Slow hard disk performance

[Allwynd]

hello, ive noticed lately that i have performance issues with my hard disk
the computer i am using was bought in 2005, but in 2011 i replaced the motherboard, the hard disk remained though, which makes it roughly 8 years old

i've tried fixing its (supposedly) bad sectors with an application, that only works when booted. it took about an hour or so for the program to scan and "fix" whatever there was to be fixed, but this didnt improve things

my new motherboard is good enough so i can play crysis 1 on lowest, i can use windows 7 with aero and so on...

my specifications are:

CPU: amd phenom II @ 3.1ghz (dual core)
RAM: 2gb ddr3
GFX: ati radeon hd 3300
HDD: 80gb (the one from 2005)

i dont really have funds to upgrade the hardware, so im curious if there is a way to improve it using some sort of an application
i have also tried installing various OSes: windows 8, windows 7 (both x64 and x86), windows xp (both x64 and x86), ubuntu linux... the first few days its working OK, but then when i install some software it gets a lot slower, also when i use uTorrent to download something, the hard disk is loaded on 100% which makes everything else so painfully slow, it almost makes me wanna kick the PC till it stops working 😀

so, please tell me is there any way to improve my hard disk's performance?

 

[GhislainG]

The only way to improve it's performance is to replace it with a newer and much faster hard disk.

 

[Emerald]

bad sectors are a good sign of an aging HDD becoming unreliable.


Be sure you have back ups of all your important files

 

[Allwynd]

thanks guys, i have everything important in dropbox, i dont mind losing most of the information, since it's not important, i was just curious if there is a way to improve the HDD's performance, since its absolutely annoying

 

[GhislainG]

I don't know where you live, but a used 250GB drive should not be that expensive. They can be bought for $25-30 in my area.

 

[Emerald]

I don't know where you live, but a used 250GB drive should not be that expensive. They can be bought for $25-30 in my area.

cannot find any new HDD under $50

 

[GhislainG]

cannot find any new HDD under $50

I was referring to a used 250GB hard disk, not a brand new one.

 

[nightmove]

In your case, since you have backed up all your data, your best choice is to buy a new one and replace it for future use.