HDD problem detected - Failure predicted

[Yenkungu]

First of all let me greet you all since I'm new in here.

I need help/advice regarding my laptop HDD (Hitachi HTS727550A9E364). I got this used laptop a month ago, and shortly afterwards I started noticing random strange grinding sounds from within which immediately made me suspect of failing HDD. I downloaded and installed HDD sentinel and Active SMART and their red color statuses confirmed my suspicion was right. I monitored the health of HDD over few days and it keeps getting worse. I keep getting "Failure imminent" warnings from Active SMART and Windows warnings to backup my files. Good thing is that I don't have any important data I need to backup.

So, since this is all new to me, I want to ask someone experienced to interpret it for me, and kindly give me some relevant suggestions. I'll post some screenshots below. Date of when SS were taken is shown in bottom left corner, SS are starting with the most recent. As you can see, number of bad sectors slowly keeps increasing.
I guess getting a new HDD can't be avoided, right? Still, would you suggest using this one as USB external drive? If you need any other info please let me know, so I can also post it. Thanks in advance.

 

[GokAy]

You should get a new drive, and best would be to get an SSD.

Don't bother with this failing drive. You can't count on it anyway.

 

[Indianatone]

Yes get a new hard drive ASAP. That one will no longer work in a few days. You need to reinstall Windows 7 on a fresh hard drive:
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/219487-clean-reinstall-factory-oem-windows-7-a.html?filter[3]=Installation%20and%20Setup

 

[LMiller7]

The drive has multiple SMART warnings and has exhibited other warning symptoms. There can be little doubt that the drive will soon fail. It may work for a time or it may fail today, there is no way of knowing.

Depending on your storage needs an SSD may be a good option. An SSD of comparable size is going to be rather expensive.