Backing up your files regularly is a good practice in case of an unexpected hard disk failure.
You can also try to use hard disk utility which I’ve just found to benchmark and scan for errors on your hard disk so you can predict when it is going to fail in order for you to do your final backup.

HD Tune is a hard disk utility which has the following functions:

  • Benchmark: measures the raw performance

    • o Transfer Rate
    o Access Time
    o CPU Usage
    o Burst Rate
    HD Tune - Hard Disk Benchmark

  • Hard Disk information which includes partition information, supported features, firmware version, serial number, disk capacity, buffer size, transfer mode

    • HDTune - Hard Disk Info

  • Hard Disk Health

    • o S.M.A.R.T. Information (Self-Monitoring Analysis and Reporting Technology)
    o Power On Time
    HDTune - Hard Disk Health

  • Error scan

    • HDTune - Hard Disk Error Scan

  • Temperature display

    • HDTune - Hard Disk Temperature Display

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    • The programmer of this hard disk utility claims that HD Tune may also work with other storage devices such as memory cards, USB sticks, iPods, etc.
    HDTune v2.5.2 only runs on Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows XP 64-bit, Windows 2003 Server. It does NOT support Windows 98/ME.
    Most importantly, it’s FREE :D

    [ HDTune Website | Download HDTune v2.5.2 ]


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