MHDD

by Dmitry Postrigan

This software can make precise diagnostic of the mechanical part of a drive

Operating system: Windows

Publisher: Dmitry Postrigan

Antivirus check: passed

Last revision: Last week

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MHDD is a free utility for checking, scanning and repairing bad sectors on hard drives.

The program scans the surface of the disks in a sector-by-sector manner and measures the access time to the sector, and if it is exceeded or the information from the sector cannot be read, it will be marked as "bad block". Damaged sectors can be replaced with redundant sectors: most hard drives have special sectors that are specifically designed to reassign damaged units (REMAP option is responsible for this). The scan result is logged in the log/mhdd.log.

MHDD uses low-level (UDMA) access, without using interruptions and BIOS functions, but by contacting the controller directly. Because of this specificity, work is only possible from under DOS, Windows will block all attempts to set up direct access to memory. The application can work with drives compatible with IDE, Serial ATA, SCSI and USB interfaces via USB→SCSI emulator.

Below is a short list of function keys:

F1 - help with basic commands, use the MAN command for detailed instructions;

F2 - initialization of the disk with detailed information about it;

SHIFT+F3 - Select the device to be used;

F4 - surface scan;

F8 - displays SMART information.

The program is available in three versions: an ISO image that can be burned to a bootable CD or USB stick, an image that can be used to create a bootable floppy and an executable file. UltraISO is perfect for writing a bootable disk or flash drive.

Attention: MHDDD is quite complicated for inexperienced users and requires careful reading of the documentation. It is also desirable to have the skill to work in a DOS environment. Mishandling the utility can damage the drive and/or destroy all information on it.

ADDITIONAL INFO

- Check for damaged sectors;

- use of direct memory access;

- Reassignment (re-mapping) of faulty units;

- Receive SMART information;

- low-level deletion of information with no possibility of recovery;

- Low-level HDD formatting;

- recovery of information from bad blocks;

- password management;

- Acoustic Management system management (not available on all devices);

- the ability to change the configuration of the discs;

- detailed log with all user actions and results of the program;

- free distribution of the program.

USER REVIEWS AND COMMENTS

Luke

These applications described seem to correlate a lot more to the applications that come previously installed on a desktop computer. Installing similar programs are useless to me and could even be a waste of time to develop. There are more crucial applications similar to this like virus scan software which users primarily need when using their device daily.

Kieran

MHDD For Windows is a best application program for low level hdd diagnostics. It is a freeware application program. MHDD supports the IDE, SCSI, USB storage, serial ATA. This software can diagnostic the mechanical part of drive with different levels of test. MHDD is a best tool to find and  fix unfetched or unreadable areas of hard discs by hiding or replacing broken areas of cells.                        

Arran

This is great if you can't afford anything on the market. It is free and there are some benefits are purchasing the pricey ones but this does everything it says on the tin. I got a great diagnostic from it and it ran fairly quickly. It works how it should, no unexpected errors or faults noted.                        

Lewis

This software is absolutely essential for older mechanical drives, and has its roots in some of the diagnostic executable files of the mid 1990s. I owned a SCSI drive that plugged into a bidirectional parallel port, and an Iomega Ditto. Even an operating drive would have increased performance with periodic file maintenance. The largest drive I owned was a 270 MB HD for Windows 3.1, and I used several shareware *.exe utilities of one sort or another that integrated HD maintenance with small operating system file browsers.                        

Harry

It’s a useful software application for low level diagnostics for hard drives.  It can detect bad segments that cannot be reached then help fix those areas by replacing or hiding then.  It’s a plus that is can be used to diagnose different types of hard drives - old serial ATA, SCSI, IDE and USB storage.  It’s also free and easy to use so it’s a win-win.                        

Alexander Rismiller

MHDD is a powerful and easy-to-use software tool for low-level HDD diagnostics. It can detect and repair physical bad sectors on a hard disk drive surface, monitor drive performance and predict potential HDD failures. MHDD supports IDE/ATA/SATA/SCSI drives and allows the user to view detailed drive information, scan surfaces and edit drive parameters.                        