free disk checking utility

[Taurus]

what's your guys' favorite utility to check disks for errors, etc?

i got this 2.5" sata hd that had some bad sectors on it and put it in an external enclosure. i did a complete windows disk check on it which took like 4 hours. then i realized it had system folders on it that i couldn't delete so i had to format it which erased the bad sector markers so i'm doing the disk check again.

sad part is i'm doing the check in a command window just so i can get a % complete instead of a vague little status bar. i figure there's got to be something better out there for this. something with more options and more info. maybe an easy way to see if this drive is going to get worse.

any tips?

 

[kcnychief]

Most manufacturers have their own, what drive do you have?

 

[Taurus]

hitachi.

i tried their utility before. the ISO wasn't readable after burning (tried 3 times) and the other option is a floppy (no thanks). and i think i read it won't detect the drive when hooked up through an external controller.