DiskWatch is lightweight software for monitoring the health of the hard disk drives in a computer. This software utility has been developed by the DiskEng Software Development team and available for download through the following link.
DownloadWhy is this important?
There is one certainty when it comes to hard disk drives, which is that eventually they will fail, unless you’re lucky enough to replace it before that happens. This is a well known fact that most of us think about making backups of our data, but often we think, “I don’t have the time now, I’ll do it tomorrow.” We almost always get away away with this approach, but continuing doing this, and eventually disaster will strike.
There are many factors which determine the lifespan of a hard disk drive while it is running. The operating temperature is of great importance, as this can reduce the lifespan of the components used on the controller board, and those inside the drive.
Operating systems will usually only issue a warning about a hard disk drive problem when it is too late, and media flaws are already damaging data. Should a fan in the computer case fail, the temperature could rise quite rapidly, and often only reveals itself by a system crash, either from the CPU or GPU becoming too hot. During this process your hard disk drives will also be heating up, almost certainly reducing their lifespan.
What will DiskWatch do for me?
DiskWatch will monitor the temperature of the disks inside the machine, and issue a warning if a significant and potentially damaging change is noticed. It also monitors the S.M.A.R.T. data from the drive and when these indicate that a problem is occurring, it will issue a warning.
It is then up to the user to decide what they need to do, but such warnings should only be ignored at your peril. This is not a substitute for a regular backup plan, but for those of us who are either too busy, or too lazy, it could just save you from disaster.
No Warranty
The Software Utility is supplied “as is” without warranty of any kind, either express or implied.
