ASUS N43S hangs frequently

[phonestrap]

So, my laptop N43S has been around for 3 years now, and I had to replace the HDD and Battery once.
My HDD does fail once, and the current HDD seems to be in a risky state.
I use my laptop for >15 hours a day, because i don't have a desktop at the moment, and when i use the laptop the air conditioning is always on.
My internet is so slow I for sometime had to download some application and leave the laptop for hours.
I play light online games such as Lost Saga (you guys probably don't know), and it works fine.
But recently my cousin came and used it, and said that the computer freezes once, and he had to restart it.
Now when I am in the desktop, every time i right clicked, it just seems more...sluggish. When I play games too, it became more laggy and unresponsive.
The computer sometimes freezes when i leave it to download, and that made me feel uneasy.
I just want to know :
a. What is the cause of my computer slowing down ?
b. What is the cause of the freeze ? It's happening more frequently lately

Thanks in advance.

 

[D_Know_WD]

Hi there phonestrap,

I would suggest you to back up the most important data until you figure out what is causing the issues.
As you suspect that your HDD is causing the hangs, it may be a good idea to run a brand specific testing tool and test it. There results will show HDD's health status.
Apart from that, have you cleaned the dust out of the laptop recently? Dust accumulation could lead to overall slow down as well.

Cheers,
D_Know_WD

 

[fzabkar]

Examine the SMART report using a tool such as CrystalDiskInfo or HD Sentinel.

http://crystalmark.info/software/CrystalDiskInfo/index-e.html

Look for reallocated, pending, or uncorrectable sectors.

You could perform a full surface scan with a tool such as HDDScan. It will identify "slow" sectors, ie those that require one or more read retries.

 

[phonestrap]

Hi there phonestrap,

I would suggest you to back up the most important data until you figure out what is causing the issues.
As you suspect that your HDD is causing the hangs, it may be a good idea to run a brand specific testing tool and test it. There results will show HDD's health status.
Apart from that, have you cleaned the dust out of the laptop recently? Dust accumulation could lead to overall slow down as well.

Cheers,
D_Know_WD

I haven't cleaned the dust yet. I guess i should try that first.