Am I Headed for a Hard Drive Failure?

[EllieBunnyKiller]

Im using a Western Digital Blue 7200 RPM. I got it refurbished from Newegg because as I hear, refurbished is still okay. Maybe I was just being stupid. However, when I start it up it takes 15 seconds to get to the login screen but after that, it loads my desktop up quickly it seems. But I can't open programs or it'll slow it down extremely. So I have to wait until the desktop icons turn to white pieces of paper and then slowly they all return to normal icons.

On top of that it makes an irritating grinding noise when it's running. Or more like a scraping noise. However, after it starts up it's just fine and the computer is fast like it's supposed to be.

 

[getochkn]

Sounds like it. Grinding/clicking noises aren't ever good.

As soon as it starts, can you open task manager and see the HD percentage and see if it's pegged at 100% during that slow time with the white pieces of paper.

 

[Adroid]

Sounds like trouble. Clicking or grinding noises, if coming from a hard drive, are a sign of failure. Could fail in a day a month a year who knows - but I would certainly shell out the 50$ and get a replacement ASAP, especially if you want to save any existing files.

I would not recommend buying refurbished hard drives in the future. Who knows what the drive has been through before you got it?

52$ on amazon. http://www.amazon.com/Blue-Desktop-7200rpm-Internal-Drive/dp/B0088PUEPK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1444322150&sr=8-1&keywords=wd+caviar+blue

 

[Reyaz123]

Clicking, grinding, slow reading, slow writing times means it is failing. Backup your data to an external drive before it completely stops working.

If you've bought it recently, it may be covered under warranty. RMA it

 

[ko888]

Download and run Western Digital's Data LifeGuard Diagnostics tool.

http://support.wdc.com/downloads.aspx?DL

http://download.wdc.com/windlg/WinDlg_v1_28.zip

 

[Phillip Corcoran]

Never buy a so-called "refurbished" hard drive. Personally I would never buy a refurbished anything.

 

[EllieBunnyKiller]

Thanks everyone. I'll spend the 50 $ for a new one. I've backed up a majority of my files, I just hope I don't miss anything. Guess I won't be buying Fallout 4 however.

 

[littleleo]

Reyaz is right on back-up your stuff ASAP and if it is still covered RMA it the drive. Some refurbish items are okay, however hard drives are always going to fail if you buy a refurbish HDD it will fail much much faster don't do it.

 

[EllieBunnyKiller]

Download and run Western Digital's Data LifeGuard Diagnostics tool.

http://support.wdc.com/downloads.aspx?DL

http://download.wdc.com/windlg/WinDlg_v1_28.zip

Should i backup my Data before running it?

 

[Reyaz123]

The time you still have has to be used for backing up your data and the others come later. Don't want it to fail while scanning it before you get a chance to back it up.

At this point there is no need to scan it, since the telltale signs are 100% leading to hard drive failure.

Hope that answers your question

 

[EllieBunnyKiller]

Also, people say Hard Drives slow down the more you install things on them. Is this true? Having a debate with my friend: he says yes, I say otherwise

 

[Reyaz123]

Yes, this is called fragmentation. Files get clustered everywhere and it can be solved with a defragmenting program like defraggler.

It is not ok to defrag an SSD but a hard drive itself is ok.

Any clicking and grinding noises in a hard drive always leads to failures somewhere down the line

There are other causes for system slowing down whether it could be low ram availability, or too many startup programs installed having to load up each time you boot into windows

 

[EllieBunnyKiller]

Yes, this is called fragmentation. Files get clustered everywhere and it can be solved with a defragmenting program like defraggler.

It is not ok to defrag an SSD but a hard drive itself is ok.

Any clicking and grinding noises in a hard drive always leads to failures somewhere down the line

There are other causes for system slowing down whether it could be low ram availability, or too many startup programs installed having to load up each time you boot into windows

I keep startup programs to a minimal. I want an SSD badly for startup but I can't afford that and another HDD atm. Thanks for your help, it's been very informative.

 

[Reyaz123]

No problem.

Regards,
-Reyaz