What is happening to my Hard Disk?

[ECEngineer]

Hi all,

I keep having problems with my hard disk for a long time. I had a WD 240 GB hard disk earlier and I started having problems with loading windows and then windows began to shut down unexpectedly. Within a few days, the hard disk crashed completely and failed to boot the PC.

Then I bought a new one, WD 500 GB hard disk and re-installed everything. It worked fine for a few months and then it too started showing the same problems. Last month I had a problem with loading windows. It kept re-booting from the loading windows screen. I tried windows startup repair but it did not solve the problem. Then I tried restoring a system backup which was stored on another partition on the same physical hard disk. It worked fine for a month.
A few days ago, windows again stopped loading and it kept re-booting the computer from the loading windows screen. Now I can't even try restoring the backup again. It just hangs when I try to go to the windows repair options.

I have now tried loading the Mini XP by running the system using a Hiren's Boot CD and tried running the HD Tune utility. It is running since yesterday and it is still not complete. Here's the screenshot:

I am not sure what is causing these issues, and why is it recurring all the time? Is there any way for me to solve the problem?

Edit:
BTW, this computer is approx 6 years old. The first hard disk died after around 5 years. But the new one isn't even a year old. Do you think the problem is with cooling? The temp shows 42 C and I think thats not too high.


Thanks!

 

[Mark Phelps]

Sorry to say this, but the problem could be with WD drives. I used them for years with no problems, then last year, I started replacing smaller drives with larger WD drives -- and they started failing. One 2TB drive only lasted a few months.

So, I quit using WD, switched over to using Seagate -- and haven't had problems since.

WD has a drive health diagnostic tool on their website which you can download for free and run. IF it finds your drive is failing, and it is still under warranty, you might be able to get a free replacement from WD.

 

[TVeblen]

Just one of those red squares is bad news. When you have that many bad sectors then the drive is very close to dying.

Retrieve any user files and data off that drive as soon as possible. Then replace it.
I'd do this before running any further diagnostic. It could be the last thing you do with that drive.

 

[Indianatone]

Hi ECEngineer
If that is 42C at load reading several GB of data then that is just acceptable. If 42C is at idle then when loaded the temp could get warmer and into the danger area. You may wish to improve your cooling. The temps of my drives range from 34C to 40C (The C drive).

 

[kbrady1979]

Like TVeblen said above, grab any data off of it you can.......don't worry about anymore testing until you do. Run Western Digital's Health Diagnostic Tool AFTER you get data off of it, and if it is bad, contact Western Digital to see what they can do. Might not hurt to mention the last WD drive that went bad along with this one.