them. Thus, it is bad sector fixing tool. Basically, it solves the problem by transferring them to some other area on the hard disk.

HDD Regenerator helps in reading the problem files, if some data can’t be read or hard drive is not displayed on system. This software is independent of hardware and can be used for all the hard drives. Some of the features of HDD Regenerator are:

  • This software helps in the creation of bootable CD/ DVD.
  • Provides detailed information regarding the performance of the hard drive.
  • It supports both FAT and NTFS file systems.
  • The software works in read-only mode and doesn’t change the logical structure of the hard disk.
  • It provides real-time HDD monitoring.
  • A quick scan of the surface of the hard disk using the Prescan mode for finding the bad sectors.
  • Restoring the unreadable information.

2. Hitachi Drive Fitness Test

Hitachi Drive Fitness Test helps in checking/ diagnosing the internal and external hard drive as well as USB flash memory. There is no harm to the filesystem because of this test. Some of the features of this software are:

  • For performing the testing you have the choice to select between Quick Test and Extended Test.
  • In section TestLog, you will be able to see the status of every test, i.e, Pass or Fail.
  • Reads the SMART attributes which means obtaining the current state of the hard drive.
  • Helps in the creation of Bootable CD. You can use the WinDFT in LiveCD mode if you are not able to boot from your hard drive.
  • There is no data overwriting during the testing.

3. Seagate SeaTools for Windows

SeaTools from Seagate is a testing program that helps in diagnosing and testing the performance of HDD for Windows and DOS. So, if you want to test your HDD operation or check its current state, use this program.

When you will go to the service center they will directly offer you a new disk in place of this, thus you will lose your data which is on the old HDD. Hence, before going to repair service center, test your HDD using this utility.

Note: This software works only for Seagate hard drives.

Seagate SeaTools helps in detecting:

  • Bad blocks and read errors
  • Viruses, malicious applications
  • Hardware which is incompatible
  • Errors- driver related and system
  • Filesystem of the HDD which is corrupted
  • The problem of Windows bootloader on the disk

Working of SeaTools:

  1. At first, the selection of tests for testing and then start running the tests.
  2. Then you will receive a detailed report showing the result as pass or fail.
  3. You will see the PASS mark if HDD is passed, if not you will see the result as fail.
  4. This wh0le testing process takes around 4 hours. Thus, for saving the time, choose any one of the three test modes.

Therefore, Seagate SeaTools performs the scanning of HDD for bad sectors and then repair them. You can Download the software from the link.

4. HDD Health

HDD Health is also used for testing of the hard drive and checking its health status. In other words, this utility tests your hard drive (SSD/HDD) for errors and then make predictions (Health index).

The main window of this tool shows the following information:

  • overall condition of disk structure
  • HDD current temperature
  • manufacturer, model
  • extended information menu

Just like other testing tools, HDD Health reads the SMART information which is used to specify the current hardware performance. SMART information keeps on updating automatically time to time without the interference of the user.

You can Download this software from the official website.

5. HDDScan

Another tool for free diagnosing the hard drive is HDDScan. Also, it checks the SMART information, SSD status, and other parameters. After performing the disk surface test, a log file containing all the information on the disk condition is generated.

Memory storage devices supported by HDDScan Are:

  • SATA/ATA SSD
  • RAID arrays
  • USB flash drive
  • HDD drives with IDE/SATA interface

Features of HDDScan are:

  • It checks for errors like bad blocks and bad sectors.
  • Monitoring of the temperature of all hard drives connected to it.
  •  Testing of Hard Drive (Execution of Reading/Verification/Erasing disk surface tests).

So, Download HDDScan software from the link.

6. CHKDSK

Windows has an in-built utility to check the disk for errors. It helps in fixing errors on Hard Drive, USB memory and SD cards. Also, there is no need for installing any external programs.

CHKDSK utility is there in DOS and is called Scandisk there. Its searches and repairs the filesystem errors. However, it can’t search for all types of errors.

Some features of CHKDSK are:

  • scanning and fixing of NTFS/FAT drive errors
  • marking of the bad blocks
  • scanning of other memory devices such as USB sticks, SD cards for errors

Using CHKDSK:

Step 1: At first, open the File Explorer. After that, from the main section click on “This PC”.

Step 2: Then, right-click the disk which you need to scan for error checking and select Properties.

Step 3: Select the Tools to tab from the new window. Then press the Check button under the Error-Checking section. Thus, the checking for errors will start and Windows will fix them.