Web User - UK (2019-06-12)

Workshop 4

Get more practical advice atwww.facebook.com/webusermagazine 12 - 25 June 2019^57

Give your hard drive a health check

H

ard drives are proneto fa ilure, especially as they get

older. While Windows does a good job of isolating and

quarantining hard-drive problems, the drives

themselves are often packed with hidden diagnostic

information that can provide a lot more

useful detail. CheckDrive helpsyou ac cess

your drive’s hidden health data andwarns

you if things are likelyto go wrong.

CheckDrive:bit.ly/ascd477 | 20 mins | Windows7, 8, 10

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Download and install the freeversion of the software,

then register your name and email addressto activate it.

When you get access, you’ll see your hard drives listed^1

on the Drive Check tab.^2 To carry outyour first drive scan,

click the Check button.^3

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You’re asked ifyou want to do a detailed drive check.

If you selectYes,^1 your PC will needto restart to

perform a low-level scan of the drive beforeWindows

boots. This is a good idea ifyou’re worried thatyour har d

drive is poorly. Otherwise, click No^2 for a standard scan.

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The standard scan should only take afew minutes,^1

but the detailed scan may take longer.The length of

time it takesrelates to the health ofyour drive – if it’s in

a bad way, you might find the scan takes a long time, and

could giveyou an indication of problemsto co me.

4

After the scan, CheckDrive displays info aboutyour

hard drive. The Drive Information tab^1 reveals basic

information such as the make, model and size,^2 how it

is formatted and whether it has any partitions.^3 There’s also

a visual guideto the amount of space being used.^4

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Under First Impression, click the Diagnosis link.This

opens the Healthdata, which shows you specific areas

where there may be problems.You can see from the

ticks^1 that our drive has a clean bill of health in the three

key areas. To drill down further, click ‘More data’.^2

6

You’ll see a detailed breakdown of the drive’s health.^1

This standard SMART data is accessible from most

modern hard drives. Hover your mouseover a row for

more info^2 and use the Raw Datafor exact values.^3 If you

don’t understand what the data means, look it up online.

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