Old hdd = no pc start?

[Lesle87]

I've had my hdd since December of 2010. It's a bit over 6 years old. I noticed that when I download torrents. Opening Applications like browsing the web or opening folders start to lag/stutter a lot. And I would have the mouse cursor in a circle loading phase when I try to do to much at once.

1. Do hdds get old and cause the pc to not stop start up?
2. Whats the average lifespan of a hdd?

Specs:
A68eh v33 - MOBO
A86600k - CPU
Hitachi 500gb(forgot name) - HDD

 

[Ali Tauseef]

You're pretty luck it lasted that long. Usually HDD's are supposed to last 3-4 years, maybe more if you're careful.
Most common is power failure and bad sectors.

 

[BadBoyGreek]

I've had my hdd since December of 2010. It's a bit over 6 years old. I noticed that when I download torrents. Opening Applications like browsing the web or opening folders start to lag/stutter a lot. And I would have the mouse cursor in a circle loading phase when I try to do to much at once.

1. Do hdds get old and cause the pc to not stop start up?
2. Whats the average lifespan of a hdd?

Specs:
A68eh v33 - MOBO
A86600k - CPU
Hitachi 500gb(forgot name) - HDD

Definite signs of HDD thrashing and imminent death, back up anything critical stat. Like Ali also said, average lifespan of most HDD's is 3-4 years, so you definitely got good life out of it.

 

[the nerd 389]

Hard drives do lose data over time. The amount of time that they retain data varies from model to model. This usually isn't an issue if the computer is running.

The average lifespan of a HDD varies between about 4 to 8 years, or about 3 months if you're me, and the drive is a Toshiba. That said, many die sooner, and many last longer. HDDs are very sensitive to temperature, and the rule of thumb is that you can double the lifespan of a HDD by decreasing the temperature of the drive by 10C.

If your PC isn't starting up, it may or may not be the hard drive. If it is, then the computer will turn on, and then say "Operating system not detected" or some variant thereof.

 

[1337sune]

Try downloading Crystaldiskinfo (google it) and it will read if you have a bad drive or good drive (reads the smart data).
My IBM from 2006 is still running with the same 80gb harddrive running for about 18000 hours now.
Hard Drives do NOT fail like many people think they do most often or not the drive will work for 10000 hours, and then read bad because dust particles destory the readhead. If you are uncertain still download Crystaldiskmark and let it run at 5gb for 9 runs. if the speed is incredebly low i would suggest buying a new hdd