TheMatt

Diagnostic Utilities By Manufacturer
Here are links to diagnostic utilities for hard drives by the manufacturer.

Conner Hard Drives: Use Seagate Utilities

Fujitsu Hard Drives: Diagnostic Utilities Here

Hitachi Hard Drives: Diagnostic Utilities Here

IBM Hard Drives: Use Hitachi Utilities*

Maxtor Hard Drives: Use Seagate Utilities

Quantum Hard Drives: Use Maxtor Utilities

Samsung Hard Drives: Diagnostic Utilities Here

Seagate Hard Drives: Diagnostic Utilities Here

Toshiba Hard Drives: Use Hitachi or Maxtor Utilities

Western Digital Hard Drives: Diagnostic Utilities Here

What are these utilities for?
These utilities are downloaded onto a Floppy or Bootable CD and booted from to test the stability (health) of hard disks. If an operating system or restore disk fails to install multiple times, for example, the hard disk may be in danger of failing.

What should I do if a hard disk is failing?
Your best option is to hook the hard disk up as a slave onto another computer or put it in an external USB/Firewire/eSATA enclosure and retrieve your data before it fails. If a test shows that your hard disk is likely to fail, you should plan on buying another hard disk. Most hard disk manufacturers offer a warranty, so if your hard disk is under warranty to see if you can get a replacement.

How do I determine my hard disk manufacturer?
The easiest way is just to look at the drive. There is usually a sticker with the manufacturer's logo on it. Once you determine the manufacturer, run the corresponding diagnostic utility from the link. You can also use PC-Config on the Ultimate Boot CD, which will help you identify your hard disk without the need of booting into your operating system.

How can I find the manufacturer for future reference without opening up my computer?
You can use a utility called Everest to check who the manufacturer of your hard disk is and it's health status from within Windows. To check who the manufacturer is, go into the Storage > ATA section and scroll down to the bottom to view the manufacturer and their website. To check the health status of a hard disk, go into the Storage > S.M.A.R.T. section and check that the status of each is Value is normal or Always passing. Keep in mind though, the manufacturer's utility that you run from the links above will be specific to the brand of the drive and will probably be more accurate.
Storage > ATA

Storage > S.M.A.R.T.


What if I don't have a floppy drive?
Most of the utilities have an ISO image for a CD, but if they don't, you can use the Ultimate Boot CD, which can be found here.

*For IBM Hard Drives, use the Hitachi Utilities. For IBM desktops, laptops, and servers, visit this site.

Thanks to hwm54112 and petercj for helping me revise this guide.