does faulty hardware (old 500gb ssd, cheap 2tb hhd) cause file corruption?

[rubenstams_lizard]

a few weeks ago my windows start menu woudlnt open and no tutorial on youtube could fix it, so i reset my windows. (after unplugging my hhd which was just bulk storage like games ect.)
and now my microsoft photos app wont allow me to trim videos and again, no tutorial on youtube could fix it, so im concidering resetting my windows again, but before i do this i want to know whats the cause of this.
i havent been opening suspicious links or downloading weird software, and im starting to get the feeling that my old ass ssd on which windows is installed on is corrupting my windows.

specs if you really need it:
ssd: cx2-8b512-q11 nvme liteon 512gb
hhd: Seagate HDD 3.5" 2TB ST2000DM008 Barracuda (PROBABLY)
cpu: intel core i7 6700k (not overclocked)

gpu: rtx 4070ti
ram: ddr4 32gb 3600mhz
motherboard: asrock z170 Pro4s

Edited August 17, 2023 by rubenstams_lizard
forgot to mention ssd

[Origami Cactus]

Look at crystaldiskinfo, or/and do the HDD health checks through seagate software, make sure.

Faulty hardware is the nr1 reason for file corruption.

Probably your windows is installed on that ssd, so look at crystaldiskinfo, and try to find some SSD health checking utility too, most manufacturers provide them for their SSDs.

[podkall]

14 minutes ago, rubenstams_lizard said:

so i reset my windows.

reset or reinstall completely?

[Applefreak]

35 minutes ago, rubenstams_lizard said:

a few weeks ago my windows start menu woudlnt open and no tutorial on youtube could fix it, so i reset my windows. (after unplugging my hhd which was just bulk storage like games ect.)
and now my microsoft photos app wont allow me to trim videos and again, no tutorial on youtube could fix it, so im concidering resetting my windows again, but before i do this i want to know whats the cause of this.
i havent been opening suspicious links or downloading weird software, and im starting to get the feeling that my old ass ssd on which windows is installed on is corrupting my windows.

specs if you really need it:
ssd: cx2-8b512-q11 nvme liteon 512gb
hhd: Seagate HDD 3.5" 2TB ST2000DM008 Barracuda (PROBABLY)
cpu: intel core i7 6700k (not overclocked)

gpu: rtx 4070ti
ram: ddr4 32gb 3600mhz
motherboard: asrock z170 Pro4s

A bad HDD will create errors in reads and writes (you can monitor them in windows res. monitor - link in task manager at the bottom of the window). If a drive is particularly bad it will make the system feel like it has no power, everything is slow and feels unresponsive. A bad SSD however is a bit different. It will first become a bit unstable, which shows as hangs on booting or not shutting down as fast as you were used to. When the controller detects errors it will try to compensate by moving data around to keep them usable, however that may decrease write performance and introduce a ton of latency which many programs may throw back as errors. In a best case scenario the SSD will lock all writes to protect data integrity on the drive so you can back it up. If the SSD is beyond 70 % of it's remaining life and or older than 3 years, you may want to replace it, especially if it is an older generation one with a less advanced controller. Luckily SSDs are getting very affordable now. You can check the HDD by running something like seatools and performing a full surface scan (may take some hours).