SMARTen up Your PC's Hard Drive

Most people don't know their hard drive feels bad until it crashes. But LSoft Technologies' free Active@ Hard Disk Monitor might provide some warning. It uses SMART (for Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology), which is built into most hard drives to keep tabs on such key attributes as disk errors and suspect patterns.

Active@ Hard Disk Monitor shows SMART's findings in an easy-to-read interface, with simple interpretations. A clean report doesn't guarantee that your hard drive is healthy, but a warning might alert you to trouble in time to make backups or repairs.

The free version of the monitor will suffice for most of us, but business users may find that the US$20 Pro version's ability to monitor drives over networks is worth the price.

, free.