Parkdale

In many cases, a computer's performance is limited by the hard disk's reading and writing speeds. If you wish to know how fast your hard disk can read or write data, Parkdale can provide you with this information. It can take these measurements by reading and writing files with a size of your choice. The application places several testing methods at your disposal and it can generate a wide range of data.

Parkdale is absolutely free, but you can make a donation if you want to. It provides support for all popular Windows platforms and it doesn't need to be installed. You only need to extract an executable file from an archive and run it. The application doesn't ask for any special tools or services and its hardware requirements are modest.

The user interface has a clean and efficient layout, so it won't take long to master its controls. You can prepare and execute a quick or a normal speed test, using the file system or a block access test, on separate tabs. All you have to do is make a few selections or specify certain values. Also, the application allows you to perform certain tasks via function keys and command lines, which are listed and explained on the general options tab.

Performing a quick access test will generate a series of useful statistics, like the sequential read and write speeds, as well as the random access speeds, using 4 KB blocks and 32 simultaneous threads. When preparing a quick test, you can select any file size or choose a preset. Quick tests can be performed on local partitions and on removable drives, like external hard drives, optical discs, memory cards or USB flash drives. The normal file access test works in a similar manner, but instead of partitions and drives, you can target specific folders and files. You can also set the application to use buffering, specify a block size and make other tweaks.

Parkdale places more configuration options at your disposal when preparing a block access test. It allows you to choose a linear or a random access test and you can also set it to seek between a start and an end block of your choice. Reading and writing tests can be started with separate options. While performing a block access test, the application will display real-time data in a graph.