A failing hard drive or SSD in a server rarely fails without warning — it almost always shows signs first. Checking drive health regularly lets you replace a drive before it fails rather than after. Here is how to check drive health on Windows Server using built-in tools and PowerShell.
Check Drive Health with PowerShell (Get-PhysicalDisk)
The quickest way to get the health status of all drives on Windows Server 2012 R2 and later:
Get-PhysicalDisk | Select-Object FriendlyName, MediaType, Size, HealthStatus, OperationalStatusThe HealthStatus field will show one of:
- Healthy: drive is operating normally
- Warning: drive is functional but has logged errors — monitor closely and plan replacement
- Unhealthy: the drive has failed or is in a critical state — replace immediately
The OperationalStatus should be “OK”. Any other value (Predictive Failure, Lost Communication, Dead) indicates a problem.
Check SMART Data with PowerShell
SMART (Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology) is built into every hard drive and SSD. It logs reallocated sectors, uncorrectable errors, and other indicators of physical wear. To query SMART data:
Get-WmiObject -Namespace root\wmi -Class MSStorageDriver_FailurePredictStatus | Select-Object InstanceName, PredictFailure, ReasonIf PredictFailure is True, the drive’s SMART data has triggered the failure threshold — treat this as urgent. Replace the drive.
For more detailed SMART data per drive:
Get-WmiObject -Namespace root\wmi -Class MSStorageDriver_FailurePredictDataCheck Drive Health via Device Manager
- Open Device Manager (Win + X → Device Manager)
- Expand Disk drives
- Right-click each drive → Properties
- Check the General tab — Device status should read “This device is working properly”. Any error here warrants further investigation.
Check Event Viewer for Disk Errors
Disk errors leave traces in Event Viewer before the drive fails visibly:
- Open Event Viewer and go to Windows Logs → System
- Filter for Event ID 7 (source: disk) — this is a disk I/O error. One or two are not unusual; dozens indicate a problem.
- Also look for Event ID 11 (source: disk) — driver detected a controller error
- Event ID 51 (source: disk) — an error was detected during a paging operation — often indicates a failing drive
Run this PowerShell command to quickly surface recent disk errors:
Get-WinEvent -FilterHashtable @{LogName='System'; Id=7,11,51} -MaxEvents 50 | Select-Object TimeCreated, Id, MessageCheck RAID Controller Health
If your server uses a hardware RAID controller (Dell PERC, HP Smart Array, LSI MegaRAID), the RAID controller itself tracks drive health and reports it independently of Windows. Check the RAID controller status via:
- iDRAC/iLO: log into the out-of-band management interface and look at the storage section — it shows drive status, RAID array status, and any rebuild operations in progress
- RAID controller utility: Dell OpenManage, HP SSA (Smart Storage Administrator), or MegaRAID Storage Manager — these provide the most detailed view of drive SMART values, error counts, and predictive failure warnings
- Front panel LED: most rack servers light an amber drive bay LED when the RAID controller has flagged a drive for replacement
Using CrystalDiskInfo (For Direct-Attached Drives)
For servers with directly attached drives (not behind a hardware RAID controller), CrystalDiskInfo is a free tool that reads full SMART data and displays it clearly. It shows individual SMART attributes, current and worst values, and a colour-coded health status (Good, Caution, Bad). Install it on the server for a detailed health snapshot.
How Often to Check
- Weekly: run
Get-PhysicalDiskas part of a routine server health check - After any unusual event: check drive health after an unexpected restart, a power failure, or any event that might indicate a hardware problem
- When performance degrades: unexplained slowness, high disk latency, or long read/write times can be early signs of drive failure
