Is my HDD dying?

tare789 · Jul 18, 2013

Here's a benchmark from HD Tune:
http://i.imgur.com/3BpJNcR.png
Nothing else is running in the background. Is this supposed to be a straight-ish line?

When I check the SMART Status, it says everything is fine.

And the "Error Scan" from HD Tune doesn't complete. I let it run over night and it only completed like 5% of the scan so I just quit. It didn't find anything wrong up to that point.

Some background: A 4 year old laptop that is now terribly slow when booting up (takes maybe 10 minutes) and opening programs; but after getting everything open, it runs just fine. I just tried reformatting with a clean install and there was no improvement. Is there anything else I should consider that may cause the slow performance?

Fouchey · Jul 18, 2013

I'm guessing the HDD is also 4 years old too? If so then probably. HDDs do tend to have problems around then. Boot taking 10 minutes is also a pretty good sign.

bob1033 · Jul 18, 2013

tare789 :

The drive is just outdated and old, its probably not dying, you would be getting errors for SMART if the drive was failing to spin at the correct speed to get good MB/s rates.

bob1033 · Jul 18, 2013

Its probably time to get a new hard drive or SSD though, after the 4-5 year mark, drive tend to crap out.

tare789 · Jul 18, 2013

Fouchey :

Any other parts I should consider to be worn? I'd hate to buy a new HDD for this computer and have it still be slow.

tare789 · Jul 18, 2013

bob1033 :

tare789 :

The drive is just outdated and old, its probably not dying, you would be getting errors for SMART if the drive was failing to spin at the correct speed to get good MB/s rates.

How does the benchmark graph look? Or is that not a good metric to use for judging how worn out a HDD is?

bob1033 · Jul 18, 2013

The graph doesn't represent wear, but i can tell you the speeds are very slow.
As with you laptop, after 4 years, its going to be slow even after you upgrade the HDD, you might have to ask yourself is it worth it to buy a new system.

Fouchey · Jul 18, 2013

tare789 :

4 Years isn't TOO old, but it really depends on how much usage, for an HDD though that is where problems usually occur. To put this into perspective my desktop from 2005 was running pretty slow a few months ago, replaced the HDD and it ran much smoother, with an SSD you would notice a very large change it speed. Just bought an SSD for my laptop and it full boots up in 20-30 seconds max. But then again you may also have other problems with it besides the HDD :/

Edit: Yes I agree with bob, you might want to look into a new system. I can't guarantee it's the HDD.

DukeOvilla · Jul 18, 2013

Hey, I got a question similar to OP.

Recently I decided to get a SSD, my thread on that was just solved. I did so because I feared my HDD was dying, or wearing out. It's like 4 years old, and been on like the whole time (sleep mode at night.)

It started having issues here and there, and then suddenly, it messes up windows, I re-installed, and it messed up real good 2 days later.
Is this the sign of a bad HDD? Can I still use it for storing basic files as a second HDD?

tare789 · Jul 18, 2013

bob1033 :

I assumed that as the drive wears out, the performance degrades and this would be reflected in the benchmark test.

I'm fairly confident that the system specs are fine. When it was bought, it was plenty speedy for just internet and MS office stuff. It's still being used for just that but has just gotten painfully slow overtime. Any other parts I should consider to have worn over time that may cause slow performance and make it a better idea to just get a new computer?

bob1033 · Jul 18, 2013

DukeOvilla :

Those are the tell-tell signs of a dying hard drive, but ususally SMART gives you a warning a week before complete failure, but OP is suffering from slow Mb/s, not corrupted and bad sectors, thats a whole other problem

bob1033 · Jul 18, 2013

tare789 :

Once your OS and files do load up, how's the performance?
In laptops, only the hard drive and battery feel the affects of age, but make sure to keep your fans clean.

Fouchey · Jul 18, 2013

I wouldn't think any other parts are worn. What I would do is buy a new HDD and turn your old one into an external.

tare789 · Jul 18, 2013

bob1033 :

After loading everything is great!

OS takes like 10 minutes to load up (I'm calling load up as the computer is responsive and the HDD notification light isn't contantly blinking anymore), but afterwards it's great! Other programs like web browser, word processing, image processing, also take FOREVER to start (I think Chrome takes a solid 5 minutes). But when they do, no problem. I can browse with tons of tabs open, stream Netflix HD, or simultaneously Photoshop several RAW images no problem. Shutting down the computer is always scary - the shutting down slash screen is displayed forever and I don't want to do a cold shut down at that point.

Performance wasn't improved after a clean install of everything, so I ruled out any virus/malware as the problem.

The battery sucks right now but the laptop is always plugged into the wall. That shouldn't affect performance, right?

tare789 · Jul 18, 2013

As bob1033 brought up with the fans - I suppose it can be super dusty. Maybe bad ventilation causing the CPU to throttle itself and slowing performance down. I'll investigate that tonight.

bob1033 · Jul 18, 2013

tare789 :

bob1033 :

After loading everything is great!

OS takes like 10 minutes to load up (I'm calling load up as the computer is responsive and the HDD notification light isn't contantly blinking anymore), but afterwards it's great! Other programs like web browser, word processing, image processing, also take FOREVER to start (I think Chrome takes a solid 5 minutes). But when they do, no problem. I can browse with tons of tabs open, stream Netflix HD, or simultaneously Photoshop several RAW images no problem. Shutting down the computer is always scary - the shutting down slash screen is displayed forever and I don't want to do a cold shut down at that point.

Performance wasn't improved after a clean install of everything, so I ruled out any virus/malware as the problem.

The battery sucks right now but the laptop is always plugged into the wall. That shouldn't affect performance, right?

If thats the case, an SSD upgrade is perfect! My load times went from 3 mins to 30 secs with an SSD and i can immediately get to work without waiting for browsers and apps to load. As with the battery, as long as its plugged in, performance should actually be better than from running from a battery.

Fouchey · Jul 18, 2013

tare789 :

bob1033 :

After loading everything is great!

OS takes like 10 minutes to load up (I'm calling load up as the computer is responsive and the HDD notification light isn't contantly blinking anymore), but afterwards it's great! Other programs like web browser, word processing, image processing, also take FOREVER to start (I think Chrome takes a solid 5 minutes). But when they do, no problem. I can browse with tons of tabs open, stream Netflix HD, or simultaneously Photoshop several RAW images no problem. Shutting down the computer is always scary - the shutting down slash screen is displayed forever and I don't want to do a cold shut down at that point.

Performance wasn't improved after a clean install of everything, so I ruled out any virus/malware as the problem.

The battery sucks right now but the laptop is always plugged into the wall. That shouldn't affect performance, right?

Yes this is exactly what I mean. The HDD is dying. I'm sure it wasn't always like this right? Whats happening is after boot is done your HDD is no longer being used(your computer works great!) then as soon as you open a program your HDD is being used again searching for files etc.

tare789 · Jul 18, 2013

Fouchey :

tare789 :

4 Years isn't TOO old, but it really depends on how much usage, for an HDD though that is where problems usually occur. To put this into perspective my desktop from 2005 was running pretty slow a few months ago, replaced the HDD and it ran much smoother, with an SSD you would notice a very large change it speed. Just bought an SSD for my laptop and it full boots up in 20-30 seconds max. But then again you may also have other problems with it besides the HDD :/

Edit: Yes I agree with bob, you might want to look into a new system. I can't guarantee it's the HDD.

Any comments on my thought of that as the HDD wears out, the performance degrades and this would be reflected in the benchmark test? I was hoping to have some sort of a quantitative metric on whether my HDD is worn out and it's time to be replaced.

Fouchey · Jul 18, 2013

tare789 :

Fouchey :

Any comments on my thought of that as the HDD wears out, the performance degrades and this would be reflected in the benchmark test? I was hoping to have some sort of a quantitative metric on whether my HDD is worn out and it's time to be replaced.

Easiest way to tell is what you just said. After chrome loads up it is now in ram, any tabs you open are also in ram which is why everything is working great. Sorry I rarely pay attention to benchmarks and HDD tests. Your quantitative metric for whether your HDD is worn and needs to be replaced is evident by every time it is being used your computer is running slow

bob1033 · Jul 18, 2013

HDD do not degrade in performance as they age, but you will get errors and corruption a week or 2 before complete failure, benchmarking performance isn't a reliable way of telling if a hard drive is going to fail.

Get an SSD and you computer will run much faster.

Is my HDD dying?

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