How to Check SSD and Hard Drive Health on Windows (SMART Attributes)
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Solid-state drives (SSDs) do not make clicking noises when failing like mechanical hard drives did. Instead, they silently lock into read-only mode or suffer sudden controller death. Checking internal SMART health metrics alerts you before catastrophic failure.
Quick Answer: Open PowerShell and run
Get-PhysicalDisk | Select-Object DeviceId, FriendlyName, OperationalStatus, HealthStatus. For detailed percentage remaining and total bytes written (TBW), use free, open-source CrystalDiskInfo.
Key SSD Health Indicators to Watch
- Percentage Lifetime Used: Modern NAND flash has finite write cycles. Most consumer SSDs can write between 150 TB and 600 TB before cell degradation.
- Critical Temperature: NVMe SSDs operating consistently above 70°C throttle throughput and experience faster component degradation. Ensure adequate heatsink contact.
- Uncorrectable Sector Errors: Any rising number in reallocated or uncorrectable sectors indicates failing NAND memory chips. Back up files immediately.
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