Troubleshoot Hard drive about to fail ; Should I defrag it?

[TheBlue262]

Briefly explain your current issue(s)

Some slow response.

Steps taken to resolve, but have been unsuccessful

None.

I was experiencing delays and slow response with my computer so I thought maybe a defrag would fix it. When I opened auslogic's disk defrag, it told me that my hard drive is bad and it may fail soon. This is an old computer and I wanted to know if defragging the hard drive at its current state will make it fail. Will defragging the hard drive increase the chances of the hard drive failing?

 

[Vasudev]

Don't do it, it'll make things difficult when you wanna get your data read and written onto ext. drive, backup files ASAP, and buy a new drive.

 

[frogboy]

I agree with @Vasudev back it up now.

 

[LabZero]

If I'm not mistaken, Auslogics Disk Defrag also checks for disk errors and should have the repair function that is why it warn you.
Otherwise you can use Windows check disk function.
But first of all backup It and don't defrag It.

The How-To Geek Guide to Using Check Disk in Windows 7, 8, or 10

 

[Anupam]

You should not "defrag" it rather "replace" it.

 

[_CyberGhosT_]

Yes, back it up, then if you want to play with it go ahead.
But they are stressing to you some urgency, so I would back it up asap.

 

[OokamiCreed]

Defragging does cause wear down of an HDD over time. Backing up is a more worthwhile action then afterward you could do as you please (run checks/repair tools - defragging the drive at this point (if it is really failing) would only kill it off faster).

In this case (since Auslogics is reliable in diagnostic of HDD) it would most likely not be the same problem I was having long ago. This problem was a failing power supply however this should only result in a slow boot, not slow processing of data afterwards. Also in this case, Auslogics and other tools should not report disk failures/errors/warnings.

Consider (while backing up) to turn off any file scanning software (aka file guard, etc) to reduce disk usage (during data move). Typically I do this while defragging or doing large moves to reduce disk strain to speed up the process. No need to disable HIPS/behavioral blocking, web filtering, firewall, etc. If the drive is in too bad of condition, backup sensitive data, then give a try at OS backup.

 

[Venustus]

Very good points made by all the above members!!
I just want to add:
The gains of defragmenting are minimal,unless you are a "gamer",and yes frequent defragmenting will reduce the lifespan of your HD
If you can,migrate to an SSD drive,however the vintage of your laptop may not allow for this!

 

[Rishi]

Backup your important files first, either using an online service or a storage device(if possible make an entire system image so you can just restore your old partitions, folders on a clean and hopefully new HD), and then you can tinker with the problematic HD as you like.Defragging can reduce your chance of any recovery from VSS if it fails.

* If the drive is really old/damaged also do an integrity check of the system images you make before proceeding.Good third party programs have this option.

 

[TheBlue262]

Thanks for all the answers! I backed up my pictures to an external hard drive along with what seems to be a system image.

Very good points made by all the above members!!
I just want to add:
The gains of defragmenting are minimal,unless you are a "gamer",and yes frequent defragmenting will reduce the lifespan of your HD
If you can,migrate to an SSD drive,however the vintage of your laptop may not allow for this!

I did not realize that defragmenting hard drive reduce the lifespan. Should I stop defragmenting my other hard drives on my other computers?

 

[Venustus]

Thanks for all the answers! I backed up my pictures to an external hard drive along with what seems to be a system image.



I did not realize that defragmenting hard drive reduce the lifespan. Should I stop defragmenting my other hard drives on my other computers?

Defragmenting once in a blue moon will not reduce you drive's lifespan,but doing it too often is unecesessary and will reduce the lifespan of your drive,because of the read and write intensive aspects of defragmenting!
Nevertheless the low cost of mechanical drives today means that you can replace a drive easily,but you need to have a good backup of your data!
Even new drives can fail for no apparent reason,it happened to me!!As i said above if you are a gamer,you will notice a benefit,because texture loading in games will be faster as the seek time will be less on a fully and correctly defragmented drive!
You can even just defragment a particular folder if you want to,such as your steam folder,if you play games!
I hope I have not sounded ambiguous in my explanation!!
Cheers!!

 

[TheBlue262]

Defragmenting once in a blue moon will not reduce you drive's lifespan,but doing it too often is unecesessary and will reduce the lifespan of your drive,because of the read and write intensive aspects of defragmenting!
Nevertheless the low cost of mechanical drives today means that you can replace a drive easily,but you need to have a good backup of your data!
Even new drives can fail for no apparent reason,it happened to me!!As i said above if you are a gamer,you will notice a benefit,because texture loading in games will be faster as the seek time will be less on a fully and correctly defragmented drive!
You can even just defragment a particular folder if you want to,such as your steam folder,if you play games!
I hope I have not sounded ambiguous in my explanation!!
Cheers!!

If my hard drive were to fail, how do I reinstall windows on my new hard drive? I know how to replace the old hard drive but I don't know how to put windows onto the new hard drive. Will I need a windows installation disc?

 

[NT Five]

Don't defrag it. Repair it with SpinRite first. That will probably fix your drive.

 

[TheBlue262]

Don't defrag it. Repair it with SpinRite first. That will probably fix your drive.

Can I just use Check disk on cmd?

 

[NT Five]

That will work, but you'll probably want to use a stronger cure if checkdisk doesn't solve your problems. Nowadays drives are cheap, but I still always try to repair them and only trash them if they're completely toast.

SpinRite is commercial software but I think it's worth the money.

 

[Exterminator]

If my hard drive were to fail, how do I reinstall windows on my new hard drive? I know how to replace the old hard drive but I don't know how to put windows onto the new hard drive. Will I need a windows installation disc?

What Version of Windows 10 are you running,Home or Pro?
Yes you will need the Windows ISO file.You can get it here Windows 10
Then you will have to make a bootable disc or a bootable USB.
If you have the ISO file then you can use Rufus to create a bootable USB.Power ISO to make a bootable disc
You should prepare this now before your HDD fails and save the ISO to an external drive.
Then you will have to boot from your CD Rom drive or USB and install Windows on the new HDD
I have Genuine Windows(untouched) ISO for the following:
Windows 7 Pro x64
Windows7 Ultimate x64
Windows 8.1 Pro x64
Windows 10 Pro x64

If you need one I can send you a link to download

 

[TheBlue262]

What Version of Windows 10 are you running,Home or Pro?
Yes you will need the Windows ISO file.You can get it here Windows 10
Then you will have to make a bootable disc or a bootable USB.
If you have the ISO file then you can use Rufus to create a bootable USB.Power ISO to make a bootable disc
You should prepare this now before your HDD fails and save the ISO to an external drive.
Then you will have to boot from your CD Rom drive or USB and install Windows on the new HDD
I have Genuine Windows(untouched) ISO for the following:
Windows 7 Pro x64
Windows7 Ultimate x64
Windows 8.1 Pro x64
Windows 10 Pro x64

If you need one I can send you a link to download

Can you send me the download link for Windows7 Pro? If the hard drive does fail, I would rather get back windows 7. Thanks for your answers!

 

[jamescv7]

Defragmentation will not save your HDD failure rate, because in such environment factors like temperature + reliability, will hold the investment as you use for your system.

Defragmentation is a different purpose which organize those spaces for faster access, likely repair those possible bad sectors with some tools so that it will be ignore on the overall operation.

 

[Exterminator]

Can you send me the download link for Windows7 Pro? If the hard drive does fail, I would rather get back windows 7. Thanks for your answers!

I sent you the download link in a PM.You have until July to upgrade to 10 if you want to.
I strongly suggest you pull everything off your drive that you want to keep as well as a list of programs and any serials/license keys.
Save them to an external drive or one drive,dropbox,etc.
Download the ISO and create the bootable media so you have it on hand