Potential impending hard disk failure, but CrystalDiskInfo reports that it's still in good health

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Pamphlet

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Oct 12, 2013
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10,510
As of late, I've been seeing more and more programs give me disk-related errors: games like F1 2014 would immediately hang after the first screen and then be completely unable to bring up any profiles, other games such as Game Stock Car Extreme would only manage to load the lowest quality textures despite all the settings being maxed out and there being no such issue in the past and so on. Applications such as Skype would also semi-regularly (once a day) give me a disk I/O error.

Now, the above have only been happening for the last 5 days or so, but I've been getting some other hints for a while now as well: for example, after a few hours of use, Firefox would suddenly start randomly going black and having severe display issues (flickering blackness and so on), failing to load any images whatsoever until restarted, while some folders would take a surprisingly long time to even get their thumbnails to show up.

Problem is, I've just run CrystalDiskInfo and it's reporting that the drive continues to be in good health. Similarly, I've run a chkdsk /F which also reported no issues whatsoever.

The only important things I recall doing as of late are a graphics driver update (about a week ago, so right around the time the new issues started showing up, peculiarly) and the aforementioned chkdsk. I've also run disk defrag and done a virus scan, and everything looked okay.

Can somebody help me out here and see if there's any way that I could somehow stop these issues from happening? I can obviously see why they would start happening, as, due to me not using this PC much anymore because of my studies, I have not upgraded a single thing on it since 2010, and I would imagine that some things are starting to show a bit of wear or signs of old age. Problem is, I would very much rather not have to upgrade anything unless it's critical, as my financial situation does not readily allow me to just buy new parts, and individual part prices in my country are absurdly expensive relative to most salaries (just as expensive, if not more expensive than in the US, when they should be only half of that). I'm also completely clueless when it comes to hardware and installing such new parts, which doesn't help.

Post updates are at the bottom.

Here's what CDI is reporting:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
CrystalDiskInfo 6.5.2 Shizuku Edition (C) 2008-2015 hiyohiyo
Crystal Dew World : http://crystalmark.info/
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

OS : Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 [6.1 Build 7601] (x86)
Date : 2015/09/01 12:54:37

-- Controller Map ----------------------------------------------------------
+ Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller [ATA]
+ ATA Channel 0 (0)
- ATAPI iHAS120 6 ATA Device
- WDC WD5000AADS-00S9B0 ATA Device
- ATA Channel 1 (1)
+ Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller [ATA]
+ ATA Channel 0 (0)
- ZCJSVOT JKTQZ8HYJ ATA Device
- ATA Channel 1 (1)
+ Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller [ATA]
- ATA Channel 0 (0)
- ATA Channel 1 (1)
+ Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller [ATA]
- ATA Channel 0 (0)
- ATA Channel 1 (1)
+ A0N95WBI IDE Controller [SCSI]
- SLMBEPW SHYVO96B SCSI CdRom Device
- SLMBEPW SHYVO96B SCSI CdRom Device

-- Disk List ---------------------------------------------------------------
(1) WDC WD5000AADS-00S9B0 : 500.1 GB [0/4/0, pd1] - wd

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
(1) WDC WD5000AADS-00S9B0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Model : WDC WD5000AADS-00S9B0
Firmware : 01.00A01
Serial Number : WD-WCAV98577958
Disk Size : 500.1 GB (8.4/137.4/500.1/500.1)
Buffer Size : 32767 KB
Queue Depth : 32
# of Sectors : 976773168
Rotation Rate : Unknown
Interface : Serial ATA
Major Version : ATA8-ACS
Minor Version : ----
Transfer Mode : ---- | SATA/300
Power On Hours : 23230 hours
Power On Count : 2686 count
Temperature : 39 C (102 F)
Health Status : Good
Features : S.M.A.R.T., AAM, 48bit LBA, NCQ
APM Level : ----
AAM Level : 80FEh [OFF]

-- S.M.A.R.T. --------------------------------------------------------------
ID Cur Wor Thr RawValues(6) Attribute Name
01 200 200 _51 000000000000 Read Error Rate
03 189 187 _21 000000000DC5 Spin-Up Time
04 _98 _98 __0 000000000A87 Start/Stop Count
05 200 200 140 000000000000 Reallocated Sectors Count
07 200 200 __0 000000000000 Seek Error Rate
09 _69 _69 __0 000000005ABE Power-On Hours
0A 100 100 __0 000000000000 Spin Retry Count
0B 100 100 __0 000000000000 Recalibration Retries
0C _98 _98 __0 000000000A7E Power Cycle Count
C0 200 200 __0 00000000008D Power-off Retract Count
C1 146 146 __0 000000028050 Load/Unload Cycle Count
C2 104 100 __0 000000000027 Temperature
C4 200 200 __0 000000000000 Reallocation Event Count
C5 200 200 __0 000000000000 Current Pending Sector Count
C6 200 200 __0 000000000000 Uncorrectable Sector Count
C7 200 200 __0 000000000000 UltraDMA CRC Error Count
C8 200 200 __0 000000000000 Write Error Rate

-- IDENTIFY_DEVICE ---------------------------------------------------------
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
000: 427A 3FFF C837 0010 0000 0000 003F 0000 0000 0000
010: 2020 2020 2057 442D 5743 4156 3938 3537 3739 3538
020: 0000 FFFF 0032 3031 2E30 3041 3031 5744 4320 5744
030: 3530 3030 4141 4453 2D30 3053 3942 3020 2020 2020
040: 2020 2020 2020 2020 2020 2020 2020 8010 0000 2F00
050: 4001 0000 0000 0007 3FFF 0010 003F FC10 00FB 0110
060: FFFF 0FFF 0000 0007 0003 0078 0078 0078 0078 0000
070: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 001F 1706 0000 0044 0040
080: 01FE 0000 746B 7F61 4123 7469 BC41 4123 207F 003A
090: 003A 0000 FFFE 0000 80FE 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
100: 6030 3A38 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 5001 4EE1
110: 0302 59C3 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 401C
120: 401C 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0029 0000
130: 0000 0000 0000 16D9 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
140: 0000 0000 0004 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
150: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
160: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
170: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
180: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
190: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
200: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 3037 0000 0000 0000
210: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
220: 0000 0000 101E 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
230: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0001 1000 0000 0000 0000 0000
240: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
250: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 30A5

-- SMART_READ_DATA ---------------------------------------------------------
+0 +1 +2 +3 +4 +5 +6 +7 +8 +9 +A +B +C +D +E +F
000: 10 00 01 2F 00 C8 C8 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 03 27
010: 00 BD BB C5 0D 00 00 00 00 00 04 32 00 62 62 87
020: 0A 00 00 00 00 00 05 33 00 C8 C8 00 00 00 00 00
030: 00 00 07 2E 00 C8 C8 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 09 32
040: 00 45 45 BE 5A 00 00 00 00 00 0A 32 00 64 64 00
050: 00 00 00 00 00 00 0B 32 00 64 64 00 00 00 00 00
060: 00 00 0C 32 00 62 62 7E 0A 00 00 00 00 00 C0 32
070: 00 C8 C8 8D 00 00 00 00 00 00 C1 32 00 92 92 50
080: 80 02 00 00 00 00 C2 22 00 68 64 27 00 00 00 00
090: 00 00 C4 32 00 C8 C8 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 C5 32
0A0: 00 C8 C8 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 C6 30 00 C8 C8 00
0B0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 C7 32 00 C8 C8 00 00 00 00 00
0C0: 00 00 C8 08 00 C8 C8 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
0D0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
0E0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
0F0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
100: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
110: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
120: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
130: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
140: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
150: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
160: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 84 00 88 2C 01 7B
170: 03 00 01 00 02 85 05 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
180: 00 00 01 02 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
190: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
1A0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
1B0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
1C0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
1D0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
1E0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
1F0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 A2

-- SMART_READ_THRESHOLD ----------------------------------------------------
+0 +1 +2 +3 +4 +5 +6 +7 +8 +9 +A +B +C +D +E +F
000: 10 00 01 33 C8 C8 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 03 15
010: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 04 00 00 00 00 00
020: 00 00 00 00 00 00 05 8C 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
030: 00 00 07 00 C8 C8 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 09 00
040: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 0A 00 00 00 00 00
050: 00 00 00 00 00 00 0B 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
060: 00 00 0C 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 C0 00
070: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 C1 00 00 00 00 00
080: 00 00 00 00 00 00 C2 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
090: 00 00 C4 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 C5 00
0A0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 C6 00 00 00 00 00
0B0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 C7 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
0C0: 00 00 C8 00 C8 C8 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
0D0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
0E0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
0F0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
100: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
110: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
120: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
130: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
140: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
150: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
160: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
170: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
180: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
190: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
1A0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
1B0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
1C0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
1D0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
1E0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
1F0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 0D



Quick edit: Skype's reported yet another disk I/O failure (and yes, I've followed the fixes that are posted all over the net). It restarts just fine after closing it, but the reports are becoming more and more common.

Quick edit 2: Steam's now reporting a disk write failure as well. http://puu.sh/jW5CV.jpg

Quick edit 3: I'm trying to resume the Steam update. It's working fine, but I can hear some soft, but very clear sounds, almost like they're scratching sounds. They're short, but constant, and they keep happening all the way until the update pauses itself with yet another disk write failure. Resuming the update does work shortly after the write failure happens, but the sounds start almost as soon as I do that, and then it doesn't take long for the write failure to happen again, which makes the issue look very similar to that of Skype. This is definitely looking like a problem now. Any advice?
 
Solution
Boogieman_WD
Well actually this is great news. It sounds like the drive might be in a good condition after all. Get the older version of the GPU drivers and try the drive with a different SATA port and different cables (this is the next logical step if there's something wrong and it's storage related). Note that having a backup of your personal data is always recommended even if the HDD works perfectly fine. It's better to be safe than sorry.
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Boogieman_WD

Boogieman_WD

Judicious
Jul 31, 2014
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Hey there, Pamphlet.

This does sound troublesome indeed. :(
I'd recommend that you backup any important data which you might have on that drive, just to be on the safe side. After that go ahead and download DLG (Data Lifeguard Diagnostics) and run both tests on the drive (Quick and Extended), to see if any errors or bad sectors pop-up. Here's how to do that: How to test a drive for problems using Data Lifeguard Diagnostics for Windows. Another thing which you can do, is to try the drive with a different computer or at least a different SATA port and cables on yours, to see if the same thing happens (because this might be due to a faulty port or cable as well). Here's a "Quick Install" guide on how to connect an HDD, so that you know how to connect/disconnect it: Internal Hard Drives - Quick Install Guide (pdf). Just FYI the drive uses SATA interface so disregard the pictures about the PATA drive. Here's a video on how to do it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHxZN_NSiRI. Disregard the part about "initializing the drive", this is for brand new HDDs and you only need to know how to physically connect or disconnect the HDD. You could also try running the chkdsk command with the /r switch instead of /f, but only after you've backed up all of your data.

Regardless from that, the visual problem you're having might be a completely different problem and I think it connected to the new drivers you've installed for your GPU (Video Card). I'd recommend that you roll back a version, to see if that fixes the issue.

Hope that helps. Please let me know how everything goes.
Boogieman_WD
 
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Pamphlet

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Oct 12, 2013
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Thank you for the response. Just after I made my post (so before you made yours), I ran chkdsk with /r, since a few posts on other sites recommended it. Unfortunately, the problems seem to be persisting, so I'll be running tests with DLG shortly. Until then, if you need any other specific bit of info (maybe pertaining to the chkdsk for example), let me know. Unfortunately, since the real problems only started showing up very recently and I haven't tampered with the cables or the HDD itself, I doubt the problem would be fixed by doing anything there, but I'll look into that if DLG doesn't turn up anything of value.

Quick update: Quick test results.
Test Option: QUICK TEST
Firmware Number: 01.00A01
Capacity: 500.11 GB
SMART Status: PASS
Test Result: PASS
Test Time: 17:16:04, September 01, 2015
 
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Boogieman_WD

Boogieman_WD

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Jul 31, 2014
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I hope you've backed up your data. Go ahead and proceed with the Extended Test as well. Note that this test basically scans the drive sector by sector and it will take a lot longer than the Quick test. In your case this is not an issue as the drive's warranty has expired but FYI for future references, I'd recommend that you don't post any drive's serial number, so that no one can take advantage of your warranty.
Let me know what results you get after the test.
 
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Pamphlet

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Oct 12, 2013
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Extended test results:
Test Option: EXTENDED TEST
Firmware Number: 01.00A01
Capacity: 500.11 GB
SMART Status: PASS
Test Result: PASS
Test Time: 19:36:02, September 01, 2015

This is a bit surprising. The SMART data reported by it is identical to the data provided in the original post too, so no changes there.
 
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Boogieman_WD

Boogieman_WD

Judicious
Jul 31, 2014
6,050
2
35,960
Well actually this is great news. It sounds like the drive might be in a good condition after all. Get the older version of the GPU drivers and try the drive with a different SATA port and different cables (this is the next logical step if there's something wrong and it's storage related). Note that having a backup of your personal data is always recommended even if the HDD works perfectly fine. It's better to be safe than sorry.
 
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Solution
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Pamphlet

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Oct 12, 2013
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Sure enough, the cable had significant damage near (not at, near) one of the ends. Things seem to be going well now that I've replaced it, but I've also installed new RAM and done a bit of general cleaning so I'm not sure if that may have contributed to the solution as well. I will be formatting shortly to test things even further, and assuming all goes well, I'll probably mark Boogieman_WD's last post as the solution once that's done. Thanks for the help.

EDIT: Most issues have been fixed. Sadly, it looks like the graphics card is dying too, which was causing a different set of issues altogether, but at least the one I was inquiring about here is no longer a problem.
 
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