How to run CrystalDiskInfo on Windows Start-up - Boot Silently

CrystalDiskInfo is effective, reliable, and widely used for monitoring drives health including SSDs.
However, with new memory-chip based solid state drive (SSD)  failures do not happen in an analog fashion like the old spindle hard-drives. SSDs have a finite number of write cycles before the memory cells degrade, although modern SSDs use techniques like wear leveling to prolong their lifespan.

⚠️ What CDI does not do

• It cannot predict exact SSD failure dates. No SMART tool can — SSDs fail unpredictably once cells wear out.

• It may not show proprietary vendor‑specific metrics Some SSD makers expose extra data only through their own tools (e.g., Samsung Magician, WD Dashboard). Tom’s Hardware notes that manufacturers often provide deeper diagnostics.

• It doesn’t test performance or speed That’s CrystalDiskMark, a separate tool.

Most SSDs expose standardized SMART attributes that let you estimate remaining life. These include:

Key SSD SMART Attributes

• Total Bytes Written (TBW) How much data has been written to the drive so far.

• Percentage Used / Wear Leveling Count A controller‑calculated estimate of how much of the drive’s write endurance has been consumed.

• Media Wearout Indicator (MWI) Enterprise SSDs often report this as a value from 100 (new) to 0 (end of life).

• Reallocated Sector Count Shows if the drive has started remapping worn‑out blocks.

Below is a table of the attributes you mentioned and whether CrystalDiskInfo reports them.

SSD Attribute	Reported by CrystalDiskInfo?	Notes
Total Bytes Written (TBW)	✅ Yes	Usually shown as “Total Host Writes” or “NAND Writes” depending on drive.
Percentage Used / Wear Leveling Count	✅ Yes	NVMe drives show “Percentage Used”; SATA drives show “Wear Leveling Count”.
Media Wearout Indicator (MWI)	✅ Often	Common on enterprise SSDs; may not appear on consumer drives.
Reallocated Sector Count	✅ Yes	Standard SMART attribute for both HDDs and SSDs.

Running CrystalDiskInfo requires admin rights to read SMART data, so when you schedule it through Task Scheduler, Windows triggers UAC unless the task is configured to bypass it. 

CrystalDiskInfo Startup Setting

To enable CrystalDiskInfo to run on start-up choose Function -> Startup and Keep in System Tray (to keep minimized on boot). 

CrystalDiskInfo actually creates a task, you can edit it.

1. Open Task Scheduler

• Press Win + R

• Type: taskschd.msc

• Press Enter

2. Create a new Task (not a Basic Task)

• In the right panel, click Create Task… (Do not choose “Create Basic Task” — it hides the options you need.)

3. Configure the General tab

• Name: CrystalDiskInfo

• Description: optional

• Security options:

  • Run whether user is logged on or not

  • Run with highest privileges

• “Configure for”: Windows 7/10/11 in the name, may end with Server....

This is the part that allows the task to elevate without a UAC prompt.

4. Configure the Triggers tab

• Click New…

• Choose when you want it to run (daily, at logon, etc.)

• Click OK

Each trigger you add will run the task silently.

5. Configure the Actions tab

• Click New…

• Action: Start a program

• Program/script: Browse to your CrystalDiskInfo folder and select:

"C:\Program Files (x86)\CrystalDiskInfo\DiskInfo64.exe"

(Use the C version — it’s designed for command‑line and silent operation.)

• Add arguments: \Startup but \Silent works as well

This suppresses the UI completely.

• Click OK

6. Configure the Conditions tab (optional)

Adjust as needed. Most people leave these alone.

7. Configure the Settings tab

Recommended:

• Allow task to be run on demand (then you can test it by choosing Run in Actions Panel Right)

• Run task as soon as possible after a scheduled start is missed

8. Save the task

• Click OK

• Windows will prompt for your account password

  • This is required so the task can run elevated without UAC.