From the Individual Tools pane, click Perform Diagnostics and then click Start next to Monitor Hard Drive Status.
The DriveSense™ monitoring tool displays real-time data about the status of your hard drives, including drive temperature and other indicators of drive reliability.
Note: DriveSense supports drives that incorporate SMART, an industry-accepted technology for reporting pending drive problems. Hard drives connected via USB, Firewire, SCSI, or RAID are not SMART-capable and are not supported.
Monitoring indicators of your drive's performance can keep you informed about your drives and help you take preventative action (such as backing up drives) where needed.
For each hard drive detected, the window displays the drive status (see Drive Status below), serial number, the total size, the volume letter, and the temperature. A toggle link next to the temperature allows you to view the temperature in either Celsius (click the C) or Fahrenheit (click the F).
The overall drive status summarizes the status of several individual attributes (see Drive Attribute Status below). The drive status can be one of the following:
OK. All attributes are satisfactory.
Warning. One or more attributes are close to failing, but none have failed.
Failure. One or more attributes have failed.
Click on the plus (+) symbol next to a hard drive name to display the list of individual attributes. The status for each attribute is measured against a threshold set by the hard drive's manufacturer, and can be one of the following:
OK. The hardware sensor does not indicate any problems with the attribute.
Warning. The hardware sensor indicates that the attribute is close to failing.
Failure. The hardware sensor indicates that the attribute has failed.
The specific attributes listed for a drive will vary depending on what data the drive's manufacturer reports. To view a list of the hard drive attributes that may display, click here.
If the drive status is anything other than OK, users are encouraged to back up their drives as a precaution.
If the temperature is high*, below are some recommended actions that you can take.
Make sure that air can flow and circulate around your computer. Don't place your computer on a carpeted floor.
Ensure that the computer is not in a room that is overly hot. Ideally, during warm months, the room will be air-conditioned or fan-cooled.
Clean out the fans and inlets of the computer.
Use a cooling pad (for laptops) or install new fans in the computer case.
* The drives in laptop computers are more tolerant of heat and commonly have a higher temperature than those in desktop models.