Hard Disk Sentinel

Drive issues are no laughing matter, especially when they involve any kind of failure. Unlike other hardware, hard disks and SSDs happen to have a lifespan that, at least in theory, is lower than other components. This is precisely related to the maximum wear the component can sustain: SSDs come with a TBW rating, while mechanical wear is often a concern with HDDs.

As is often the case, it’s best to be proactive and spot any irregularities as soon as possible. Hard Disk Sentinel is a well-known utility that can help you assess the health of your drives as shown through the S.M.A.R.T. readings, as well as test its performance via a series of built-in benchmarks.

As stated earlier, the program offers users various information pertaining to their drives. It does so in a way that is easy to understand, making it a viable choice even for a less experienced audience. The performance and health indicators, as well as the additional explanations relating to them, do well to answer the question of whether your drives are exhibiting failure indicators.

More data about a drive’s temperature and other S.M.A.R.T. readings is also presented through the software. To further this, the Information and Disk Performance tab provide their own sets of data which can be of use to someone more experienced.

Various tests that can help you determine the performance and wear level of your drives are available. A short or long Self-Test can help scan for anomalous behavior, while a Surface Test will verify your sectors to look for any unreadable blocks.

Performance-wise, the Random Seek Test should offer you all the information you need about your drive’s reading capabilities. The test’s duration can be configured based on your preferences.

Hard Disk Sentinel can be a valuable tool for many. Given that it can detect signs of hardware failure pertaining to HDDs and SSDs and present it in a user-friendly way, it’s an easy recommendation.