Ed Bott’s Microsoft Challenge–10/26/00

I just experienced every Windows user’s nightmare–a sudden, serious, data-destroying hard disk crash. Luckily, I was able to recover all my data from backup tapes, but I wonder whether I could have done a better job of anticipating this crisis before my disk began making horrible grinding sounds. How do you keep tabs on disk performance? Do you have a set of procedures and third-party tools you use to keep your disks running at peak efficiency? I have only two requirements: 1. Any tests must be able to run without requiring a reboot. 2. Any utilities must be fully compatible with Windows 2000.