When you buy online, especially on e-commerce sites that host multiple sellers like AliExpress, Amazon, Rakuten, CDiscount, etc., you need to be extra cautious. These platforms are sometimes filled with counterfeit products, particularly in the field of storage devices such as USB drives, SD cards, and SSDs.
Recently, we had an experience where we purchased a 2 TB USB drive for just 5$ on AliExpress. While the drive was functional, its actual storage capacity and read/write speeds were far below what was advertised.
Unfortunately, many online shoppers still fall for these counterfeit products, tempted by prices that seem too good to be true. If you have already purchased a storage device and want to verify its authenticity, we’ve selected 4 free software tools that can help. With these tools, you can quickly detect whether the product is genuine or not.
H2testw
H2testw is a free software developed by Harald Bögeholz. The principle is simple: it writes data to your storage device until it’s full, then reads it back to verify its integrity. This helps detect fake storage capacities and read/write issues.
Using it is straightforward. Download and launch the software, then select the drive to test. H2testw takes care of the rest. Once the test is complete, you’ll get a detailed report on the actual capacity of your USB drive, SD card, or SSD, as well as its performance.
However, note that the analysis can be particularly long, depending on the size of the device. In our tests, an 8 GB USB drive took 25 minutes to test, but a 2 TB USB drive with very low write speed (~6 MB/s) was estimated to take 72 hours…
FakeDriveCheck
Developed by Reuschtools, FakeDriveCheck is another free tool for detecting fake storage devices. Unlike H2testw, it doesn’t write data until the device is completely full. Instead, it carefully analyzes the drive to determine whether it is authentic, corrupted, or in good working condition, though the exact method is not specified.
The advantage of FakeDriveCheck is that your existing files won’t be destroyed during verification. However, the software can’t guarantee that all fake USB drives will be detected, but if a drive is identified as fake or defective, it’s accurate 99.9% of the time. Note that FakeDriveCheck only works with USB drives and SD cards, not hard drives or SSDs.
ValiDrive
ValiDrive is free software developed by Gibson Research Corporation. Rather than filling the entire device like H2testw, it uses sampling by writing and reading data at different locations on the USB drive, SD card, external hard drive, or SSD. This allows for a faster test, though potentially less exhaustive.
ValiDrive remains a reliable tool for detecting fake storage capacities. Its interface is minimalistic but effective, providing a concise report at the end of the test.
CapacityTester
Finally, CapacityTester is a tool available for Windows and Linux that, as its name suggests, focuses on verifying the storage capacity of devices.
CapacityTester offers two testing modes:
- The “Volume Test,” which fills the file system, verifying that its entire capacity can be used. This is a slow test that can take hours.
- The “Raw Disk Test,” which directly overwrites the disk itself and is much faster (some multi-GB/TB USB drives can be tested in under 10 minutes). However, this test is still experimental.
To use CapacityTester, simply download the version corresponding to your operating system from the releases page on GitHub.
Conclusion
With these 4 free tools, you now have everything you need to verify the authenticity of your USB drives, SD cards, or SSDs. Feel free to use them as soon as you receive your device to ensure it meets your expectations.
And remember, if an offer seems too good to be true, it probably is! Always prioritize trusted sellers, even if it means paying a bit more, to avoid disappointments. With a little common sense and the right tools, you can shop for storage devices online with peace of mind.
See you soon on Tech To Geek.
