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Windows · System & Disk Utilities

CrystalDiskInfo for Windows

Free SMART monitoring tool that reads raw drive health attributes and warns before a failing hard drive or SSD takes data with it.

Updated August 9, 2026 · Reviewed by SoftNexi Editorial Team, Software research and documentation

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Overview

CrystalDiskInfo, developed by Crystal Dew World, reads the SMART (Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology) data that hard drives and SSDs expose about their own health: reallocated sectors, power-on hours, temperature, and dozens of other vendor-specific attributes.

Its headline feature is the simple traffic-light health status — blue for good, yellow for caution, red for bad — translated from raw SMART thresholds so you don't need to interpret hex values yourself. Advanced users can still drill into every raw attribute the drive reports.

It supports both traditional hard drives and SATA/NVMe SSDs, and can run resident in the system tray to alert you if health status changes or temperature climbs. It does not repair drives or recover data; it is purely a monitoring and early-warning tool.

This is the natural companion to a benchmarking tool like CrystalDiskMark from the same developer — one tells you how healthy a drive is, the other tells you how fast it is.

Key features

  • Traffic-light health status translated from raw SMART attributes
  • Live temperature readout per drive
  • Support for SATA hard drives, SATA SSDs, and NVMe SSDs
  • Resident tray monitoring with alert sounds on health change
  • Standard and 'theme' interface skins
  • Exportable text report of full SMART attribute tables

System requirements

Operating system
Windows 11 and Windows 10 (older Windows releases also supported)
Architecture
x64 or x86 build
Drive support
SATA and NVMe drives that expose standard SMART data
Permissions
Administrator rights recommended for full SMART access

How to install CrystalDiskInfo

  1. 1. Choose the standard edition

    On the download page, pick the installer without a sponsor offer, or the portable ZIP.

  2. 2. Install or unpack

    Run the installer, or unzip the portable build to skip installation entirely.

  3. 3. Run as administrator

    Launch once with elevated permissions so it can read full SMART data from every attached drive.

How to use it

  1. 1. Check overall health

    Open the app and look at the health status bar for each listed drive — anything other than blue/'Good' warrants a backup.

  2. 2. Watch reallocated sectors

    In the attribute table, keep an eye on Reallocated Sectors Count and Current Pending Sector — rising values are the clearest failure signal on hard drives.

  3. 3. Enable tray monitoring

    Turn on resident mode in settings so CrystalDiskInfo alerts you automatically if a drive's status changes.

  4. 4. Export a report before buying used

    Use the copy/export function to save a SMART report when evaluating a secondhand drive's power-on hours and health.

Safety and privacy

  • Download only from crystalmark.info; the tool is frequently mirrored on ad-heavy portals.
  • A 'standard edition' with no bundled offers is available alongside a sponsored installer — choose the plain version if you want to avoid extra offers during setup.
Bundled software
The developer offers both a plain installer and a sponsor-bundled installer; pick the standard edition to avoid extras.
Privacy
Runs entirely locally; it does not need an account and does not upload SMART data anywhere.

Known risks

  • A SMART 'Good' status does not guarantee a drive won't fail suddenly — treat it as an early-warning signal, not a guarantee.
  • Some external USB enclosures block SMART passthrough, which can make a healthy drive appear as 'unable to read' rather than reflect an actual problem.

What's new

  • Current release series

    Recent releases have expanded NVMe attribute support and added newer drive controller IDs. Check the developer's page for the current version and change log.

Pros and cons

Pros

  • Free with no functional limitations
  • Clear, non-technical health status alongside full raw detail
  • Works with SATA and NVMe drives
  • Lightweight and can run resident with minimal overhead

Cons

  • Sponsor-bundled installer option requires care during setup
  • SMART data can be unreliable through some USB enclosures
  • No repair or data recovery capability — diagnostics only

Verdict

CrystalDiskInfo is the standard free tool for keeping an eye on drive health on Windows. It won't fix a failing drive, but it will usually tell you it's failing before you lose data, which is the whole point.

Frequently asked questions

Is CrystalDiskInfo free?

Yes, it is completely free for personal and business use.

Does it work with NVMe SSDs?

Yes, it reads NVMe SMART/health attributes in addition to SATA drives.

What should I do if the status turns yellow or red?

Back up your data immediately and consider replacing the drive; a non-'Good' status is an early-failure warning, not a fixable setting.

Does it slow down my PC when running in the background?

The resident tray monitor is lightweight, but you can disable auto-start if you prefer to check manually.