AMWTA Drive Health test reads the drive and times every read. The verdict comes from what it found.
- HealthyEverything read, at an even speed. Keep using the drive as normal and keep a backup, as you would with any drive.
- Slow in placesA few parts read much more slowly than the rest. That is often the first sign of wear on a card or hard drive. Copy what matters off it, then test again later; if the slow parts spread, replace it.
- Failing: back it up nowSome parts couldn't be read at all, or the drive stopped answering. Click Back Up Now to copy the whole drive to a file on your computer straight away, then recover or copy from that file.
The speed chart plots read speed from the start of the drive to the end. Dips mark slow places; gaps are parts the test didn't read. The block map shows the same drive as squares: green read fine, amber was slow, red couldn't be read.
What the drive reports shows the drive's own health record (SMART) where it keeps one. Internal drives usually do; most SD cards and USB sticks don't, which is why the read test matters for them.
A quick test reads about 1 GB spread across the drive. If you have doubts about a drive, run a full test, which reads every part.
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