Apparently, most users of computer systems, if not faced, then at least heard about such a wonderful utility as HDDScan. This is an application for scanning and partial recovery of damaged areas of the hard drive.
What is HDDScan data recovery software?
First, let's define what kind of utility it is. The fact is that the program itself is designed to conduct a series of tests of the computer's hard drive, nothing more. In the usual sense, there is no need to talk about file recovery.
In other words, compared to the same Recuva program, which after scanning gives a list of files that can be returned to its original state, this application does nothing of the kind.
If we consider the question of how to use HDDScan, a little wider, the first thing that catches your eye is the lack of an installation module. With its "weight" of about 5 MB in unpacked form, the application, oddly enough, has a fairly impressive list of testing optionshard drive of a computer or laptop, including removable HDD drives connected via universal USB 2.0/3.0 ports. In this case, the HDDScan data recovery program works as an optimizer or restorer of hard disk cluster sectors, nothing more.
Interface
When the application is called, the user immediately sees two main windows. The top one indicates the hard drive selected by the program, and the bottom one (Test Manager) shows the results of a future scan and determination, so to speak, of the viability of the disk. Note that HDDScan (Windows 7, 8, 10, XP, or Vista) will never be used as a recovery tool for certain files in any case.
It is related exclusively to disk testing. If there are several of them in the system, in the upper left field, by pressing the corresponding button, you can select exactly the disk that should be checked. After a quick check, the user receives a full report on the status of the selected drive.
Basic controls
So, how to use HDDScan at the first start? In the main application window, to the right of the line indicating the hard drive, there is a special task selection button.
When you click on it, a menu opens with the main set of tests, as well as the descriptive part of the program (About section). Unfortunately, the HDDScan application does not provide instructions for using the utility, that is, there are no Help files here. The About section contains only links to Russian orEnglish instructions online.
How to use HDDScan: HDD test
Now consider the issue of using the program in more detail. We have several items corresponding to hard disk testing.
In this case, we are interested in scanning S. M. A. R. T. If you pay attention to the menu, there are two similar commands (the second is Offline Tests). However, the first of them scans using built-in algorithms, and the second one calls up an additional menu with three commands. However, it is practically nothing interesting.
Now for the testing itself. When using the basic S. M. A. R. T. a quick scan is performed with the definition of all current parameters corresponding to the selected hard disk. The process takes no more than a couple of seconds. After that, a report is displayed on the screen, in which green indicates normal characteristics that do not require intervention, yellow and red indicate problem sectors. With all this, the report even includes the currently set temperature regime, not to mention information regarding the hard drive itself (SATA, IDE, USB, etc.).
Of course, when considering how to use HDDScan, one cannot ignore the use of the media temperature test job line. Naturally, there is a result in the initial report. However, it only corresponds to the point in time when the test itself was run. Using the temperature tracking problem, you cansee all indicators in real time (chart).
Now let's turn our attention to the Surface Test. Unlike the built-in diagnostic tool that is provided in operating systems of the Windows family, this test works a little differently, although, to be honest, it falls short of applications like HDD Regenerator, since it cannot recover bad areas of the hard drive by remagnetization. Nevertheless, the procedure for determining bad sectors and their subsequent recovery is quite effective.
Recovery of bad sectors
In most cases, users who are not familiar with the specifics of the program, testing should be carried out in Verify or Read mode, when only troubleshooting is performed. If you use the Erase option, the bad sectors of the disk will be updated, and there can be no talk of any safety of information, since in this case the checksums of the files are recalculated and overwritten.
As for further actions, in the program you can use only saving the report, in extreme cases - Spinup or Spindown corrections that allow you to increase or decrease the spindle speed. But such settings do not significantly affect the performance of the disk.
It is possible that HDDScan errors may also occur. Most often this is observed only in cases where the hard drive cable is connected incorrectly or loosely tomotherboard. Then the electrical contact just disappears. Therefore, the easiest way out of this situation is to check the connections.
Conclusion
As you can see from the above, HDDScan is not a file recovery system in the usual sense. Rather, it is a hard drive analyzer application that works on the characterization algorithm that utilities like CPU-Z or GPU-Z use. But, unlike the content of the exclusively informational part, this program for recovering data present in bad areas of the hard drive can optimize the damaged sectors of the hard disk, but not the files themselves, as many people think.
However, recovering bad areas also has its benefits. After using this program, you can easily run any file recovery utility that can read information from recovered sectors. It is on them that the lost information is stored, which is subject to recovery. However, the use of such utilities is a completely different matter.
