Updated August 30, 2017
Pre-Installed Tools
If you haven’t made any changes to your Toshiba’s operating system or installed software, then you’ll still have all the Toshiba-branded software included. This can include diagnostic tools and even repair tools. To check for pre-installed software, open your Start Menu and type “Toshiba.” Any Toshiba-branded program will show up. If you’re using Windows 7, all programs will be located in the “Toshiba” folder in the Start Menu.
PC Health Monitor
The Toshiba PC Health Monitor is designed to assess the overall health of your machine, not just your hard drive. In terms of hard drive maintenance, the PC Health Monitor provides a status update on your hard drive and, if enabled, a 3D sensor to monitor the mechanical health of your hard drive.
Windows Diagnostic Tool
Toshiba’s Windows Diagnostic Tool may be already installed on older laptops. It’s designed for testing IDE & SATA hard drives when you suspect a problem with your hard drive. You install and run it in Windows like any other program. There are two diagnostic modes: a quick test, which takes a few minutes and does random read/write tests, and the comprehensive test, which can take up to an hour and a half and does a surface scan.
DOS Diagnostic Tool
On older laptops, like Windows XP or Windows 95, if you want to test your hard drive without booting up Windows – or perhaps because you can’t boot Windows – try Toshiba’s DOS Diagnostic Tool, if it’s already installed on your laptop. As with the Windows diagnostic tool, you can do a quick or comprehensive test.
Non-Toshiba Tools
If you’re not finding what you need from Toshiba, you might try another solution. You can use the native Windows feature Check Disk, available under your hard drive’s Tools tab. HDDScan is a free, third-party solution to check for disk errors on your Windows computer, regardless of manufacturer. Writer Bio
title: “Toshiba Hard Drive Diagnostic Tools” ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-29” author: “Debra Brown”
Updated September 15, 2017
PC Diagnostic Tool
The Toshiba PC Diagnostic Tool will diagnose a wide variety of hardware problems, including issues with your hard drive. It won’t help you fix these problems but you can run selective diagnostics to target your hard drive. The tool also shows you which hardware components you have connected and tell you if your computer is not recognizing a secondary hard drive. The PC Diagnostic Tool provides a printable report of items that fail the diagnostic test. You can use that information for further exploration in the Windows Device Manager or you can take the printout to a licensed repair technician along with your computer. This may help the technician find and fix the problem more quickly.
PC Health Monitor
The Toshiba PC Health Monitor’s primary purpose is to provide Toshiba with data about how its computers are functioning via a data transmission feature. With data transmission disabled, the tool still provides you with real-time information about your hard drive status, power consumption and temperature. The interface gives you an instant visual readout of how these systems are functioning. Animated icons indicate whether your hard drive is active, plus its current condition and whether the internal system and CPU temperature is within acceptable parameters. From the welcome screen, you can click on any icon to gain more information. The hard disk drive sensor icon will give you a more detailed report on the drive’s status and recommend backup options for data safety. The three-dimensional sensor will tell you whether the hard disk protection is engaged due to motion in the laptop that might endanger the hard drive.
Windows Device Manager
While not specific to Toshiba computers, every Toshiba running a Windows operating system includes the Windows device manager, which you can use to troubleshoot problems with your hard drive. You can either find the device manager in your control panel or link to it through the button provided on Toshiba’s PC Diagnostic Tool. Double-click your hard drive in the Device Manager window and you will see a dialog box that tells you if the device is running properly or not. If not, the Windows Device Manager will offer a “Troubleshoot” or similar button that will walk you through steps to fix the problem. You can also update your hard drive’s driver software through the Device Manager. Writer Bio
