is my hard drive failing?

[Guest]

So I got home from school today and went to use my computer, when I turned it on it made a clicking sound and is still doing it. It is also VERY SLOW. To the point where it takes 15 minutes boot into windows. So, do I need a new hard drive?

 

[Konker]

I have seen this before, actually last week on a users computer where I work. I tried everything on the software side to fix it, but nothing. A new hard drive fixed the issue.

 

[Jayson Gordo]

try changing the sata cable first. try to plug it on another sata port

if that dosent work try scanning your hard drive in another pc
and use this software

http://hddscan.com/ its a bad sector scanner.. if you have many .. its more likely failing

 

[Konker]

If the hard drive is physically clicking, the sata cable will have nothing to do with it. If you plug it into another computer, you will get the same results.

 

[Guest]

Alright, I guess I have no choice to buy a new hard drive then?

 

[Konker]

You could always run that hddscan, or even a Disk Check just to cover all your bases before buying a new one.
But if you buy a new one, make sure your PC has the windows Product Key on it so you can re install windows on your new drive.

 

[D_Know_WD]

Hi there Ovil202,

As some of the other guys already suggested, I would also advise you to run a HDD testing tool on the hard drive and check out its health. Though clicking sounds most of the times indicate that the drive is failing. If still in warranty you can just RMA it. You may also want to back up your data as soon as possible.

Cheers,
D_Know_WD

 

[Guest]

Ok, so now the HDD seems to be fine. There's no clicking or other weird sounds. Guess it was having a bad day?

 

[Konker]

Well just because the clicking went away for now, it doesn't mean the hard drive is better. It may happen again at any time. Just be sure to back all of your files up just in case one day it crashes

 

[USAFRet]

A hard drive making new noise never gets better. And the more you mess with it, the worse it will get.

 

[Guest]

Ok, thanks, I have a 1TB external HDD with some pictures and other stuff on it. If I use the build in windows feature to create a system image will it delete all the stuff that is currently on there. The image needs 150GBs and there is 450GBs left on the drive. Thanks!

 

[D_Know_WD]

I would say that most probably you will not have any problems storing both your pictures and a system image on your HDD as long as it has enough space available. Keep in mind that you can overwrite images though, in order to save space.

Cheers,
D_Know_WD