HD_Speed: A speed testing utility for storage devices

HD_Speed runs from any directory -- no installation needed, although you have to have write access to the same directory if you want to log the test results to a file. When the program runs, you'll be presented with a drop-down list of available drives -- lettered drives and raw physical devices, so you can gauge performance across the file system for that device and its raw physical access speed.

Click "Start" and the program repeatedly assesses the device's performance, with the results graphed on-screen. The stats include a running speed average, the current

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speed and an I/O error count (if any). Write tests will overwrite the contents of a given drive or volume, so do not use this test unless you're sure the contents of the drive are entirely disposable.

The program offers several options that may affect the performance results:

You can run the program from a command line with switches to control most of the options above, including the test duration and the log file name.

About the Author: Serdar Yegulalp is editor of Windows Insight (formerly the Windows Power Users Newsletter), a blog site devoted to hints, tips, tricks and news for users and administrators of Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003 and Vista. He has more than 12 years of experience working with Windows, and contributes regularly to SearchWinComputing.com and other TechTarget sites.

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