Unfortunately its been far to long since I post a PC Tools Weekly,for that I apologize. We kick things right off with another one of my favorite apps and that's CrystalDiskInfo which is a utility app that gets a gauge of the entire operation of your hard drive.
Failing hard drives are very hard to diagnose,often times when your computer is running at a snails pace,or you find applications crashing at random,first thought is as always is it virus or malware compromising my system.
Hard drives believe it or not are the one piece of hardware that can fail on you at any given time,even if the hard drive has just been purchased recently.
When things in your hard drive are about to go bad
There are plenty of apps that can pinpoint whether or not is your drive is failing,but what I always use,even until this day is CrystalDiskinfo. How CrystalDiskinfo operates is simple,it gives you a complete reading of your computers SMART information (self-monitoring-analysis and report technology) as well as the current temperature and health status within your hard drive. The applications dashboard gives users the long list of up-to-date system data. This is so that you the user can visually see if the operation of your hard drive is going well.
The good thing about CrystalDiskinfo is you can tweak the settings so that it sends you alerts in the event something goes wrong. You can switch on Sound Alerts or have it send you alerts via email.
CrystalDiskinfo for me is a very clear and polished interface, all of the hard drive temperatures and general health status displayed in a orderly fashion.
If you're looking for the free alternative for good knowledge of the current operation in your hard drive,CrystalDiskinfo is your safe bet. Its currently available for Windows 7 and Windows 8.1.