Keeping an eye on the computer's hard disk means receiving warnings and notifications if there are errors or malfunctions that can damage the data stored in it, and therefore the files on the computer. The errors of a hard disk can be sudden but, in general, you can keep under control both the software problems of files that have become unreadable, and, above all, problems related to the surface of the hard disk that can, after a certain period of time, deteriorate.
On this occasion we see a free program that allows you to do real time monitoring of the integrity of the hard disk with some basic tools to preserve its full functionality and to be notified when it needs to be replaced .
Acronis Drive Monitor is a program developed and distributed for free by the same company that sells the famous backup program, Acronis True Image.
It constantly monitors the hard disk using SMART information and the Windows event log .
Before downloading, a registration to the Acronis website with any email address is required.
Acronis Drive Monitor only works well for hard drives that support the SMART monitoring system.
If SMART is not supported, then the program can only send notifications from the event log.
When the program starts, after a quick installation, a summary of the problems found on the hard disk and the critical events found in the Windows event log are displayed.
There is also a Backup tab which is more of an invitation to buy the Acronis backup program.
The program remains active in the background and starts automatically with Windows.
To remove monitoring, you can go to the options panel and disable "monitoring".
Drive Monitor, for the rest, is very simple to use and does nothing but warn the user about the wear of the disk and the temperatures reached .
This represents the best way to predict malfunctions and, therefore, understand when it is necessary to change the old hard disk with a new one to avoid problems.
From the main interface you can read critical events and real time monitoring results.
In the options you can configure the controls that can be performed, whether or not they are enabled.
If you do not have the Acronis True Image backup program, you should disable that check.
You can also configure an Email address to send error notifications to.
For each problem found, a degree of severity is indicated and additional information can be obtained with a link that refers to the page of the Acronis site relating to that problem.
The most interesting feature of the program is the list of critical events extracted from the Windows event log however, without SMART support, monitoring of the hard disk cannot be complete.
Acronis Drive Monitor does not offer anything that cannot be done directly from Windows, however, being free, you can recommend a trial, especially if you manage multiple computers.
In another article I had already mentioned other similar tools to check errors in a hard disk, the status and performance .
Different speech instead is that concerning the operations to be done to correct the errors with the scandisk .
