What is WD SanDisk SSD Dashboard and how it works? How about its alternatives? Read through this article to get the related information you want.

1. Title: Look! WD SanDisk SSD DashboardOverview andBestAlternative
Keywords: SanDiskSSDDashboard,wdssddashboard,western digital SSDdashboard, SanDiskSSD
Dashboard download
Description: What is WD SanDisk SSD Dashboard and how it works?How about itsalternatives?
Readthroughthisarticle to get the relatedinformationyouwant.
URL: https://www.partitionwizard.com/partitionmagic/wd-sandisk-ssd-dashboard.html
Summary: The following content is going to introduce you two hard disk maintaining and optimizing
programs, WD SanDisk SSD Dashboard and MiniTool PartitionWizard.Itwill alsocompare them
withan unbiasedstandpoint. Learnmore similarknowledgeon MiniTool partitionmasterofficial
website.
Overview of WD SanDisk SSD Dashboard
WD SanDiskSSD Dashboard referstothe Dashboardapplicationreleasedby WesternDigital (WD)
corporation.Itwas combinedfromformertwosimilarprogramsnamed SanDiskSSDDashboard
(releasedbySanDisk)andWD SSDDashboard(releasedbyWD) onSeptember14,2020.

2. SanDisk SSD Dashboard
Alt=SanDiskSSD Dashboard
The SanDiskSSD Dashboard helpsitsuserstomaintainpeakperformance of the SanDiskSSDin the
Windowsoperatingsystem(OS)withauser-friendlygraphical interface.Itincludestoolsfordrive
analysis(suchasdiskmodel,capacity,firmware version,and SMARTattributes) andfirmware
updates.
WD SSD Dashboard
Alt=WD SSD Dashboard

3. Similarly,the WesternDigital SSDDashboard aidspeopletooptimizetheirWDSSDsin OSvia an
intuitive UI.Italsoembedsutilitiestoanalyze diskmodel,capacity,firmware version,S.M.A.R.T
attributesaswell asupgrade firmware.
Now,the combinedDashboardalsodoessimilarwork.Itmonitorsharddrive statusand
performance forSanDiskdrivesandWesternDigital harddisks. Dashboard supportsWindows10,
Windows8.1 and Windows7,both 32- and 64-bit. Administrativerightsare required forthe
installationandoperationof the dashboard.
Moreover,the Dashboardisa toolbox containingmanydisk-relatedtoolstohelpyou optimize disk
performance,diagnosedrive problems,free updiskspace,etc.cooperatingwithWindows
programs,such as WindowsPerformance Monitor,WindowsTRIM,WindowsTaskScheduler,
Windowsdiskeraser,WindowS.M.A.R.T,andsoon.
https://www.partitionwizard.com/partitionmagic/western-digital-buys-sandisk.html
How to Make Use of WD SanDisk SSD Dashboard?
To use the Dashboard,youshould,firstof all, performthe WDSanDisk SSD Dashboard download
fromits official website,andinstallitonyourcomputer.Afterinstallation,launch the dashboard.It
will automaticallydetectthe SanDiskdrivesandWDdisksonyour computerandlistthemon the
upperSelectdevice drop-downmenu.
Alt=WD SanDiskSSDDashboard Status
If you do have a SanDiskor WD drive connectedto the currentcomputer,yetyoucan’t see itin the
drop-down,justclickthe refreshbuttonnearby(the curvedarrow).
Western Digital SanDisk SSD Dashboard Status
In the defaultStatusscreen,itshowsthe diskcapacity condition(free,used,unallocatedandother),
volumes(freeandusedspace of eachvolume),real-timetemperature,drive health, interface speed
as well asotherdetailsof yourhard drive.

4. Especially,forinterface speed,there are capacityspeedindicatingthe fastestspeedsupportedby
currentdisk,and connectionspeedshowingthe utmostportspeedforconnectingthe harddrive to
the system.
Note:For SATA SSD,the connection speed is the actualspeed negotiated with the system.If the
connection speed is lower than theSSD capacity speed,a messagewill pop-up in red saying “Forbest
performance,connectyourSSDto a 6.0 Gb/s-capableport.”
ThisDashboard can onlyshowone drive atone time.If youhave more thanone disks that
Dashboardsupports,youcan selectwhichdrive toshow fromitsupperrightSelectdevice drop-
down.
WD SanDisk SSD Dashboard Performance
PERFORMANCE CHART
SSD Dashboardisalso a diskspeedmonitor.Itcantell youthe real-time readandwrite speedof
your disk. Inthe PERFORMANCECHART, youare able tochange the speed measure metricsbetween
MB/s and IOPS(I/Ooperationcountpersecond). Also,youcanadd a real-time temperatureoverlay
by tickingthe Temperature onthe upperof the chart.
Alt=WD SanDiskSSDDashboard Performance Chart
Tip: In this chart,there is a button thatenablesyou to open WindowsPerformanceMonitor to view
morereal-time performanceof computercomponents.
TRIM
TRIM allowsthe OSto requestthe selecteddevice tofree upthe space usedbyfilesthathave since
beendeleted.Youcanrun TRIM immediatelythroughthe buttongivenhere.Also,youare
recommendedtorunTRIMautomaticallyandperiodicallybysettingaschedule of daily, weeklyor
monthly.AutomaticTRIMschedulingismanagedbythe WindowsTaskScheduler.

5. Alt=WD SSD Dashboard Trim
WRITE-CACHE SETTINGS
In the Write-Cache Settingsscreen,youcanenable Windowswrite caching,andfurtherdisable
Windowswrite-cache bufferflushing.
Alt=WD SanDiskSSDDashboard Write-Cache Settings
WD SanDisk SSD Dashboard Tools
ERASE DRIVE
There are twomethodsto erase a SanDiskor WD drive:

6.  Quick Overwrite – Performaquickerase of partitionandfilesystemdataonthe device.
 Full Overwrite – Performafull erase of all data on thisdevice.
Note:Windowscan’terasethe bootdrive. To erasethe systemdisk,please createa USB erasetool.
Alt= WD SanDiskSSD Dashboard Erase Drive
S.M.A.R.T
Here in thissection,youcanrelyon the S.M.A.R.Tdiagnostictotestyour hard drive andview
S.M.A.R.Tdetaileddata.
 S.M.A.R.T Diagnostic Short Test – It maytake 5 minutesorlessto complete the test.
 S.M.A.R.T Diagnostic ExtendedTest – It may take 10 minutesorlongerto finish.

7. Alt= WD SanDiskSSD Dashboard S.M.A.R.T
DEVICE DETAILS
In Device Details,the Dashboardsummarizesthe detaileddriveinformationlikemodel number,
model string,SATA revision,SATA linkspeed,RPM(Revolutionsperminute),serial number,
maximumLBA,IEEE OUI and 4K alignment.Also,youcanidentifyyourharddiskwithgeneral
configurationinfo(path).
Alt=WD SanDiskSSDDashboard Device Details
SYSTEM DETAILS

8. Here,the dashboardliststhe systemdetailsof bothcomputerandOS, includingmotherboard
(manufacturer&model),chipsetprocessor(brand,model&frequency),secure boot,systemedition
and version,service pack,aswell assystemtype.Also,youcanview namesandversionsof ATA
storage controllershere.
Alt=WD SanDiskSSDDashboard SystemDetails
WD SanDisk SSD Dashboard Alternative – MiniTool Partition Wizard
Besidesthe mentionedWindowsbuilt-intoolsthatcan replace thisWesternDigital official program,
there are still a fewotherthird-partyapplicationsthatcanserve asalternativestothe Dashboard.
Here,one of those alternativesprofessionalandreliable will be introduced,anditis MiniTool
PartitionWizard.
Pw-demo
PartitionWizardisa hard diskand drive partitionmanagementsoftware. Forharddiskdrive
management,itcan:
 Diskbenchmark
 Analyze diskspace
 Migrate OS to SSD/HDD
 Copydisk
 Delete all partitionsonthe disk
 Alignall partitionsonthe disk
 RebuildMBRor GPT
 InitializedisktoMBR or GPT
 Convertdiskbetweendynamicandbasic
 ConvertdiskbetweenMBRand GPT
 Disksurface test
 Diskdata recovery
 Diskpartitionrecovery

9.  Wipe disk
 Checkdiskproperties
Alt=MiniTool PartitionWizard DiskManagement
For hard drive partitionmanaging, thispartitiontool isable to:
 Move partition
 Resize partition(extendorshrinkpartition)
 Splitor merge partitions
 Copypartition
 Explore partition
 Create or delete partition
 Alignpartition
 Format partition
 Wipe partition
 Checkfile system
 Convertfile systemfromFATtoNTFSor vice versa
 Partitionsurface test
 Setpartitionas active orinactive
 Setpartitionas primaryor logical
 Hide or unhide partition
 Change partitionlabel
 Change drive letter

10.  Change partitionserial number
 Change partition type ID
 Change clustersize
 Checkpartitionproperties
 Manage dynamicdiskvolumes
Alt=MiniTool PartitionWizard PartitionManagement
Click to tweet
WD SanDisk SSD Dashboard vs MiniTool Partition Wizard
Thoughpartitionwizardis notthe directcompetitortoDashboard,there are still some featuresin
the partitionmanagerthatcan replace the relatedfunctionsinthe dashboard.
Check Disk Status
In the mainUI of PartitionWizard,youcan view some basicinformationof yourharddrive
conditions,includinghowmanyharddrivesare currentlyconnectedtoyourmachine,andhow many
partitionsof eachdisk.Foreach disk,youcan see itsbrand,model, interface type,disktype aswell
as diskcapacity;for eachpartition,youcan see itscapacity,usedspace,unusedspace, file system,
drive letter,partitiontable andpartitionstatus justlike in WindowsDiskManagement (DM).
Partition Wizardvs Dashboard
PartitionWizardenablesyoutoviewall harddrivesatthe same time while Dashboardcan’t.And,
PartitionWizardwill showthe statusof all kindsof disks,nomatteritsSanDisk,WD diskor other
typesof drives,while Dashboardcanonlyshow the statusof SanDiskandWD drive.
Whenit comesto the statusof a single disk, the WDSanDiskSSDDashboard behavesbetter.Itnot
onlyshowsthe data of each item,butalsogivescolorful andintuitive diagrams.Dashboardgives
real-time temp,drive healthandinterface speedwhilePartitionWizarddoesnot.Yet,Partition

11. Wizardgivesmore infoaboutthe disk itself likepartitionfilesystem, disktype (GPTorMBR) and
partitionstatus(active orinactive,bootpartitionornot,systempartitionornot,etc.).
Disk Speed Test
PartitionWizardcan testthe read andwrite speedof a hard drive andwithmore powerful settings.
Pw-demo
Step 1. OpenPartitionWizard.Initsmaininterface,click DiskBenchmark in the top menu.
Step 2. Set upthe speedtestparametersincludingwhichpartitiontotest,transfersize span,total
length,queue number,threadnumber,testmode (sequential,randomorboth),andcool down
time.
 Transfer Size:The size of data transmittedatone time thatrangesfrom 1KB to 2048KB.
 Total Length: The total amountof data to be transferredthatrangesfrom100MB to
4096MB.
 Queue Number:Queue upa bunchof asynchronousreading/writinginthe drive,whichwill
be done by the drive ASAP.The availablequeuenumberisrangingfrom1 to 512.
 Thread Number:Set up howmanythreadsto be usedto complete the diskspeedtest.The
optionsare rangingfrom1 – 64.
 Sequential read/write:A diskaccesspatternto readfrom or write tolarge contiguous
blocksof adjacentlocationsonthe surface of a storage device.
 Random read/write: Anotherdiskaccesspatternto readfromor write tolarge contiguous
blocksof nonadjacentlocationsonthe surface of a storage device.
 Cool Down Time:Cool downtime isthe resttime assignedtoboththe partitiontool and the
testeddrive before continuingthe nexttest.Setupcool downtime toavoidthe diskto be
overheatingduringthe test.The optionsavailable are from0 – 20 seconds.
Step 3. Afterall settingsare done,click the Start buttonto beginthe drive speedtest.Itmaytake
some time before yousee the result.The time itwilltake dependsonall the parametersyousetin
the above. Be patientandwaituntil the testfinishes.

12. Alt= DiskBenchmarkTest
Step 4. As the screenshotshows,there are three groups(since thereare 3 stagesbetweentransfer
size 4KB and 16KB) of data showinginformof a diagramfrom whichyoucan easilycompare the
speedof differentsituations. Ingeneral,sequentialspeedsare muchfasterandrandom speeds;
while of the same sequential transfermode,readingspeedisfasterthanwritingspeed.Yet,for
randomdata transfer,readingspeedisslowerthanwritingspeed.
Viewmore detailsaboutMiniToolDiskBenchmarktest>>
MiniTool Partition Wizardvs WD SanDisk SSD Dashboard
The WesternDigital Dashboardisa real-time diskread-write speedmonitorthatsimplyshowsthe
data transferspeedatdifferenttimepoints,while PartitionWizardcantestthe diskspeedatvarious
specializedconditions.
Disk Diagnostic
Next,let’scompare the S.M.A.R.Tdiagnosticof Dashboardanddisksurface testof PartitionWizard.
To performDashboardS.M.A.R.Tdiagnostic:
1. Switchto the S.M.A.R.T section of the Toolstab in Dashboard.
2. Selecta S.M.A.R.Tdiagnostictype torun.
3. In the pop-upwindow,readthe notificationandclick CONTINUE.

13. Alt=S.M.A.R.TDiagnosticShortTest
4. Wait until the diagnosisfinishesandview the result.
ALT= S.M.A.R.TDiagnosticShortTest Result
https://www.partitionwizard.com/partitionmagic/computer-diagnostic-008.html
Guide forcarrying outdisksurface testin PartitionWizard:
1. In the main screenof PartitionWizard,right-clickonthe targetdiskand choose Surface Test.

14. Alt=SelectSurface Test
2. In the pop-upwindow,justclick Start Nowto start the test.

15. Alt=Start Disk Surface Test
3. When the testisdone,viewwhetherthere are readerrorsin certainblockson the target disk.

16. ALT= MiniTool DiskSurface TestResult
Dashboard vs PartitionWizard
Dashboardusesthe self-monitoring,analysisandreportingtechnology(S.M.A.R.T) to detectand
reportvariousindicatorsof diskreliabilitywiththe intentof anticipatingimminentdrivefailure,
while PartitionWizard isspecialforblockreaderrortest.
Pw-demo
General Comparison
Let’scompare the two programsin an overall view.
All inall, PartitionWizardhasmanymore featuresthanDashboard,anditcan domore management
to more kindsof hard drivesinsteadof simplycheckingthe conditionsof adisk.MiniTool partition
managercan manage hard diskssimilartoWindowsDiskManagementbutmore powerful thanDM.
Instead,Dashboardcando some simple managingtoharddisksrelyingonWindowsself-contained
tools.
Besides, the windowof the SanDiskDashboard can’tbe adjusted.
Compare and Conclusion
Here is a table comparingsome mainaspectsof the WD SanDiskSSDDashboard and MiniTool
PartitionWizard.

17. Program Disk
status
Supporte
d disk
type
Supporte
d disk
number
at the
same
time
Disk
speed
Featuresfor data
erase
Featuresfor disk
diagnostic
WD SSD
Dashboar
d
Real-
time,
intuitive
and
complet
e
Only
SanDisk
and WD
disk
1 Real-
time
and
simple
 Quick
overwrit
e
 Full
overwrit
e
 S.M.A.R.T
diagnosti
c short
test
 S.M.A.R.T
diagnosti
c
extended
test
MiniTool
Partition
Wizard
Still and
detailed
All kinds
of hard
drives
Multiple
(as many
as DM can
show)
Still
yet
variou
s
 Wipe
disk
 Wipe
partition
 Format
partition
 Disk
surface
test
 partition
surface
test
无 FAQ