Is my HDD dead ?

[deadheaddraven]

Hello

i have a an old Dell Vostro 220 (core 2 duo, 3gb ram) that i have installed Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit (official and licensed) on (we are making and old skool arcade cabinet), CPU and memory usage is fine but HDD usage is always in the 90-100 range

i can see is task manager what applications are taking up the HDD usage percentage (usually chrome taking up 50-60 per cent) but if i run the PC on idle something always takes up all the HDD usage

is this drive just dead and needs replacing ?

what do you guys think ?

P.S. i tried this pc on windows 10 and had the same problem with the HDD but in windows 10 task manager doesn't register what is taking up all the HDD usage

p.s

 

[D_Know_WD]

Hi there deadheaddraven,

It there are several possibilities:
- Some services running in the background.
- HDD is failing. Test it with some of these: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/282651-32-best-diagnostic-testing-utility
- Attach it with different cables. Sometimes faulty cables could cause high disk usage.

Let me know how this goes,
D_Know_WD

 

[deadheaddraven]

thanks for the reply

wont be services (i have stopped all the usual's bits/super fetch etc)

i will use the testing program's you suggested, also good call on the cables, never thought of that

 

[slyverine]

i have seen this in windows 7,10 and server. This is a very annoying problem. Check your HDD as d_know_WD mentioned. If no errors are found , try a BIOS update. If nothing happens again, post again we will try to disable some services.

 

[deadheaddraven]

BIOS update did the trick - thanks guys