How to Check If Hard Drive Is Failing in Windows 10 & 11

How do I test my hard drive on Windows 10?

“I recently suspect that something was wrong with my hard drive. I'd want to find out what the problem was. So, how to test my hard drive on my Win 10 PC? Do any tools recommend? Could anybody please offer me some pointers?”

As the user said, he had a suspicion that his hard drive might have some wrong but he couldn’t figure out the particular problem. It’s a normal situation, after all not all users are tech experts. And every time, if there are some suspicious signs, showing that the hard drive might not be well, people are getting nervous and unsettled.

Common signs when a hard drive is falling in Windows 10/11

The hard drive won’t fall suddenly, there’re always some traceable clues on your PC. Here we list some common signs that may alarm you there might be some problems on your hard drive:

• Strange sounds
• Slowdowns
• Corrupted data files
• System crashes
• Blue Screen of Death (BSOD)
• Frequent Freezes
• Overheating
• Ban of data access
• Boot failure
• Apps boot failure
…

How to check if a hard drive is failing in Windows 10/11 via built-in tools

If your computer confronts some of the signs we mentioned above, though it’s not absolute, you’d better show more seriousness.

In Windows, how to check if the hard drive is failing? Built-in tools are not bad, in this part, we’ll show you two tools.

1. S.M.A.R.T. hard drive test

S.M.A.R.T. is short for Self-Monitoring Analysis and Reporting Technology which can check various parts of the hard drive and analyze the problem to report to you. Now it builds in modern Windows systems to help users.

To use S.M.A.R.T hard drive test, you can follow the steps:

Step 1. Type “cmd” or “command” into the taskbar search field and click “Command Prompt” to open it.

Step 2. In the Command Prompt, type “wmic diskdrive get status” and press “Enter”.

2. CHKDSK.exe

Although the S.M.A.R.T. hard drive test is a useful tool, it cannot correct the mistake. If you want to try to rectify the problems, you can run "CHKDSK".

CHKDSK is a Windows program that detects and repairs system problems. It determines if a file's size, location, and other system characteristics match the contents on the disk. CHKDSK also searches for hard disk components that may be corrupting your data.

Here we’ll show how to use CHKDSK to check your hard drive and give you an example.

Step 1. Click the "Start" button, type "cmd" in the search bar, right-click Command Prompt and select "Run as administrator". Type “chkdsk/?” and press “Enter”, you can see all orders and their letters.

Step 2. You can type the task you wish to run and press “Enter” to execute it. For instance, we type the command in the prompt: "chkdsk g:" to test the G: drive, or type "chkdsk g: /f" to repair any errors that might be found in G: drive.

▶ Tip: Check Disk cannot repair volumes that are currently in use: “Chkdsk cannot run because the volume is in use by another process. Would you like to schedule this volume to be checked the next time the system restarts? (Y/N)”. Type “Y” if you accept.

How to test a hard drive with a professional disk manager

As you see, if you need to test the hard drive and fix the error, you need to know many command lines in CHKDSK. Once you use the wrong order, you might lose all data or meet other irreversible consequences. Thus, to help you avoid complex orders you need to know and lower the risk of manual mistakes, we recommend you AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional. This software is a professional Windows device manager for Windows 11/10/8/8.1/7/XP/Vista.

In this tool, you’ll have two options to check your hard drive. The first one is the “Surface Test” which can test the whole hard drive and check whether there are bad sectors on it or not. The second is “Check Partition” which allows you to check a single partition if you need, and offers you 3 choices to check errors to perform.

Both ways only need you to use your mouse to finish the entire operation. So, you don’t have to worry about any instructions you don’t know.

Now, let’s see more details.

Way 1. Surface test

Step 1. Launch AOMEI Partition Assistant, click “Tools” in the top toolbar, and choose “Extend Partition Wizard”.

Step 2. Tick “Quick Check” if you need, and click “Start”.

The task depends upon the size of your disk, the checking process may take you a few minutes to work out.

Way 2. Check partition

Step 1. Choose a partition that you want to check, right-click it and choose "Advanced"> "Check Partition".

Step 2. Select the way of checking errors to perform. There are three choices you can choose according to your needs.

Step 3. Click the "Start" button to check.

Step 4. The operation will be completed successfully in a few seconds or minutes. While it is operating, you can view how far it goes through the process on the pop-out window. Click "OK" to finish this task.

▶ Tips:  For the partition without drive letters (the unallocated space), it should be labeled before you can check it.

By the way, you can also employ the S.M.A.R.T. test with this tool. Unlike the Windows built-in tool, users can see all details and the entire process from the window. Just right-click the disk, and select "Properties" to enter this test.

Ending

Now you know how to check if the hard drive is failing in Windows 10/11. No matter which way you choose, it can test your hard drive well. AOMEI Partition Assistant also gives you more conveniences and more options to help you manage your devices. Besides the functions we’ve shown, it has a scheduled disk defrag function to assist you to protect your hard drive.

As a Windows devices assistant, it has the Server edition to satisfy the needs of Server 2022/2019/2016/2012(R2)/2008(R2) users. If you’re one of the Server users who meet hard drive failure or MBR issues, you can try this versatile tool to fix your problems.