Is my hard drive dying?

[egibbys]

My computer has been having issues lately. Slow transfer speeds between drives, or locks up all together during transfer. With smaller files there really isn’t a problem but when moving a gig or more this can really make it struggle.

 

The hard drive in question is a WD 400GB SATA drive that was made in 2008 I believe. I used HD tune to test the drive and this is what it came up with.

 

 

 

Other drive I have in system that's about the same age.

 

 

Can anyone shed some light on what possibly is going on?

 

Side Note: These two drives are in raid 0 together so if the one is dying then I'm guessing there will be an even bigger problem if it completely stops working.

[Godlygamer23]

The spindle or arm(s) could be dying, which is causing the slowdowns.

[skullbringer]

yep, its days are numbered.

[MJOLNITR VIPER]

Get a new drive and or 2 and transfer the data ASAP.  Dont want to loose everything if it goes.  and maybe get an SSD instead, 50% less can go wrong and you get more speed. 

[ProCoComputerRepairs]

I've heard that when less space is available on the HDD, the transfer of files starts to become slower, like moving files to your HDD and transferring files from your HDD to other storage devices. I believe its true because i use to work at a computer repair shop and i had to have the company's software on my external HDD, after reformatting the drive and adding the files, it felt wayyy less slower than before, reading and writing files and were back to normal.

[mgsstar]

Yep that fluctuation of transfer speeds is a sign of it failing. I would back up your stuff ASAP. Check your health (S.M.A.R.T stats) and see how the health status is. After you finish backing up your data, I would run an error scan on it.

[egibbys]

Here's a little bit more info about my setup that may be helpful. The Raid array that I have is only used for programs installed on the computer and downloads. The 2TB drive is where all my files go, which are then backed up to an external 2TB drive every night. So I'm not worried about losing files but more of the inconvenience of the whole thing.

 

Health Test Looks Good.

 

Error Scan Looks Good.

 

This is what is confusing me, Health and Error tests come back clean but the benchmark shows that there is a problem. Shouldn't the Health and Benchmark agree at least?

[mgsstar]

Here's a little bit more info about my setup that may be helpful. The Raid array that I have is only used for programs installed on the computer and downloads. The 2TB drive is where all my files go, which are then backed up to an external 2TB drive every night. So I'm not worried about losing files but more of the inconvenience of the whole thing.

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Health Test Looks Good.

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Error Scan Looks Good.

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This is what is confusing me, Health and Error tests come back clean but the benchmark shows that there is a problem. Shouldn't the Health and Benchmark agree at least?

Does the drive sound weird when it is writing or reading? I think there might be a problem either your Raid controller/Raid array but don't know what the problem is. Check with your power settings to make sure that the hard disk is not set to turn off after a specific amount of time: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/140592-hard-drive-turn-off-hard-disk-after-idle-never.html

[grayperview]

The array could be a bit messed up, try deleting the array and creating a new one.or try using both drives individually after deleting the array, see if they is still a problem moving the files onto your 400GB.

 

Also check the cables, i know it sound daft, but you would be surprised how many times its something stupid like lose cable

 

Back up files first though, 

[egibbys]

Alright so I believe I figured it out. I ran the error test again but this time I deselected the quick scan. After about 24 hours its about halfway done and has found quite a few errors. I think I'll let it finish out, but ya definately need a new drive.

 

 

Here's disk manager saying it's healthy but at risk.

[OddlyShapedTree]

If it is just some mechanical part of the HDD that is going becuase of wear and tear, you may be able to replace it. I don't know if you would rather just get another HDD but it may be worth a shot.

[grayperview]

Alright so I believe I figured it out. I ran the error test again but this time I deselected the quick scan. After about 24 hours its about halfway done and has found quite a few errors. I think I'll let it finish out, but ya definately need a new drive.

 

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Here's disk manager saying it's healthy but at risk.

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Looks completely goosed that mate...:(

[mgsstar]

Alright so I believe I figured it out. I ran the error test again but this time I deselected the quick scan. After about 24 hours its about halfway done and has found quite a few errors. I think I'll let it finish out, but ya definately need a new drive.

 

asdfsd.JPG

 

Here's disk manager saying it's healthy but at risk.

sdafasdf.JPG

I would back up all your stuff and replace the faulty one with the new one and recreate the raid array. If you are looking for a cheap drive, I would get a Seagate Barracuda since they are cheap and fast. I have been using one for quite a while and have not lost any barracuda drives yet.

[gibbsy81]

mabye format the problem drives fixed a simeler issue for me.

[ProCoComputerRepairs]

@egibbys Crazy story, i was watching linus latest video. went to the sponsor link in the description which was corsair.I saw their Corsair 300r windowed case and searched it on YouTube, then i clicked on fourth video from the top and i started watching it and at around 1:31 minutes in and you started describing the Raid configuration(Home setup with the Corsair 300r video) and i was like "Ive heard this somewhere before" lol and i remembered the pictures of your HDDs on this forum. Pretty crazy i only read your post and never looked at your build specs. Cool setup Though.

[ObeseWalrus]

Back up all ya stuff and do it fast!!!