A Quick and Easy Hard Drive Check
Today we are going to show you a quick and easy way to check your hard drive(s) any time you like – and you can do it in less than one minute. This tip will work in Windows 7, Windows 8.1 and Windows 10.
Instructions for Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 users
In Windows 8.1 and Windows 10, press the Windows Key + X to open the right-click start menu. From that menu choose “Command Prompt (Admin)”. When the command prompt opens, type the following command (exactly as shown) at the prompt >
wmic diskdrive get status
and press Enter
Almost immediately, you’ll see the status of your drive(s). I have two hard drives, and both are OK. If you see something other than OK, it may mean Windows is having problems retrieving the S.M.A.R.T. data from your drive(s). If any problems are detected, they will be shown in the Command Prompt window.
Instructions for Windows 7 Users
Open your Start Menu. Type CMD in the Start menu search box. When CMD appears at the top of the search results, right-click it and choose “Run as administrator”. Then proceed exactly as shown for Windows 8x and Windows 10 users.
Thank you, I got OK’s
Amazing grace! Many thanks for sharing this very useful time saving tip in checking “hard drive.”
I know that almost everyone has moved ahead to Windows 10,but there must be others like me who are chugging along with older (Vista)computers. Is there a simple way to check the hard drive on these old folks (both human & machine)?
Thanks for all the help you give to so many who are not computer literate.
We cannot recommend you continue to use Vista. Microsoft support ends on April 11, 2017. After that date your computer will not get any further security updates and will be more likely to be compromised and a bigger target for cybercriminals who prey on outdated Windows operating systems.
That being said, Vista you can right-click on C:\ drive in Windows Explorer and click on the tools tab and check your Windows drive. I believe Windows Vista was released in 2007 and Windows 7 was released in 2009. The price of computers has dropped a lot since you bought your Vista computer – I would bet you could get a laptop right now, with a bigger hard drive, more RAM and a faster processor than you Vista computer for $300 or less. You should consider this. Hard drives rarely last more than 10-12 years… of course there are always exceptions. I would advise you backup your pictures, documents and music on an external drive or a couple of large USB flash drives. Just don’t want you to lose anything you can’t replace.