Unlike HDDs, SSDs give little to no warning that they are about to fail, so it’s important to periodically check your SSD’s health status. Some manufacturers provide a dedicated tool that supports their own brand – e.g., Samsung Magician – but if you don’t have such a tool, there are alternatives.
Check Your SSD Using CrystalDiskInfo
CrystalDiskInfo is portable freeware that provides a comprehensive report of your drive’s health status, including total reads, total writes, error rates, temperature, and an overall health score. In my opinion, it is the best choice:
- For more information, plus a direct download link, visit: CrystalDiskInfo – Crystal Dew World
Quick SSD Health Check
Not that CrystalDiskInfo is slow, results come up almost instantly after running the software. However, if you want to run a quick and simple check, you can do so via a couple of commands.
- Open a Command Prompt, type in WMIC, and hit Enter
- Now type in diskdrive get status and hit Enter
If the result is OK, your drive has passed. The three OKs in the above screenshot are because I have three internal drives connected. Apparently, all are OK.
- You also might like: How To Restore Windows To A New SSD
BOTTOM LINE:
Neither of the above methods involves writing to the drive, so both are safe to use without the concern of shortening your SSD’s lifespan. Any tests/checks that involve writing to the SSD, however, should be avoided, or at least used sparingly.
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