DiskState

Even though it’s used to store files, it doesn’t mean your hard disk drive can’t get corrupt or damaged because of intense, long term use. Windows puts several default tools to take care of your HDD’s health status, but they’re not all in the same place, which can make it a difficult task. Luckily, specialized applications like DiskState want to make it easier to look after storage devices.

Once the application launches, a compact window shows up with details related to storage devices that are currently connected to your computer. If you need to analyze an external storage device, it’s best to plug it in before running the application, because it’s not automatically detected, and there’s no refresh button.

The first step might be to check the state of the target drive. It can take some time for the scan process to finish, but this depends on the type, size, and health status of the target drive. When done, a new window shows up with a list view of all files and folders, with additional details related to size, and more to the drive itself.

DiskState can now be ordered to bring up the Windows disk manager, cleanup utility, or defragment tool. A built-in component can be used to scan the drive for duplicate files. It can either be used through the wizard which helps by letting you configure filters, or managing all controls yourself.

In case analysis needs to be done frequently, there’s the possibility to have reports generated to be compared. In fact, most functions are capable of generating different types of output. Picked from a drop-down menu, reports can be generated for largest files, oldest files, several archive types, pictures, system, long path, and more.

All things considered, we come to the conclusion that DiskState is one of those tools that shouldn’t be necessarily used when it’s too late, since it can also prevent damage to your hard disk drive. It comes with a decent set of features, an intuitive interface, and different types of reports to make analysis both thorough, and comfortable.