Checking a flash drive or memory card for errors. Checking the actual speed of the flash drive

We bring to your attention a small, but very useful and convenient - H2testw, intended for testing operation USB media information. It allows you to determine presence of errors on the device and operating speed media (for example, or SD memory card).

Although this was originally developed only for, it can also be used for testing tough disks and even network disks.

This very useful program is absolutely free, so you can use it on any computer.

It is possible to note a number advantages this utility:

1. The program is very easy to use
2. Does not require installation - just run the executable file
3. Administrator rights on the computer are not required to run the program
4. Allows you to test 1.1 and 2.0 USB drives
5. Allows testing of 1.1 and 2.0 USB ports
6. Perfect for analyzing flash drives with capacities of 4GB, 8GB, 16GB, 32GB, 64GB
7. The program is absolutely free
8. The program prepares a report on checking the drive, if everything is good - a short one, if there are problems - a report on the problems found.
9. The program size is only 213 KB
10. You can test data disks without damaging existing data

1. How to download H2testw

After clicking the " Upload file"A window will appear asking you to download the file" h2testw_1.4.zip" This zip-archive, when unpacked, 3 files will appear:

• h2testw.exe— the program itself for testing
• readme.txt- file with description in English
• liesmich.txt- file with description in German

2. How installH2testw

No installation required for H2testw! To start, just run the file h2testw.exe and that's all.

3. How use H2testw

After starting the program (file h2testw.exe) the window shown in the figure below appears:

In principle, this utility uses only this window. All buttons are described in the image, and you can intuitively understand their purpose. Nevertheless, let’s briefly go through some of the functions so that there are no “blank spots” in understanding the functionality of the program.

1. The program has two languages: English And German, as indicated by the switch at the top of the window (language selection). Don’t let the lack of Russian language bother you – everything is clear there.
2. By the button " Select target» the device (disk) for testing is selected. You can select any logical drive of your computer (flash drive or hard drive).
3. By the button " Refresh» (update) you can update the data in the program if the device has already been tested before, and files with test results remain on the tested device.
4. In the block " Data volume"The size (volume) of the space being checked is determined: when you select "all available space" - the entire available volume is checked, if you put a dot on "only" - only the specified part in megabytes will be checked.
5. By the button " Write + Verify» the device is checked for reading and writing.
6. According to Knepe " Verify» a read check is carried out. This function is only available after the read and write check has been performed.
7. Check mark " endless verify» is set if you want to test several times without stopping until the test is interrupted, and not just once.

That's probably all. Enjoy it for your health!

So, let's launch, select the language ( English), select the device (“ Select target"), click test (" Write + Verify»).

The testing process is displayed as follows:

We wait for the end of the test and look at the result. Here is an example of testing a 32GB flash drive:

The key point when testing a flash drive (disk), of course, is the absence of errors (underlined in red).

It is also worth adding that during the testing process the program creates files like X.h2w 1MB each, where X is the file number. There can be many such files:

If they are not removed, then when you reselect an already tested disk, the test button for this disk (“ Write + Verify") will not be available.

After the test you just need to remove them from the device.

Recognizing the existence of a problem means half solving it. And finding out what exactly is the cause of the problem means solving it by about a third. This is why in service centers, where frustrated users bring their computers, smartphones and other high-tech devices, spending time on diagnostics: modern devices are too complex to be able to immediately indicate the cause of failures in their operation.

Problems with flash drives are formally minor, but in reality very unpleasant. On the one hand, flash drives are inexpensive today and are bought literally on every corner. On the other hand, a good large-capacity flash drive can become a noticeable waste for your wallet, and the files are sometimes too valuable not to bother checking the flash drive for errors after the first sign of trouble. Moreover, such a check can be carried out in a matter of minutes using one or two utilities. Let's look at several ways to test a flash drive for errors.

Checking a USB flash drive in Windows using CHKDSK

CHKDSK - stands for Check Disk - disk check. This application is standard in the Windows family. It checks storage media for errors in the file system and can simultaneously correct any errors found. The launch is carried out through the command line, press the key combination “Win ​​+ R", in the window that opens, enter the command:

chkdsk H:/F/R- Instead of " H“You need to put the letter that the flash drive is designated in “My Computer”.

• Flag /F- fixing file system errors.
• Flag /R— correction of damaged sectors.

Or In the “Run” window, enter the command “ cmd", and only then enter chkdsk H:/F/R

The team checks the flash drive for errors or bad sectors and restores their contents to the best of their ability. Once the job is completed, a verification report will be displayed.

In addition, there are special programs for testing flash drives, which are partly based on the Windows tool described above, and partly, sometimes, on original algorithms.

Checking the flash drive for errors using the Check Flash program

The developer of the program is Mikhail Cherkes, the program is free, here is the website http://mikelab.kiev.ua, we list the capabilities of the program:

• Works with all types of flash drives, including non-removable HDDs.
• Checks the functionality of the drive.
• Measures instant read and write speed.
• Allows you to edit information about sections.
• Can save and restore full images of partitions and the entire disk.
• Allows you to completely erase the contents of a flash drive.

Efficiency comes at a cost: the flash drive should be scanned only after all valuable files have been copied from it, otherwise they will be erased.

In the main window, you need to check the "Access type" field. As a physical device", then enter the name of the flash drive in the "Device" field and check " Reading stability" in the "Action" field.

After clicking on “Start”, a scan will begin, during which the result of the sector scan will be displayed on the right side of the window when the “Disk Map” tab is open. If everything is in order, the blocks are highlighted in blue.

Read or write errors will be marked in red or yellow. You can find out more about this on the “Legend” tab. Finally, all errors will be noted in the “Log”.

It often happens that after the check is completed, the flash drive continues to be read with errors. Then it remains, perhaps even in the method, in more serious cases you will have to resort to. If the data is valuable, then we first save it to another medium; if it is not possible to do this using standard methods, we use programs for data recovery.

Flash drives and various SD cards are still a very common storage medium. Although we strive to move everything to the cloud, the availability of the Internet, its speed, confidentiality and other factors still slow down the process. Usually, this is such a common experience with flash drives, she “died”. This can happen at any time, usually it is unexpected and painful. And recovery from solid-state drives is more difficult and less effective.

So how to check a flash drive?

There is an amazing tiny utility Check Flash It wouldn't hurt to have one on hand. What can the program do?

• Functionality check
• Measures read and write speed
• Edit section information
• Save and restore full images of partitions and the entire disk
• Completely erasing content (be careful!)

Features of working with the program

If there are some signs that something is wrong with the media: errors, formatting suggestions, speed, etc. Choose to check the flash drive with the access type - use a temporary dump, often this test is enough.

In all other cases, copy the contents by creating a disk image as shown in gif, or in a way convenient for you.

It is better to perform more complex reading and writing tests on an empty flash drive or memory card, so as not to lose information. But the picture of these tests is more accurate and detailed.

The entire set of procedures is available in one window, actions and parameters are divided into blocks, everything is clear and understandable. The utility does not require installation, unpack and run ChkFlsh.exe be careful and patient. Some tests are quite lengthy, depending on the media, its speed and condition.

I recorded a short video that shows the capabilities of the program and where the various items are located.

Conclusion

How to use the test results? It's simple, in the section Information There is a field with the number of errors, and in the block on the right you can understand in which block this happened. Decoding colors in the tab Legend. In terms of read and write speed, everything is obvious: the higher the numbers, the better! This utility is also an excellent option for checking Chinese noname, and other manufacturers, which are not always truthful.

There are flash drives that work in any conditions, no matter how you handle them.
And there are those that you throw off the document you need, but it simply does not want to be copied to this flash drive.
Or maybe you threw everything you need onto it, and then you try to open it and look at the document, but it doesn’t open or transfer to the computer. The saddest thing about all this is that this can happen to any file on your flash drive, be it music, a picture or a video, nothing can resist the strange creatures that have settled on your flash drive.
I think you guessed that we are talking about ordinary file system errors.
The question immediately arises, what to do, how to cope with this disease?

What is the chkdsk application used for?

Let's talk about a certain Check Disk application, or chkdsk as it is commonly called for short.
Check Disk copes with its purpose - it scans the flash drive space, sees and finds damaged clusters, calculates all errors, and the main thing is to correct them.

Command: CHKDSK [volume:[[path]filename]] ]

performs a check of the specified disk using the Check Disk program; when called without arguments, the current disk is checked. Type into the console without parentheses. Example: C: /F /R

volume - defines the volume label of the disk being checked, the mount point, or the disk name with a colon (for example, C:);
path, filename - the name of the file or group of files to check for fragmentation. Used only in the FAT/FAT32 file system;
/F - checks for errors and automatically corrects them;
/R - search for bad sectors and restore their contents. Requires mandatory use of the /F switch;
Information from Wikipedia - http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/CHKDSK

How to check a flash drive step by step

First, let’s open “My Computer” and find what volume label was assigned to the flash drive.
You don’t need to look for the Check Disk program, they took care of you in advance and built everything into your computer.

1. Go to “Start” and type cmd in the search - this step is not mandatory, but I usually do this to see the result of the application.

2. Having launched the cmd application, type the line chkdsk g: /f /r by changing the volume label g: to the label assigned to your flash drive.

3. We see the progress and result of the check.

chkdsk - test result

If the flash drive is not cured, then what to do?

Alas, no matter how good CHKDSK is, it is not omnipotent. It happens that even after checking it, the flash drive remains with errors. And in this case, everything is not as joyful as it seemed before. You can, of course, try to find some kind of program to fix errors on a flash drive, but most existing programs work based on CHKDSK.
And in the end, we are left with low-level formatting of the flash drive and .

If the information is very important, then you can try at home.
Any extras?

There can be many reasons why a computer or laptop does not see a flash drive. And it’s quite difficult to determine what’s wrong. After all, the reason may be related to both the PC and the USB device itself. There is only one way out in this case: try all possible options.

And to make this task easier for you, below are 8 recommendations on how to fix this problem. The tips are universal and are suitable for all PCs and laptops running Windows XP, 7, 8 or 10.

If the flash drive is not recognized by the computer, then first of all check whether it works at all? The easiest way is to connect it to another laptop or PC.

Look at the USB device LED (available on all modern models). If it does not light up, then the flash drive is probably no longer working. Although you could simply extract it incorrectly. In this case, I recommend reading.

Checking USB ports

The second reason why the flash drive is not recognized by the computer is that you connect it to a non-working USB connector. Even if it worked yesterday, it still needs to be checked. To do this, connect another device to the same port - a mouse, printer, smartphone. Or you can connect a USB flash drive to the connector on the rear panel.

Configuration update

If the flash drive is not displayed on Windows 7, 8 or 10, go to “Device Manager” (it can be opened through Start - Control Panel).

After that:

Installing a utility from Microsoft

After this, you need to open the settings (“USB Configuration”). Since there are many BIOS versions, the path will be different in each case. For example, in the screenshot below, the required item is in the “Advanced” section.

Open it and check that next to “USB Controller” the option “Enabled” is indicated. If this is not the case, select the appropriate item.

Changing the device letter

To fix this error:

Driver Update

If the flash drive is not recognized on the laptop, the reason may be outdated drivers. In this case, they need to be updated. Easiest to use (they do everything automatically).

By the way, if you have an old PC, then flash drives with a capacity of 32 GB or more will not be displayed on it.