• LaCie Rugged Mini 4TB External Hard Drive Portable HDD – USB 3.0 USB 2.0 compatible, Drop Shock Dust Rain Resistant Shuttle Drive, for Mac and PC Computer.
• WD Backup software provides file-system backup, so you can select the specific files and folders you want copied to your My Book. With Acronis True Image software, you'll have system-level backup to create a clone of your entire computer, saving not only your files, but your operating system and installed programs as well.

There are many free hard drive testing programs available to help you determine what, if anything, is wrong when you suspect there may be a problem with a hard drive.

Tools like Windows Error Checking and the chkdsk command are included in your Windows-based operating system already but some others, like those below, are available from hard drive manufacturers and other developers.

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Depending on the issue found, you may need to replace your hard drive if it fails some part of one of these hard drive tests.

Many excellent Commercial Hard Drive Repair Software programs are available as well. Be sure to first try the free hard drive diagnostic software options below before paying for any program!

Seagate SeaTools

What We Like

• Works from both inside and outside of Windows

• Completely free

• SeaTools for DOS works on any operating system

• SeaTools for Windows lets you test a hard drive from any manufacturer

What We Don't Like

• SeaTools for DOS can be hard to use and install

• SeaTools for Windows runs on Windows only

• SeaTools for DOS can deal with only 100 errors before restarting

• SeaTools for DOS might not work well with RAID controllers

Seagate SeaTools is free hard drive testing software that comes in two forms for home users:

SeaTools Bootable and SeaTools for DOS support Seagate or Maxtor drives and run independent from your operating system on their own USB drive or CD, respectively.

SeaTools for Windows installs on your Windows system. Use it to perform basic and advanced testing of any kind of drive—internal or external—from any manufacturer.

For those looking for SeaTools Desktop, SeaTools Online, or Maxtor's PowerMax software, please note that the two tools above have replaced all three. Seagate now owns the Maxtor brand.

Seagate's SeaTools programs are excellent programs. They're used to test hard drives by professional computer services but are easy enough for anyone to use.

The Windows version of SeaTools works with Windows 10 through Windows XP.

HDDScan

What We Like

• Works with all hard drives

• No installation need (portable)

• Easy to use

• Includes a SMART test

• Runs on all modern versions of Windows

What We Don't Like

• Runs on Windows operating systems only

• Doesn't include help docs or tips for how to use the different options

• Can't install the program to your computer (it runs as a portable program automatically)

HDDScan is a free hard drive testing program for all types of drives, no matter the manufacturer. It includes a SMART test and a surface test.

The program is easy to use, is completely portable, supports almost all drive interfaces, and seems to be regularly updated.

Use HDDScan in Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, and XP, as well as Windows Server 2003.

DiskCheckup

What We Like

• Keeps track of SMART attributes to predict hard drive failure

• Can be configured to email you when certain events take place

• Well-organized and easy-to-use interface

• Small download size

What We Don't Like

• Doesn't scan SCSI or hardware RAIDs

• Free for home/personal use only, not commercial/business

DiskCheckup is a free hard drive tester that should work with most hard drives.

SMART info like reading error rate, spin-up time, seek error rate, and temperature is displayed, as well as short and extended disk tests.

Details in the SMART section can be configured to send an email or display a notification when their attributes exceed the manufacturer's recommended threshold.

Hard drives that have a SCSI or hardware RAID connection are not supported and can not be detected by DiskCheckup.

DiskCheckup works with Windows 10/8/7/Vista/XP and Windows Server 2008/2003.

GSmartControl

What We Like

• Choose from three different tests

• Works on Windows, Linux, and macOS

• Lets you view the drive's SMART attributes

• A portable version is available

What We Don't Like

• Doesn't support every USB and RAID device

• When exporting information, it includes everything, not just a specific result you want to save

GSmartControl can run various hard drive tests with detailed results and give an overall health assessment of a drive.

View and save SMART attribute values like the power cycle count, multi-zone error rate, calibration retry count, and many others.

GSmartControl runs three self-tests to find drive faults:

• Short Self-test: Takes around 2 minutes to complete and is used to detect a completely damaged hard drive.
• Extended Self-test: Takes 70 minutes to finish and examines the entire surface of a hard drive to find faults.
• Conveyance Self-test: This is a 5-minute test that's supposed to find damages that occurred during the transporting of a drive.

GSmartControl can be downloaded for Windows as a portable program or as a regular program with a normal installer. It works with Windows 10 through Windows XP. It's also available for Linux and Mac operating systems as well as included in a couple of LiveCD/LiveUSB programs.

Windows Drive Fitness Test (WinDFT)

What We Like

• Very easy to use

• There are two HDD testing functions

• An option lets you perform a deep test for better results

• Lets you test more than one drive consecutively

• SMART attributes can be viewed

• Also lets you erase a hard drive

What We Don't Like

• Can't scan the primary hard drive where Windows is installed

• No tutorials, instructions, or tips are included in the program

• Unable to change where the LOG file is saved

• Works on Windows operating systems only

Windows Drive Fitness Test is free hard drive diagnostic software available for use on most drives available today.

The download link below installs the Windows Drive Fitness Test software to the Windows OS, but you can't use the program to scan the drive that has Windows installed. Only USB and other internal hard drives can be scanned with Windows Drive Fitness Test.

Install WinDFT to Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, and XP.

Samsung HUTIL

What We Like

• Tests hard drives regardless of the OS that's installed

• Not too difficult to use

• Lets you erase data from the drive, too

What We Don't Like

• Tests Samsung HDDs only

• Isn't as easy to install as a desktop-based program

• You have to have access to a working computer in order to set up the program

• The interface is completely text (no buttons you can click)

Samsung HUTIL is a free hard drive diagnostic utility for Samsung hard drives. HUTIL is sometimes called ES-Tool.

Samsung's HUTIL tool is available as an ISO image for burning to a CD or USB drive. This feature makes HUTIL operating system independent and a better testing tool, in general, than those designed for use within Windows. It's also possible to run HUTIL from a bootable floppy disk.

Because Samsung HUTIL is a bootable program, you'll need a working hard drive and OS to burn it to a disc or USB device.

HUTIL will only test Samsung hard drives. HUTIL will load and find your non-Samsung drive but you will not be able to run any diagnostics on the drive.

Western Digital Data Lifeguard Diagnostic (DLGDIAG)

What We Like

• Runs from within Windows

• The Windows program can scan hard drives from any manufacturer

• Lets you boot to the program if you don't have Windows (or have no OS installed)

• The Windows version is easy to use

• Lets you scan external and internal HDDs

• Also shows basic information about the drives

What We Don't Like

• The DOS program scans Western Digital hard drives only

• The DOS program isn't as easy to set up as the Windows version

• Using the DOS program might be harder than its Windows counterpart

Western Digital Data Lifeguard Diagnostics is free hard drive testing software that's available for download in both a portable Windows program as well as a bootable, ISO file and allows for a number of hard drive tests.

Bart's Stuff Test

What We Like

• Runs a stress test by writing data to the drive

• Tests all hard drives, internal and external, regardless of the OS or file system

• Lets you tweak lots of settings

• Really easy to use and understand

• Runs in portable mode

What We Don't Like

• No option to install it to your computer

• Officially supports up to Windows XP only

• No longer gets updated with improvements or new features

Bart's Stuff Test is a free, Windows-based hard drive stress test.

There aren't a lot of options in Bart's Stuff Test and it's not as thorough as some other tests on this list.

All things considered, Bart's Stuff Test is a decent addition to your hard drive testing arsenal, especially if you're having problems testing with an ISO based tool above but want something besides the Windows default tool.

Bart's Stuff Test is said to work only with Windows XP through Windows 95. However, we tested the most recent version of Windows 10 and Windows 8 without any errors.

Fujitsu Diagnostic Tool

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What We Like

• One of the easiest hard drive testing apps to use

• Provides two hard drive testing functions

• Runs from within Windows, but there's also a floppy version if you don't have Windows

What We Don't Like

• Tests Fujitsu hard drives only

• The bootable program runs from a floppy disk only (not a disc or flash drive)

• The floppy program isn't as easy to install and use as the Windows version

• The desktop program runs on Windows only

Fujitsu Diagnostic Tool is a free hard drive testing tool designed for Fujitsu hard drives.

The Fujitsu Diagnostic Tool is available in both a Windows version and an operating system independent, bootable DOS version. However, the bootable version is designed for floppy disks—an image that works with a CD or USB drive is not available.

Two tests are available with Fujitsu Diagnostic Tool, a 'Quick Test' (about three minutes) and a 'Comprehensive Test' (time will vary based on hard drive size).

The Windows version of Fujitsu Diagnostic Tool should work in all versions of Windows, from Windows 10 to Windows 2000.

Fujitsu Diagnostic Tool will perform hard drive tests on Fujitsu drives only. If you have any other make of hard drive, try one of the manufacturer independent tests listed toward the beginning of this list.

HD Tune

What We Like

• Tests several types of storage devices

• Includes helpful tests

• Information can be saved to a screenshot and copied to the clipboard

• The program isn't confusing to use

What We Don't Like

• Can't export results to a text file like most programs support

• Officially works on up to Windows 7 only, not newer Windows OSs

• Only home/personal use is allowed

HD Tune is a Windows-based hard driver tester that works with any internal or external hard drive, SSD, or memory card.

You can run a benchmark read test with HD Tune, check the health status with Self-Monitoring Analysis and Reporting Technology, and run an error scan.

Only Windows 7, Vista, XP, and 2000 are said to be supported, though we used HD Tune in Windows 10 and Windows 8, too.

Free EASIS Drive Check

What We Like

• Hp d530 driver. Scan results can be emailed to you automatically

• Runs a surface scan to check for errors

• Shows SMART attributes

• Checks errors on both internal and external hard drives

• Scan results show useful information

What We Don't Like

• Hasn't been updated in a long time (the last official supported OS is Windows 7)

• Works on Windows computers only

• Doesn't include as many features as most other hard drive testers

Free EASIS Drive Check is a hard drive tester that incorporates two main testing utilities—a sector test and a SMART value reader.

The SMART test lists more than 40 values about a hard drive while the sector test checks the surface of the media for reading errors.

The report of either test can be read straight from the program when complete, configured to be sent to you by email or printed off.

Free EASIS Drive Check is said to work with Windows 2000 through Windows 7, but I was able to use it properly on Windows 8 and 10 as well.

Microsoft Windows Built-In Error Checking

What We Like

• No download necessary

• Also tries to fix any hard drive errors

What We Don't Like

• Runs on Windows only

• Lacks features found in other free hard drive testing software

Error Checking, sometimes referred to as scandisk, is a hard drive testing tool that comes with Microsoft Windows that can scan your hard drive in search of a wide range of errors and correct many of them.

Macrorit Disk Scanner

What We Like

• Great visuals that are easy to understand

• Doesn't have to be installed

• Works on several Windows operating systems

• Updates often

What We Don't Like

Wd External Hard Drive Backup Software

• Excludes features found only in the paid versions

• Free only for personal/home use

• Scans just one drive at a time

• Includes external links you might accidentally click

Macrorit Disk Scanner is a simple program that checks for bad sectors on a hard drive. It's easy to use and you can start using it in no time since it's fully portable and doesn't need to be installed.

The majority of this screen is used as a visual representation of the progress of the scan and clearly indicates if there's damage.

The operating systems that run Macrorit Disk Scanner include Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, XP, Windows Home Server, and Windows Server 2012/2008/2003.

Ariolic Disk Scanner

What We Like

• Checks any hard drive for bad sectors

• Shows which files are affected by errors

• Portable (no installation necessary)

• Very clean interface that's not distracting or confusing to use

What We Don't Like

• Doesn't support HFS (only NTFS and FAT file systems)

Ariolic Disk Scanner is similar to Macrorit Disk Scanner in that it's just a read-only scan of a drive to check for bad sectors. It has a minimal interface with only one button, and is easy to understand if any parts of the drive contain bad sectors.

The program is portable and just over 1 MB in size.

One thing that's different than Macrorit Disk Scanner is that Ariolic Disk Scanner lists the files where read errors occurred.

We tested Ariolic Disk Scanner in Windows 10 and XP only, but it should also work with other versions of Windows.

Quite a few software out there to password protect or encrypt external hard drives. While you can use Windows operating system’s built-in BitLocker To Go to encrypt removable USB flash drives, the feature is part of Windows 10 Pro and Enterprise editions only.

Most of the external hard drive manufacturers offer their own software to password protect files and folders on their external hard drives. Western Digital also offers its own software to password protect its external drives.

Western Digital Security is a free software from Western Digital (popularly known as WD) to password protect WD external hard drives.

The WD Security enables you to password protect data on your WD external hard drives in a jiffy. Since the software is from WD, it’s compatible with WD external drives only.

Complete the given below directions to password protect files and folders on your Western Digital external hard drive using the official WD Security software.

Password protect WD external hard drive using WD Security

Step 1: First of all, download and install WD Security program on your PC. Get it from this page of WD. WD Security is available for Mac as well.

Step 2: Connect your Western Digital external hard drive to your PC. Run WD Security program.

Step 3: Upon launching WD Security, you will see the following dialog box with an option to set your password. Enter the password, re-enter the password to verify the same, and then provide a hint for the password so that you can easily remember the password in case you forget it.

Click Set password button.

If you don’t want to type the password each time you connect the WD external drive to your PC, select Enable auto unlock for this computer (current user).

Please remember that if you forget your password, there is no way out there to recover the password. Worst, you will lose all data on your external hard drive if you fail to remember the password. So, either set a password that you will never forget or write down the password in a place where others don’t have access to the place. The only way to remove the existing password is to format the WD drive, but the action will erase all data on the drive as well.

Wd External Hard Drive Recovery Software Free

To access password protected WD external drive

Wd External Hard Drive Software Update

Step 1: Connect your password protected WD external hard drive to your PC.

Step 2: Open up This PC to see WD Unlocker drive under Devices and drives. WD Unlocker is nothing but password protected WD external hard drive. Double-click on WD Unlocker to see WD Drive Unlock file.

Step 3: Double-click on WD Drive Unlock file. Type in your password and then click Unlock Drive button to unlock your WD external drive.

Wd External Hard Drive Software Update

Your WD external hard drive will automatically get locked once you disconnect or eject the drive from the PC.

To remove the password from WD external hard drive

Step 1: Connect your WD external hard drive to PC where you have WD Security software installed.

Step 2: Launch WD Security program. Select Remove password option. Type in the current password and then click Update security settings button to remove the password. That’s it!

You will see a dialog with “Your password has been removed” message.

Don’t forget to download Acronis True Image free edition for WD drives.