Check Flash 1.08 – Flash Drive Performance Tester

Check Flash is a freebie program that helps user to test and format flash drives with the utmost ease. It is designed for maintenance operations as well. The interface is a simple with a single window available, which provides all the test-related settings while presenting the drive map, log and verification progress. The application is capable of running both read and write tests in order to determine the speed performance of the device and its health.

Check Flash presents the settings in the right part of the screen in four different sections covering Access type, Action type, Test length and Test results. Of course, there is a section that lets you choose the flash drive to be evaluated and which features a refresh button, thus allowing adding multiple removable drives without having to restart the program.

The way the read/write tests are performed and the list of options available for the operation are set according to the way you provide access to the flash drive. You can choose between using a temporary file, access it as a logical drive or as physical device. The differences between these three types of drive access consist in the safety level of the procedure and the number of options enabled.

Using a temporary file for the test gives you a minimum of features but, on the other hand, it is totally safe for the evaluated device. Treating the flash as a logical drive will give Flash Check access on partition level and is the second safest alternative to use; plus more options will become available under the “Action type” section.

The most unsafe method to test the removable storage device is to treat it as a physical device during the evaluation. This method is not recommended as it is unsafe for all the partitions present on the selected device but, on the other hand, you benefit from the full set of features in the software.

In “Action type” you get to choose between six procedures to test the removable device, all of which being available depending on the access type specified. The list of options includes read stability test (reads all data a few times and verifies the CRC given on first pass), low-level initialization (available only if you treat the flash as a physical device), which lets you edit the partition information of the selected device, save image (saves full binary image of the chosen partition or device), load image (writes a previously saved binary image) and full erase (effaces all of the drive’s surface).

For 50% of the presented actions several tests can be performed, continuously or until you decide to stop the assessment. All options in the “Test length” section are pretty clear, but “Burn it!” is the one that is not self-explanatory. It actually sets a loop in the testing that requires your intervention to stop.

In the lower part of the screen the test results are displayed: number of completed cycles, error found, read and write speed. Also, there is a progress bar to give you a hint on the completion of the operation. Unfortunately, the application cannot estimate the finish time. Left hand side of the application window shows the drive map, log and legend.

Check Flash 1.08 supplies a fat set of features to test your flash disk and see exactly how fast it can read and write data. It is portable and flexible enough to let you choose from three different drive access methods as well as select between six tests to be performed and how many times to repeat them. It is a very handy instrument that can help you detect the fake flash memory drives.

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This entry was posted on Friday, March 27th, 2009 at 11:50 am and is filed under Application & Software. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.