How can I check a hard drive?

[dario03]

Sometimes when I go into 1 of my 3 hard drives I get a error. It only happens in the one hard drive. I believe the message is data execution error and explorer needs to shut down. I'm gonna format the drive but want to know if theres a good way to check the condition of the drive.

[JESEDIA]

Originally Posted by dario03

Sometimes when I go into 1 of my 3 hard drives I get a error. It only happens in the one hard drive. I believe the message is data execution error and explorer needs to shut down. I'm gonna format the drive but want to know if theres a good way to check the condition of the drive.

Do you mean Data Execution Prevention (DEP)? If so, you can select a different option for that, for the time being, in order to see if that indeed is the issue.

NOTE: You'll want to turn this back on afterwards. This is a great option to have, since it makes it harder for hackers to execute programs in the background on your machine.

To select the other option:

1. Right-click on Computer and choose Properties
2. Click "Advanced system settings" on the left in the Tasks pane
3. Click Continue if you are prompted
4. Click the Settings button under Performance
5. Click the Data Execution Prevention tab
6. You can select it for essential Windows programs or you can "select" the programs. Choose the second option there, but do not Add any programs. Then click OK.

You will be prompted to restart. Restart your system and try that hard drive again.

Keep us posted!

Cheers!

[veedubfreak]

If you just want to check to make sure the drive is ok, go to whatever website the manufacter has and download the software. Almost all drive manu's have software that will test the drive to see if it has any problems.

[saltynay]

hdtune does a full sector sweep checking for errors