14 DAY TRIAL // Last week, we had a backup tool here, but I still didn't get to backup my data properly on my home computer... Anyway, if I can't backup my data, I can at least try to make sure my storage device is safe and healthy. Of course, my hard drive won't talk to me or cry out for help when it has problems, but I can query its SMART values. I am not a programmer, so the only available solution is to get a program that retrieves all possible information about my hard drive's status...and a bit extra, if possible, of course!
My target is called Hard Drive Inspector, its latest version is numbered 1.9, and what I have here is a trial, of course. You have an entire month at your disposal to try this out, and no other limitations during this period. The installation kit of this program is almost 2MB in size, and the setup process ends in a flash. Now, let's see exactly what can be done with this program!
As usual, first area to check is the program's interface, and I must say that Hard Drive Inspector impressed me. There's not much to be seen inside this program, but all the graphics here are excellent, and the interface is well organized and very easy to use. The main window has four tabs leading to the application's information areas that we're going to explore right away, and the toolbar has four items that will be revealed in the end.
The first tab contains basic information about your hard drive(s) and current status. Here, you can notice for the first time the contextual help icon that you're going to see in each area of the program. If you click it, a help window with information about the current area you're in opens and, just keep this in mind, it may prove useful in the future. Inside the General Info area, you can find a text link leading to a temperature diagram of your hard drive, but you can't change the time dimension of it, and I would like to see the temperature of my hard drive during an entire day, for example.
Moving on, we meet the Advanced Info area. What we have here is a tree view with all the information about your hard drive(s) you can think of, like manufacturer, model, logical and physical geometry info, transfer modes, security features and more.
The SMART Details area holds the information about your current hard drive(s) vital signs - spin up time, power-on hours count, read and write error rates and all the others.
At last, the Prognosis area estimates when your hard drive should meet its end, considering its evolution in time until the current moment. There are two items taken into equation here - pulse and breathe. Well, they are the heart beat and the breathing of a hard drive...I am talking about the power-on hours count and spin up time. Anyway, don't take these for granted, they are just estimations, but sometimes they can prove to be a useful warning.
This was the main window. Now, what else? First, the temperature of your drive is displayed into the system tray - just look and you'll notice it. Now, reports. Inside the toolbar there are two ways to get reports: save them to your drive into HTML or TXT format or send an e-mail. To configure the mail settings, just go to the Options area, the third icon on the toolbar. At last, you can find the excellent Help file.
This is it, easy to use, yet effective! Shall we have some conclusions? Sure, here they are!
The Good
Hard Drive Inspector is a great tool for monitoring your hard drive(s) and knowing when to think about backing up more often and consider buying new storage devices. This program is easy to use, has an excellent interface and enough features to accomplish its job and even do a little more.
The Bad
There are two problems with this program, as I have noticed - its price is pretty high, and the worst part - it doesn't support SCSI and RAID drives.
The Truth
Hard Drive Inspector is a great tool for any home user who wants to keep an eye on the status of its hard drive(s) and prevent avoidable data loss. Since the trial is free, don't wait any longer, your hard drive may be in pain! Get Hard Drive Inspector now!
Here are some snapshots of the application in action:
