So a Caution label is usually a good indicator that you should back up the drive and think about replacing it soon, even if you aren't having problems yet.

But if even one of those bad sectors lands on a file you need, it can be rendered corrupt. These labels apply to hard drives and SSDs that are starting to wear down, but aren't necessarily on their deathbed (read more about how CrystalDiskInfo applies those labels here).įor example, your drive may have a few bad and reallocated sectors, and you still might not have run into any issues-probably because those bad sectors weren't housing any actual data at the time. Instead of saying your drive is OK or Bad, like the built-in tools do, CrystalDiskInfo and DriveDx also have more intermediary labels, like Caution or Warning, respectively. information than your computer provides on its own. For a closer look, I recommend downloading CrystalDiskInfo for Windows (free), or DriveDx for macOS ($20 with a free trial), both of which will offer up more detailed S.M.A.R.T. IT only tells you if your drive is near death, but you can start to experience problems even if the basic S.M.A.R.T. Install Utility Programs for More Data CrystalDiskInfo

The status should read either Verified, which means healthy, or Failing, which means there's a problem. Make sure the correct drive is selected (it's called Macintosh HD by default) and look for S.M.A.R.T. Click System Report and select Storage from the list. On a Mac, click the Apple icon at the top of the screen and choose About This Mac. It will return Pred Fail if your drive's death is imminent or OK if it thinks the drive is doing fine. Just type 'cmd' into the search bar and open the application. status of your drives from the Command Prompt. In Windows, you can manually check the S.M.A.R.T. That way, your computer will automatically notify you before data loss occurs and the drive can be replaced while it still remains functional. Most modern drives have a feature called S.M.A.R.T. (Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology), which monitors different drive attributes in an attempt to detect a failing disk.

That means even if your drive isn't making strange noises, you should keep an eye on its health once in a while, so you can prepare for death before it happens. Unless your drive experiences excessive heat or physical trauma, it'll probably fail gradually.

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