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    A way to test HDD?

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by Blitz181, Jan 12, 2008.

  1. Blitz181

    Blitz181 Notebook Consultant

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    is there a way i can test if there is something wrong with my HDD? Since the day i got it, it takes way longer than normal to load anything on my dell 1520, i have removed some bloatware, but even with bloatware the load times shouldnt be this bad.
     
    Blitz181, Jan 12, 2008
    #1
  2. kozzney

    kozzney Notebook Evangelist

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    Go to Start>Run> and type this in:

    CHKDSK /F

    This should run a checkdisk at the next reboot and fix any issues there might be. But also keep in mind that Vista just plain takes forever to do anything.

    Or if the above doesn't work, open My Computer, Right click on your hard drive > go to tools > under error checking, click "Check Now" and make sure the box "Automatically Fix File System Errors" is checked and it will do the same thing, runs a checkdisk at the next reboot.
     
    kozzney, Jan 12, 2008
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  3. Blitz181

    Blitz181 Notebook Consultant

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    after one of the many times this laptop has locked up and i had to shut it off, it ran a CHKDSK diagnostic before starting up and said something about data being dirty, but it performed the checks and didnt seem to find anything wrong.

    im on xp not vista too
     
    Blitz181, Jan 12, 2008
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  4. FusiveResonance

    FusiveResonance Notebook Evangelist

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    Whose your HDD manufacturer. Most likely it will be western digital or seagate. The manufacturers themselves have software that you can download to test your drive. Just navigate to your manufacturers page and browse around.

    Here are some links just in case...

    Western Digital - Data lifeguard
    Seagate - Seatools
     
    FusiveResonance, Jan 12, 2008
    #4
  5. John Ratsey

    John Ratsey Moderately inquisitive Super Moderator

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    And, if my memory is correct, the Dell utility CD which you may have received will boot into a series of diagnostic tests.

    However, before you go there, download and run HDTune and post the graph you get.

    John
     
    John Ratsey, Jan 13, 2008
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  6. M1chel

    M1chel Notebook Geek

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    Also, check in the Task Manager if there are any processes that take inordinate amount of time. You can check their CPU usage while you are experiencing the slowdowns. You can also check their cumulative CPU usage (how many minutes/seconds since they started) by adding the corresponding column under the View menu. Processes with high numbers would be suspect. Maybe it's not your hard disk's problem at all...
    Other than that, I second the HDTune recommendation (and check all the tabs it presents you with).
     
    M1chel, Jan 13, 2008
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