The Ashampoo HDD Control 2 software performs hard disk maintenance for you. This involves taking measures to prevent potential failures and crashes before they occur. The software supports all commonly available IDE and serial ATA drives. Based on the type of drive in use, Ashampoo HDD Control provides the user with all important facts and information, including the drive serial number, firmware version, cache size, number of configured partitions, drive space and current temperature. As the number of signs indicating that the drive could soon potentially fail begins to mount, the background guard signals an alarm. For this reason, it is easy to understand why the computer takes longer to read the file, since it first of all needs to locate and assemble all the separate fragments.

Basic functions
* Information on serial numbers, firmware, cache, bad sectors on your hard disk(s)
* Background guard continuously monitors status, performance and temperature
* In-depth explanations and information on context-sensitive help
* Displays all current SMART files with detailed explanations
* Able to export reports for support purposes
* Fully configurable temperature monitoring available in Celsius and Fahrenheit
* Option to automatically save all incidents in separate log
* Simple controls and GUI including color schemes
* Easy and automatic software updates

Cleanup
* Powerful, high-speed disk clean-up
* Objects found can be configured and managed in shortcut menus
* Objects found can be managed using intelligent filter mechanisms
* New exception rules can be created manually or automatically
* Supports the latest generation of browsers (Firefox, Internet Explorer, Opera)
* Wide range of options to customize configuration to meet user requirements
* High level of security thanks to years of experience and advanced cookie management

Defragmentation
* High-quality defragmentation performed to latest standards
* Fully automatic ‘proactive’ defragmentation runs in background
* Defragmentation algorithm with minimum impact on system performance
* Range of defragmentation options (fast, normal, intelligent)
* Parallel defragmentation of all drives and/or partitions
* Comprehensive configuration and customization options

Monitoring
* Self-monitoring, analysis, status reports on imminent failures
* Evaluation of health and performance status of your hard drive(s)
* Range of evaluation criteria available for customized configuration
* S.M.A.R.T. technology provides information on (if supported by drive):
* Number of hours in operation and start-up processes
* Error rate during positioning
* Start/stop processes of drive heads
* Number of parking sequences for write/read units
* Disk calibration attempts
* Reallocations (in event of bad disk sectors)
* Controller <-> hard drive transfer rate (defective cable)
* And many more
* Temperature display including early warning of overheating
* Email alerts to notify user that condition of hard drive(s) has deteriorated and failure is imminent
* Direct link to Windows event log
* Benchmark
Performance:
- Identifies all values required to evaluate the performance of your hard drive(s)
- Clearly structured GUI for performance evaluation (benchmark)
- Online database link for direct comparison of your results with other systems
Clear presentation of information and values on:
- min./max. data transfer rates
- average data transfer rates
- access times