You can check a Windows 10 disk from several angles: the drive’s SMART health status, file-system errors, available space, and symptoms such as unusual noises or repeated read failures. No single Windows screen can guarantee that a drive will not fail.
Check the drive health shown by Windows
On systems where Windows exposes the feature for the installed storage, open Settings > System > Storage and look under the advanced storage or disk-management options for drive health information. Windows’ health monitoring is more complete for some NVMe SSDs than for many older SATA drives, so the absence of a detailed health page is not proof that the disk is healthy.
Use the drive manufacturer’s diagnostic utility
For an SSD or hard drive from a known manufacturer, its official diagnostic application can provide firmware information, SMART attributes, self-tests, and health estimates specific to that hardware. Download such tools from the drive or computer manufacturer’s official support site rather than from generic driver-download pages.
Check the file system
- Open File Explorer and choose This PC.
- Right-click the drive and select Properties.
- Open the Tools tab.
- Under Error checking, choose Check.
This checks file-system integrity. It is not the same thing as a comprehensive physical-health test.
Command-line checks
Windows also provides chkdsk for checking volumes. Run repair options only when you understand what they will change. If a disk is clicking, disconnecting, producing many read errors, or contains irreplaceable data, make a backup—or seek professional recovery—before stressing the drive with repair scans.
Warning signs deserve more weight than a “healthy” label
Back up immediately if files repeatedly become corrupt, the drive vanishes from Windows, SMART warnings appear, or the PC experiences storage-related errors. SMART monitoring can identify many developing failures but cannot predict every sudden electronics or mechanical failure.
Keep backups even when the disk looks healthy
Disk-health tools are diagnostic aids, not backups. Maintain separate copies of important files so a drive failure, theft, malware incident, or accidental deletion does not become a data-loss emergency.
Windows 10 consideration
For this guidance, remember that Windows 10’s standard free-support period ended October 14, 2025; post 60778 should be maintained with that lifecycle in mind. If the PC is capable of running a supported Windows version, operating-system migration should accompany hardware maintenance rather than relying indefinitely on a legacy installation.
Matt Jacobs has been working as an IT consultant for small businesses since receiving his Master’s degree in 2003. While he still does some consulting work, his primary focus now is on creating technology support content for SupportYourTech.com.
His work can be found on many websites and focuses on topics such as Microsoft Office, Apple devices, Android devices, Photoshop, and more.