Status: version 1.0.0
First release
All six diagnostic areas are finished and wired in, and so are seven repairs in the Fix Engine. Every finding that has a remedy points straight at its repair – a double click runs it.
It runs as administrator
PCHealthLab asks for administrator rights (UAC) when it starts. Without them it could not read the raw disk, the event logs or the security state, and the repairs could not change the system. The diagnostics themselves change nothing. Repairs run only when you click, and those rated Caution ask first.
What it does
Tick the areas at the top, pick Quick test or Long test and press ANALYZE. The quick test takes a few minutes; the long one loads the CPU and GPU for longer and reads the disk more thoroughly. A live chart of the CPU and GPU temperature runs during the test.
The results land in one list, coloured by severity: Critical, Warning, Info. A finding that has a repair carries a link in the Fix ▸ column – a double click or a right click runs it. Below the list sits the Fix Engine with every repair and, next to each, how many findings recommend it.
Nothing is guessed: when something cannot be measured (a desktop has no battery, core temperatures are hidden without the driver), the program says so and why, instead of showing a misleading number. After the analysis it saves an HTML report; Open report opens it.
Six areas
| Area | What it checks |
|---|---|
| Battery & Power | Battery health (design against actual capacity), cycles, state and temperature. The long test also measures the power draw in watts for 2 minutes. |
| Storage & S.M.A.R.T. | Health and wear of SATA and NVMe disks, free space, and a read test that bypasses the Windows cache: bad blocks with their position, speed and how steady it is. 60 s quick, up to 30 minutes per volume thorough. |
| CPU, GPU & Thermal | Full load on every core and on the graphics (30 s or 5 minutes), the real clock including turbo, core and graphics temperatures. From the gap between the GPU hot spot and core it spots a poor heatsink contact and recommends a repaste. |
| RAM & Memory | Slots in use, type and speed (including XMP/EXPO left off), channels, ECC, usage, the paging file, and the history of memory errors from the event log including the Windows Memory Diagnostic result. |
| System Integrity & Logs | Hardware errors (WHEA), blue screens with the stop code and what it means, unclean shutdowns, disk errors, how full the event logs are, and a check of the system files (DISM, plus SFC in the long test). |
| Security & AutoStart | Defender and the age of its definitions, the firewall, UAC, Remote Desktop, the Guest account, a pending restart, BitLocker. An autostart inventory with orphaned entries, and unsigned programs in the long test. |
Fix Engine – repairs
| Repair | Risk | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Run SFC and DISM repair | Caution | Repairs the Windows component store, then damaged system files, with progress in percent. |
| Force TRIM on all SSD volumes | Safe | Sends TRIM to every SSD volume. |
| Reset paging file to system-managed | Safe | Hands the paging file back to the system; takes effect after a restart. |
| Enable Windows Firewall | Safe | Turns on the firewall profiles that are off; the rules are left alone. |
| Back up and clear full event logs | Caution | Backs up full logs to .evtx on the desktop and clears them. |
| Remove orphaned autostart entries | Caution | Removes only autostart entries whose program no longer exists. |
| Open Windows Memory Diagnostic | Safe | Opens the Windows memory test; you schedule the restart in its own window. |
Temperatures and the PawnIO driver
Windows have no ordinary interface for the CPU core temperature – it is read from registers only a driver can reach. That is why every tool that shows it ships one. PCHealthLab uses the LibreHardwareMonitor library on top of the signed PawnIO driver, which works with Memory Integrity turned on.
The driver is not inside the program. When it is needed, PCHealthLab asks, downloads the official installer from GitHub with your consent, checks its digital signature and only then runs it. It can be removed under Apps & features. Without the driver the program uses what is available and says when the core temperature cannot be read.
What comes next
A memory stress test
Writing and reading patterns across free RAM, bit errors with their address, throughput.
More repairs
Clearing temporary files and resetting the network stack.
Requirements
- Windows 10 or Windows 11 (64-bit).
- .NET Framework 4.8, part of Windows 10 since 1903 and of Windows 11.
- Administrator rights – the program asks for them when it starts.
- Internet only for the optional PawnIO driver download.
- The interface is in English.
Third-party components
PCHealthLab's own code is © MHSW.NET. LibreHardwareMonitorLib (MPL-2.0) and SharpDX (MIT, the Direct3D 11 graphics load) are merged unchanged into the single .exe. The PawnIO driver (GPL-2.0 with an exception for programs that talk to it only through its interface) is not part of the program. The full notice is in the F1 help.