SSD & HDD Diagnostics – Complete Health Guide

Persistent slowdowns, disappearing files, and errors stating "Boot Device Not Found" are warning signs of failing storage drives. Hard Disk Drives (HDDs) fail due to mechanical degradation of heads and platters, while Solid State Drives (SSDs) wear down over years of writing data to NAND flash cells. This guide explains how to monitor drive health via S.M.A.R.T., configure settings in BIOS, repair directory corruptions, and prolong SSD lifespan.

💾 Drive Health Quick Reference

Primary Tool: CrystalDiskInfo (Health Status: Good/Caution/Bad)  |  Vital Command: chkdsk /f /r  |  SSD Settings: Ensure TRIM is active and AHCI mode is enabled in BIOS.

Most Common Causes of Storage Drive Failures

  • Bad sectors – physical sectors on HDD platters or SSD cells that lose magnetism or voltage, preventing read/write
  • Power surges / unstable voltage – damages drive controllers, especially in cheap SSDs
  • High temperatures – SSD controller overheating triggers thermal throttling and read-only locks
  • Mechanical shock – dropping or bumping an active HDD can scratch platters, causing permanent damage
  • Wear-out of NAND flash cells – exceeding the SSD’s Terabytes Written (TBW) endurance limit
  • Corrupted filesystem metadata – caused by sudden power cuts, system crashes, or unsafe USB ejects
  • Loose or damaged cables – SATA data/power cords loose or bent at severe angles

How to Diagnose and Repair Storage Drives – Step by Step

  1. Monitor S.M.A.R.T. health dataDownload CrystalDiskInfo (free). Open it to see your drives. Pay attention to "Reallocated Sectors Count", "Current Pending Sector Count", and "Uncorrectable Sector Count". Any non-zero values indicate physical drive degradation.
  2. Fix filesystem corruptions using chkdskPress Win + S, type cmd, right-click and choose "Run as administrator". Type chkdsk C: /f /r (replace C with your drive letter if testing a secondary drive). If scanning the OS drive, press Y and restart. The scanner will attempt to locate bad sectors and recover readable information.
  3. Check physical cable and slot connectionsPower off, unplug the PC. Open the side panel. For HDDs/SATA SSDs, disconnect and firmly reconnect the SATA data cable (to motherboard and drive) and the SATA power cable. For M.2 NVMe SSDs, remove the SSD, blow any dust from the slot, reinsert it at a 30-degree angle, press down, and secure it with the mounting screw.
  4. Verify BIOS controller and boot order configurationsBoot and enter BIOS (DEL/F2). Navigate to Advanced → SATA Configuration. Ensure the mode is set to AHCI, which supports modern drive features (Native Command Queuing, Hot-plugging). Verify that your boot order priority has your bootloader (e.g. Windows Boot Manager) as the first option.
  5. Check and enable TRIM support on SSDsTRIM is a command that tells the SSD controller which data blocks are no longer in use, allowing the drive to wipe them in the background. Open PowerShell as admin, type: fsutil behavior query DisableDeleteNotify. If it returns DisableDeleteNotify = 0, TRIM is active. If it returns 1, type: fsutil behavior set DisableDeleteNotify 0 to enable it.
  6. Verify NVMe SSD cooling and heatsinksHigh-speed PCIe 4.0/5.0 NVMe SSDs run extremely hot under heavy write loads. If they exceed 70–80°C, they thermal throttle, dropping speeds to HDD levels or disconnecting. Install the thermal pads and heatsinks provided by your motherboard manufacturer to maintain stable temperatures.
  7. Low-level diagnostics using manufacturer softwareIf you suspect drive issues, download the official utility from the manufacturer (Samsung Magician, Western Digital Dashboard, Crucial Storage Executive). Run their extended diagnostic scan, check for SSD firmware updates, and verify true health status.

Most Common Error Codes in This Category

Code / ID Error Name Severity
S.M.A.R.T. Bad SMART-REALLOCATED – Drive has bad sectors exceeding limit Critical
0x0000007B INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE – Windows boot partition missing or unreadable Critical
0x00000024 NTFS_FILE_SYSTEM – NTFS partition index corrupt or unreadable High
TRIM Inactive SSD-TRIM-FAIL – SSD performance degrades due to inactive TRIM Medium
Wear Limit Reached SSD-WEAR-CRITICAL – SSD write cycles exhausted, locked to read-only High
Disk Read Error DISK-READ-ERROR – Hard drive fails to read sector payload Critical
NVMe Reset NVME-CONTROLLER-RESET – M.2 controller times out under load High
0x0000007A KERNEL_DATA_INPAGE-ERROR – Kernel requested page fails to load from disk Critical

Frequently Asked Questions

What does S.M.A.R.T. status bad mean?
S.M.A.R.T. (Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology) is a monitoring system built into drives. A "Bad" or "Caution" warning means the drive has exceeded internal failure thresholds (e.g., too many reallocated sectors or write failures). Backup your data immediately — the drive could fail completely at any moment.
How long do SSDs and HDDs typically last?
Traditional mechanical hard drives (HDDs) typically last 3–5 years due to mechanical wear of moving parts. Solid State Drives (SSDs) lack moving parts and can last 5–10+ years. SSD lifespan is measured in Terabytes Written (TBW) — once you reach the rated TBW limit, the memory chips degrade and the drive becomes read-only.
What causes 'Boot Device Not Found' errors?
This error occurs when the motherboard BIOS cannot detect an operating system drive. Common causes include a loose SATA or M.2 connection, a completely failed drive, a corrupted Windows bootloader partition (EFI/BCD), or the wrong boot priority order set in the BIOS settings.
Should I defragment my SSD?
No, never defragment a Solid State Drive. Defragmentation is designed for mechanical HDDs to align files sequentially. SSDs read data electronically and gain no speed benefit from defragging. Running defragmentation on an SSD writes unnecessary data, wearing out the NAND memory blocks faster. Windows automatically optimizes SSDs using TRIM.