Apparently, most computer system users, if they have not encountered one, have at least heard of such a wonderful utility as HDDScan. This application is for scanning and partial restoration of damaged areas of the hard drive.
What is HDDScan data recovery program?
First, let's decide what kind of utility it is. The fact is that the program itself is designed to conduct a series of tests on the computer’s hard drive, no 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 displays a list of files that can be returned to its original state, this application does nothing of the kind.
If you consider how to use HDDScan, a little more broadly, the first thing that catches your eye is the lack of an installation module. With its “weight” of about 5 MB in the unpacked form, the application, oddly enough, has an impressive list of testing options for the hard 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 cluster sectors of a hard disk, nothing more.
Interface
When calling the application, the user immediately sees two main windows. The upper one indicates the hard drive selected by the program, and the lower one (Test Manager) shows the results of future scanning and determining the viability of the disk, so to speak. Note that in any case, HDDScan (Windows 7, 8, 10, XP, or Vista) will never be used as a means of recovering certain files.
It is exclusively related to disk testing. If there are several of them in the system, in the upper left field, when you click the corresponding button, you can select the particular drive that you want to check. After a quick check, the user receives a full report on the status of the selected disk.
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 button for selecting a task.
When you click on it, a menu opens with the main set of tests, as well as the narrative of the program (section About). 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 or English-language instructions on the Internet.
How to use HDDScan: hard drive testing
Now consider the issue of using the program in more detail. We have several items that correspond to testing a hard drive.
In this case, we are interested in scanning SMART. If you pay attention to the menu, there are two similar commands (the second is Offline Tests). However, the first of them scans using the built-in algorithms, and the second calls an additional menu with three commands. However, it practically does not represent anything interesting.
Now for the testing itself. When using the main SMART command, a quick scan is performed with the determination 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 the normal characteristics that do not require intervention are indicated in green, and the problem sectors in yellow and red. For all this, the report even includes the current temperature regime, not to mention information about 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 task line. In the initial report, the result, of course, is. However, it only corresponds to the time point when the test itself was run. Using the task of tracking the temperature, you can see all the indicators in real time (graph).
Now let's pay attention to the test of the surface of the medium (Surface Test). Unlike the built-in diagnostic tool, which is provided in Windows operating systems, this test works a little differently, although, to be honest, applications like HDD Regenerator are not enough, because they cannot restore bad areas of the hard drive by magnetization reversal. Nevertheless, the procedure for identifying bad sectors and their subsequent recovery is quite effective.
Bad Sector Recovery
In most cases, users who are not familiar with the specifics of the program should be tested in Verify or Read mode, when only troubleshooting is performed. If you use the Erase option, bad sectors of the disk will be updated, and there is no question of any kind of information security, since in this case the files are recounted and overwritten.
As for further actions, the program can only use report saving, in extreme cases, Spinup or Spindown corrections, which allow increasing or decreasing the spindle rotation speed. But such settings do not significantly affect disk performance.
It is possible that HDDScan errors may appear. Most often this is observed only in cases where the hard disk cable is incorrectly or loose attached to the motherboard. Then the electrical contact simply disappears. Therefore, the easiest way out of this situation is to check the connections.
Conclusion
As can be understood from the foregoing, the HDDScan program is not a file recovery system in the usual sense. Rather, it is a Winchester analyzer application that runs on a characterization algorithm that uses utilities like CPU-Z or GPU-Z. But, unlike the content of the exclusively information part, this program for recovering data present in bad areas of the hard drive can optimize the damaged sectors of the hard drive, but not the files themselves, as many people think.
Nevertheless, the restoration of bad areas also has its advantages. After using this program, you can easily run any file recovery utility that can read information from restored 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 issue.