How to Perform an SSD Health Check on Windows 11: Tips and Tricks for Maximizing

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Understanding SSD health check in Windows 11 is increasingly crucial for PC and data protection.

SSDs are replacing hard disk drives due to their enhanced speed, reliability, and the rapid evolution of the technology. However, SSDs are not invulnerable to corruption or damage.

This article explains how to check the health of an SSD on Windows 11 and provides tips to enhance its health and performance.

You can also learn how to perform a hard disk health check on Windows in this article.

What Is an SSD Health Check?

An SSD health check in Windows 11 is designed to monitor the condition of a solid-state drive and detect any issues that require attention.

SSDs are incredibly fast and perform at their peak when brand new. However, their performance degrades over time and as they become filled with data. For instance, once an SSD reaches around 70% of its capacity, you might observe a decrease in its performance.

Since the PC's SSD serves as the primary storage and holds the operating system and crucial data, conducting regular SSD Health Checks is essential.

Why Is It Essential to Maintain the Health of Your SSD?

Performing an SSD health check in Windows 11 can benefit you in various ways:

Check the SSDs Health Status

The first function of an SSD health check is to inform you about the status of your SSD's health. It will display the condition of the SSD, identify any bad sectors, and indicate its overall health, be it good or bad.

Prevent SSD Failure

The issues that can lead to SSD failure are similar to those of HDD failure. Common problems include physical damage (from impact or water), data corruption, short circuits, faulty firmware updates, and manufacturing defects.

When an SSD fails, you might experience one or more of the following symptoms:

1. The drive is unable to write but can be accessed in read-only mode.
2. You're completely unable to write or read files from the drive.
3. The PC experiences frequent and unexplained crashes.
4. Regular occurrence of bad block errors.
5. File system failure and Blue Screen of Death errors.

Conducting an SSD health check on Windows 11 should reveal the cause of your SSD's failure, allowing you to address the issue.

Optimize SSD Performance

While performing an SSD health check in Windows 11, you can undertake 'garbage collection' and adjust other parameters to enhance the drive's performance. You can optimize or tweak the SSD to cater to various requirements.

Test SSD speed (transfer speed) Translate the following text into English, focusing on translation only: Test SSD speed (transfer speed)

The SSD health check process in Windows 11 often reveals the SSD/Disk transfer speed, allowing you to determine if the manufacturer's claimed transfer speed (for writing/reading data) is accurate. You can also learn how to perform a hard drive speed test here.

You can also get a rough idea of your SSD's performance.

How Can You Perform an SSD Check in Windows 11?

There are various methods to check SSD health in Windows 11:

• Windows 11 Built-in Tools
• SSD Health Check Software

Most methods for checking SSD health also work on HDDs in Windows 11.

Let's explore 4 methods to check SSD health in Windows 11.

1. Windows Built-in Tool - Command Prompt

The Command Prompt, abbreviated as CMD, is a built-in Windows tool that enables you to perform an SSD health check on Windows 11 using the WMIC command-line utility.

Windows Management Instrumentation Command (WMIC) is useful for checking SSD health and performing other S.M.A.R.T. functions.

The Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology (S.M.A.R.T.) feature in SSDs enables your PC to automatically keep track of and assess the SSD's condition. Through Command Prompt, you can inspect your SSD for read-write errors, percentage of usage, temperature, wear leveling, and various other crucial details.

It will warn you before the SSD suffers significant data loss.

To use the WMIC tool, follow these steps:

Step 1. Press the Windows Key + R, type "cmd" and then press "Enter". The Command Prompt will appear.

Step 2. In the Command Prompt window, type "wmic" and then press "Enter".

Step 3. When the wmic interface is ready, type "diskdrive get status," then press "Enter."

Step 4. The command prompt will display each drive, along with one of two statuses:

• OK - indicating that your SSD is performing healthily.
• Pred Fail - suggesting that your drive might fail shortly.

If the status is Pred Fail, you should back up your data immediately, if you haven't already, as there is a risk of losing your data when the disk fails.

2. Utilize the Partition Master tool to fix disk errors

tools Partition Master is a comprehensive partition management tool that effectively handles and prepares HDD/SSD partitions for Windows 11 without causing data loss. It also features a "Check File System" function to automatically correct disk errors.

Step 1. Open Partition Master on your computer. Locate the disk, right-click the partition you wish to check, and select "Advanced" > "Check File System."

Step 2. In the Check File System window, select the "Try to fix errors if found" option and click "Start".

Step 3. The software will start checking your partition file system on the disk. When it's done, click "Finish".

You can use this function to perform an SSD health check on Windows 11.

3. Run "Defragment and Optimize Drives" on Windows 11 To perform disk defragmentation and optimization on your Windows 11 computer, follow these steps: 1. Press the Windows key + I to open Settings. 2. Click on "System" in the left sidebar. 3. From the System page, select "Storage" on the right side. 4. At the bottom of the Storage settings, click on "Advanced storage settings." 5. Under the "Optimize drives" or "Drive optimization" section, click on "Optimize." 6. You'll see a list of available drives on your system. Check the box next to the drive you want to defragment and optimize. 7. Click on "Run optimization" or "Optimize" to start the process. The utility will analyze the selected drive, defragment it if necessary, and optimize it for better performance. This process may take some time, depending on the size of the drive and the amount of data it contains.

Defragmenting and optimizing your Windows 11 drives can enhance your PC's performance by speeding up file reading and writing, improving system smoothness, and accelerating startup times. This is achieved by arranging the data on your SSD drive more efficiently.

You can enhance this performance by defragmenting and optimizing the Windows 11 SSD drive.

The standard method to defragment and optimize SSD drives in Windows 11 is via the Defragment and Optimize Drives utility:

To defragment/ optimize the drive, follow these steps:

Step 1. Press the Windows key.

Step 2. Search for "defragment".

Step 3. Select Defragment and Optimize Drives.

Step 4. Select the disk drive you want to optimize.

Step 5. Click the "Optimize" button.

4. Launch SeaTools to Monitor SSD (Seagate) Translate: 4. Start SeaTools to monitor the SSD (Seagate).

Before using the SeaTools, download and install the application.

Once it's installed, start SeaTools by doing the following:

If you have a SeaTools for Windows shortcut on your desktop, simply launch the program from there. If not, follow these steps.

Note: Prepare the PC for SeaTools diagnostics.

1. Ensure that you close all other applications before running a hard disk diagnostic. 2. Keep the PC fully powered or plug it in. The diagnostic process can take a long time, and the PC might enter Sleep or Hibernate mode; make sure both of these options are disabled. 3. Click on the Start or Windows logo button. 4. Type "Control Panel" in the search bar. 5. In the Control Panel, choose "Power Options." 6. Set the "Turn off hard disks" option to "Never."

When the PC is prepared, proceed with the following steps to run the SeaTools diagnostics:

Step 1. Click on "Start > Programs > Seagate".

Step 2. Select "SeaTools for Windows".

Step 3. Once SeaTools opens, select the Drives to test the various storage devices in your system. On the screen, you'll also see additional information about the drives, such as the Model Number and Serial Number. You can choose multiple drives to test them concurrently.

Step 5. Now, select the test to run from the menu of available diagnostic tests. All Basic Tests are data-safe, read-only tests. The tests include:

• Fix All
• Short Drive Self Test
• Drive Information
• Short Generic
• Long Generic

Step 6. Once you select the tests to perform, it will begin immediately.

The "Short Drive Self Test" (DST) runs a comprehensive diagnostic procedure embedded in the SSD's firmware. It is sufficient for most scenarios.

If you need a more comprehensive test, you can consider running the "Long Generic," which reads each sector on the drive. However, it will take a long time to complete.

Step 7. After finishing the diagnostic test, you'll see a summary of the results. You can locate the results in the log file created for each drive, saved in the program's installation folder.

Results summary:

To read the rules summary log,

Step 1. Click "Help > View Log File".

Step 2. You can also view the test results log by clicking on:

• "Pass Info" or "Fail Info," depending on the test results next to the "Help" option.
• You'll see three tabs here: "Pass Info," "Warranty Checker," and "View Log File."

Step 3. The possible test results are as follows:

• Passed
• Failed
• Aborted

Usually, SeaTools tests result in a PASS status. This helps rule out the SSD as the source of system issues or a physical cause.

请注意，硬盘可能在正常运转，但数据可能存在损坏。在这种情况下，你需要运行chkdsk来修复损坏的数据和坏扇区。

How Can I Improve the Health of My SSD?

Now that you know how to perform an SSD health check in Windows 11, there's one crucial aspect left: safeguarding the SSD and enhancing its health.

There are several issues and scenarios that could potentially harm your PC's SSD or reduce its lifespan. By avoiding these, you can maintain the SSD's health or prolong its longevity.

Here are some methods to maintain the health of your SSD:

1. Avoid extreme temperatures. While SSDs are more resilient to extreme heat or cold compared to HDDs, it's crucial to keep them away from such conditions, particularly for extended periods. 2. Prevent power shocks or outages. Power fluctuations can damage any computer component, including SSDs. 3. Do not fill the SSD to its maximum capacity. Leave some space on the drive to avoid filling it up completely. If your drive is nearly full, delete unused files on your PC or move them to external storage. 4. Protect against physical damage from shocks, like dropping your laptop, which can damage the SSD. 5. Regularly update the SSD firmware to maintain optimal performance. 6. Enable AHCI (Advanced Host Controller Interface). This provides a high-speed interface for data transfer between the SSD and the motherboard. 7. Disable hibernation. Although it allows quick resumption of work, hibernation shortens the SSD's lifespan as it consumes more power than simply shutting down the computer. Upon restart, it loads everything from the SSD back into the PC.

Conclusion

In this article, you have learned about SSD health check in Windows 11. You have also discovered how to maintain the health of your SSD and enhance its performance, speed, and lifespan. Regularly monitoring your SSD's health helps prevent failures and safeguard invaluable data from loss.