is my hdd broken?

[alexiusyap]

hello and a good day to all!

so down to the point, my girlfriend has had her pc for quite some time now and just recently she told me that two of the lights on the front panel had completely stopped working but her computer still runs fine though, we just wanted to make sure whether this is a sign to upgrade to a better hdd or not since from what i know the two lights at the front panel indicate hdd activity and whether the computer is on or not, so my question is has the hdd finally died? if not will it still be working fine without the light indicators? thank you in advance to anyone who can help

 

[Phillip Corcoran]

The hard drive cannot have failed (died) if the computer boots up okay and Windows still runs properly.

There is usually only one light on the front panel which indicates hard drive activity, the other one is the power-on/sleep mode light (that's all my custom-built PC has anyway). It's possible that the lights themselves have failed or the wires behind them have become detached.

It's nothing more serious than that if the computer still runs okay, certainly not hard drive failure.

 

[2x4b]

If the system boost, then the hard drive is good.
The hard drive activity light is a part in the case, not the drive.
The HDD (well actually the SATA controller on the motherboard) sends a signal to the LED installed at the front of the case to indicate activity. Similar scenario for the power LED.

Since they have both gone out I suspect a loose connection for those lights, likely at the motherboard where those wires plug in. Nothing to get worried about unless it bothers you (or you really want to see the lights).