Being proactive helps, and checking your drives for errors and bad sectors, as well as making periodic backups, is something that may help you in the long run.ĭrive manufacturers often have their own software to offer to help with that, and Seagate SeaTools is an offering from one such manufacturers. However, that does not exclude data loss events from occurring, but it's nice to be proactive. You’ll find complete instructions for using Seatools here, and you can download the Windows version of the software right here.Taking care of your drives ensures that they will perform for years to come, and serve you and your data well. And although it’s a Seagate program, the Windows version will test virtually any hard drive made by any manufacturer. Seatools is completely nondestructive to your data which means you can safely run its diagnostic routines on your hard drive without fear of losing any of your files. Trust me, it’s a lot easier to replace a failing drive before it fails rather than after! Seagate’s Seatools is a powerful and thorough hard drive diagnostic utility that will check the integrity of your drive and alert you to any problems, often with enough warning of impending drive failure to give you enough time to transfer the files to a new hard drive, then swap it for the old one before it dies on you.

The one I use and recommend is Seatools, a free program available directly from the hard drive manufacturer Seagate Technologies. While a having a current backup on hand in case of disaster is an absolute must, performing a thorough diagnostic test of your PC’s hard drive on a regular basis is a great way to find out when (not if) the drive is about to bite the dust and take your data with it.Ī great way to keep tabs on your hard drive’s health is to periodically run a high quality diagnostic test on it. Maintaining a healthy hard drive is essential for protecting your valuable photos, documents and other precious data.

Seagate seatools diagnostic software