I reckon my hard drive is dead...

[*Chazz]

Well I have noticed some bugs here and there as well as some hiccups with my system. Even within the past few months my computer has at times seemed to slow down, but a good old reboot seems to set it straight. I have thought that it could be the hard drive croaking but was not willing to drop $150 to $200 on the superstition with minimal evidence in my eyes.  Well recently my younger siblings told me that wifi was not working on the computer. I checked the wifi with my phone and it was working fine. I took a look and everything was frozen with that amazing looping circle fibbing to me that something was actually happening. I tried pulling up Task Manager, no response, I waited about 5 min no response. I did a hard reboot and the BIOS or UEFI (may have butchered that) said that I needed to select boot media to use. I tried booting it again and it caught on and began loaded up a bit slower than usual. Still though when the home page pulled up the icons took several minutes to load and on top of that nothing in the menu was responding well at all. 

 

I turned it off and tried again (I think you guys are thinking that I am trying to break it on purpose, which I kinda am because I wan't an excuse to buy an SSD). This time it booted from the bootable usb drive that I had. I had the option of reinstalling windows, but I decided to have it run diagnostics on it. It basically said that the operating software was not workable. I looked at the error code as well and it looks like a re installation with a boot drive would be needed. I have included a picture so you guys can have a look for yourself. 

 

I reckon that there could be 3 culprits at this point, 

1. The windows software is corrupted. I doubt this though. As I type now I have rebooted the computer after leaving it off for about a half hour (I think heat may effect it a bit, but, the hard drive is only mildly warm to the touch. I have been able to have look at the files stored to make sure there is nothing on it that I desperately need.  Still though it is not very responsive, and now seems to have slowed to a crawl. 

2. Ransom ware in action running my hard drive in the background. I was able to pull up Task Manager on this recent reboot, and it showed that the disk was running at a 100%, but had it listed as "Microsoft Malware Detection"(Not exact phrasing), which is I believe is just windows defender running in the background. It was running at about 3 mbit which is nothing and shouldn't use 100%. Even when that disappeared, it still was using "100%" at about 0.3mbit. I have also noticed an interesting process that I have not seen before called "Windows Shell Experience Host"(Exact Phrasing). I know that the words "Shell" and "Host" are related to network connections, but I am not sure if this is really a concern or a process that I never noticed before.

3.The Hard Drive is dyeing and now I can justify buying a new SSD! I have considered Hybrids, but I am thinking it would stink in the event that the disk half failed before the Solid State drive. So having the separate may worth the extra $30 or so in my eyes. I think I may need to look at the cables before I ask for suggestions as I am unfamiliar with the different types. My computer is not a top notch gaming rig. It is used for moderate gaming and internet browsing. That is about it it. I may do video editing in the future but nothing on a professional level. 

 

Thanks for any suggestions. I have written a lot, but my main question is whether or not my hard drive is failing. 

[deleted_member_030719]

I got that on my laptop when I fried the HDD and BIOS manager.

[BlueChinchillaEatingDorito]

Run CrystalDiskInfo and post what the findings are.

 

http://crystalmark.info/software/CrystalDiskInfo/index-e.html

 

I'm on the same boat as you with seemly random little bugs and issues. My HDD was deemed healthy so could just be that it's old and not up to the task anymore. SSDs are getting really cheap so it might not be a bad idea to get one and use it as a OS drive and install your less used programs and store files on your HDD if it is still healthy.

 

Right now NCIX is selling the highly recommended Samsung 850 EVO 250GB for $124.99 CAD.

[deleted_member_030719]

6 minutes ago, BlueChinchillaEatingDorito said:

 

Right now NCIX is selling the highly recommended Samsung 850 EVO 250GB for $124.99 CAD.

Which is expensive as fuck. They used to be ~$90 CAD for a few months.

[BlueChinchillaEatingDorito]

Just now, Jed M said:

Which is expensive as fuck. They used to be ~$90 CAD for a few months.

No way, when was that?

[deleted_member_030719]

6 minutes ago, BlueChinchillaEatingDorito said:

No way, when was that?

Just before fall. It was that price for like 3 months. 

[BlueChinchillaEatingDorito]

Just now, Jed M said:

Just before fall. It was that price for like 3 months. 

Holy crap I've missed out big time.

[*Chazz]

9 minutes ago, BlueChinchillaEatingDorito said:

Run CrystalDiskInfo and post what the findings are.

 

http://crystalmark.info/software/CrystalDiskInfo/index-e.html

 

I'm on the same boat as you with seemly random little bugs and issues. My HDD was deemed healthy so could just be that it's old and not up to the task anymore. SSDs are getting really cheap so it might not be a bad idea to get one and use it as a OS drive and install your less used programs and store files on your HDD if it is still healthy.

 

Right now NCIX is selling the highly recommended Samsung 850 EVO 250GB for $124.99 CAD.

Thanks for the suggestion, I had a quick look and I am not to sure which one I would need to down load. I will have a look at youtube. I will try to post the results when I figure out how to run it on the hard drive. My only concern is whether or not I will even be able to down load it on the computer or use a usb due to it being nearly unusable. Maybe tomorrow it will work a bit better and I will get a chance to run it. 

[BlueChinchillaEatingDorito]

1 minute ago, *Chazz said:

Thanks for the suggestion, I had a quick look and I am not to sure which one I would need to down load. I will have a look at youtube. I will try to post the results when I figure out how to run it on the hard drive. My only concern is whether or not I will even be able to down load it on the computer or use a usb due to it being nearly unusable. Maybe tomorrow it will work a bit better and I will get a chance to run it. 

Just get the standard edition. Portable or installer, either is fine.

[*Chazz]

I went ahead and ran the Crystal Disk Software. Surprisingly it says that the disk is in good condition. However, within a few minutes the computer began to slow down again. I think I may try to boot linux mint and see if I get any other similar results. If I do then suppose that would mean it is something other than the hard drive. If the computer runs fine, then I imagine it is most certainly the hard drive or software its self on the hard drive. The statistics below aren't really giving me any info that seems helpful. But some of you interpreters out there will likely know better than me. 

[*Chazz]

I booted up linux mint and the computer worked perfectly. I tried to access the windows drive via windows to see if it would work and give me access to those files. It did not work though. I am not to sure if it software protecting it or if it simply does not work.