When out of the box, all systems run smoothly. However, over time running the same tasks as usual may feel like it’s taking a lot longer. Sometimes it’s not just a “feel” but a certain frustration due to the system coming down to a crawl. 

While this can be attributed to a variety of factors, one should never be overlooked; and that is a failing hard drive. It is important to note that even though not technically correct, the term hard drive (HDD) has been and continues to be used interchangeably when referring to various types of computer storage, which include solid state drives (SSD).

Whenever we launch an application, the system needs access to the hard drive to read the contents of that application and load it into the memory RAM. Most of the time, writing to the disk happens at the same time too. Caching, the creation of temporary data, etc. constitute tasks attributed to this device often overlooked when measuring a system’s performance.

Often the hard drive represents the root cause of a slow device, either due to normal wear, or actual degradation leading to a complete failure. According to a statistic from Backblaze, a cloud storage provider that tracks the reliability of thousands of hard drives in its data centers, the overall average failure rate for hard drives in 2023 was approximately 1.54%.

A failing hard drive will cause a computer to crawl or even render it unusable. But even if a hard drive isn’t failing yet, an aging one can cause nearly just as much overall slowness.

Understanding Hard Drive Performance and Its Impact on Your Computer

The hard drive is the component that stores all the information on a computer, and that includes applications, not just documents and pictures. Every time you need access to data stored on it, read and eventually write tasks are being sent to it.

A common metric to measure the speeds at which these tasks occur is “IOPS” (Input/Output Operations Per Second). Another important metric is “Throughput” which measures the amount of data that can be read or written per second (MB/s). Together, they dictate the performance of a hard drive. There are other metrics that we could cover, but these are the most important ones.

The higher the numbers representing IOPS and Throughput for a drive, the faster the response of the system when booting up, opening large files, and applications. In other words, these numbers directly impact the time it takes for your system to react. A solid-state drive (SSD) for instance, will be on average at least 5 times faster in response than a conventional hard drive (HDD). If you want to know more about the difference between the two and their flavours, you can read our detailed blog post on SSD vs HDD.

Believing that a larger amount of storage equates to better performance is a misconception that happens at large. Especially as a system begins to slow down, users tend to try and delete non-necessary data and obsess over freeing up space. Running out of space can indeed affect performance, however, that is typically not the case. Unless you are seeing 20% or less available space, the culprit for the slowness lies somewhere else.

Another quick decision users make when a system becomes slow, is upgrading the RAM, when it may not be the actual cause of slowness. Not eliminating RAM as a possible cause for slowness, just pointing out that for some reason, most people tend to believe that would be the ultimate fix, regardless of the root cause. Determining if RAM truly slows down your system can be achieved by following our detailed guide on how RAM affects performance.

Checking for disk performance degradation instead, which is more common over time is being commonly overlooked. And this is where I wanted to get since frequently this is the real cause of slowness, and it’s also the most dangerous cause since it can, and often does lead to complete data loss. Luckily, there are numerous free tools available to download both for Windows, and MacOS that can retrieve and interpret the overall health of a hard drive in human-friendly readable data.

While factors may slightly differ, overtime degradation is a normal occurrence for both hard drives and solid-state drives alike, with the leading factor being the amount of data being read and written to the disk. Every time that happens, sectors (small containers on a drive) are being accessed, reorganized, wiped and re-written causing them to wear out. Other environmental factors can shorten the lifespan of a drive, such as heat, humidity or physical shocks in the case of conventional hard drives.  

Tell-Tale Signs Your Hard Drive is Failing 

A failing hard drive will heavily impact the overall system performance, more than any other component would, and it shows signs such as the “beach ball” on a Mac computer or the “loading circle” on a Windows computer, frequent freezes or complete crashes, overall slowness even when performing basic tasks, and more.  

Slow Boot and Program Loading Times

A lot happens when a system boots up. Large amounts of data like system files, drivers, and user profile data need to be loaded into the RAM. Numerous third-party applications need to load their services as well as soon as the user logs in. This makes the entire process from powering up the system to when the user can start using it heavily dependent on the speeds at which a drive operates. This makes a slower-than-usual boot time a good indicator of a degrading drive.

Many times, system updates are also written to the drive during the boot, which is why a lot of drives that are close to failing will give up completely during this strenuous process. It is very common to hear “My computer crashed after an update”. 

Random Error Messages or Blue Screens

Random error messages from applications can also indicate a failing hard drive as the root cause. An application is made up of numerous modules and a single one of those failing to load can trigger an error. If the application happens to be the operating system itself or the drivers required to communicate with the hardware, a well-known Blue Screen of Death (BSoD) may occur. While BSoD errors can have various causes, a failing hard drive is a very common one and frequently overlooked.

Frequent Freezing or Crashing

When reading or writing to the disk, most applications refer to a time-out threshold. For instance, if after a few attempts, within a specified timely manner, a service fails to load, it will quit attempting and eventually throw an error or cause a freeze. A slow read/write can cause these freezes, especially when the drive is developing “bad sectors”.

Hard drives are divided into small containers called sectors and data is organized within these sectors. There is a specific number of sectors that are allocated as spare, to be used as necessary and replace newly developed faulty ones. 

Unusual Noises (clicking, grinding, or loud operation)

This sign of failure only applies to conventional hard drives, as they are the only type of storage that contain moving parts such as platters, actuators, and a motor. The actuator floats above the platters and reads the data embedded in them with the help of the moving motor.

A weird noise coming from the hard drive can mean that either the actuator had “crashed” and landed on the platters or that the motor experienced some mechanical issues, such as a bad bearing. Should this happen, the drive requires replacing as soon as possible and data should only be recovered by professionals. Attempting to recover data off a drive in this condition, will often cause further damage, rendering the data completely unrecoverable. 

File Corruption, Disappearance or Inaccessible Data

Data isn’t stored in a linear way so to speak, as we may imagine. Or it is not organized hierarchically in the same way it is displayed to us. Rather, a single file is scattered across numerous sectors on a drive and the failure of a single sector can corrupt that file.

Files or folders that are stored on bad sectors can become unreadable or inaccessible. They may be visible since the “metadata” is still readable (information related to the file or folder such as timestamps, properties, security settings, etc.) but the data itself could be corrupt. Depending on the level of degradation, metadata may not be available either, and the files or folders could completely “vanish”.

Opening or saving data could also become problematic when a drive is failing. This could take an unacceptable amount of time to occur, or worse various messages such as “the specified path does not exist”, “unable to open file” or “unable to save file” could be displayed when attempting to do so. In some instances, a system may completely fail to boot, with error messages such as “boot device not found” appearing right after powering on. 

Failing S.M.A.R.T. Tests

Hard drives are equipped with self-monitoring technology called S.M.A.R.T (Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology). This technology collects valuable data and stores it on the hard drive itself. Monitoring tools leverage this data and interpret it in a human-readable format.

The most common S.M.A.R.T. properties to look out for when testing a drive, are “Current Pending Sector Count” and “Health Status”. Any number of “Current Pending Sector Count” should be a major concern and the drive should be replaced immediately. This indicates two problems, one is that bad sectors are developing, and the second and worse is that these sectors cannot be relocated for whichever reason. The health status is straightforward, and anything other than positive terms such as “good” or “healthy” should be a reason for immediate drive replacement.  

Numerous third-party tools are available for download, such as the ones already mentioned in this article. Most hard drive vendors will also provide free tools that are capable of reading S.M.A.R.T. data and even real-time monitoring and alerting. If real-time monitoring and alerting aren’t available, testing the hard drive regularly is a great practice to avoid complete drive failure. For instance, the image below shows a failing drive, for which we used Crystal Disk Info to interpret S.M.A.R.T. data before it became completely inaccessible.

Running Out of Space

While this is not a sign of a degrading drive, it is worth mentioning to differentiate between slowness caused by a failing drive vs slowness caused by lack of storage and eliminate confusion and misconception. Overfilling isn’t technically possible, what is possible though is to get close to the storage capacity limit of a drive. This can cause slowness due to the system having to work more intensively to organize, find and access required data. Always ensure that there is at least a 20% or more available capacity on the “C:\” drive for your system to function at peak performance.  

How a Failing Hard Drive Affects Your Computer’s Performance

Not all users are the same. While some may only browse the internet and perform light tasks such as writing emails, others rely on their devices for more demanding work like graphic design, photography, and videography. The performance of a hard drive can significantly impact each user’s productivity in different ways.

For instance, a user engaged in light activities might not be bothered by a slightly slower boot time and may be perfectly satisfied with how Google Chrome operates. However, someone working with large data files, like high-resolution images or video footage, may quickly grow frustrated with the time it takes to open a single file—let alone manage multiple files simultaneously.

It’s important to note that a hard drive doesn’t need to be failing to cause slow overall system performance. Routine wear and tear or hardware specifications that don’t meet the demands of certain tasks can also result in sluggishness.

If you’re experiencing signs of slow performance, it’s wise to investigate whether the issue stems from an underperforming drive. One quick way to do this is by using Task Manager or Activity Monitor. These tools allow you to monitor system resource usage, and a high disk utilization percentage is often a clear indicator that the drive is struggling to keep up. This could mean that the drive’s performance is insufficient for the workload, or it might signal early signs of a potential hardware failure.

When to Consider Replacing Your Hard Drive

Replacing the hard drive should ideally be a proactive task, especially if preserving data and maintaining system configuration are priorities. The average lifespan of a hard drive is around 5 years, although some may fail earlier due to unforeseen issues.

In many cases, the cost of labour for data transfers and system reconfiguration exceeds the price of a new, higher-performing drive. This makes it a smart move to upgrade the drive during system maintenance, such as a factory reset or a system wipe. By doing so, users can eliminate the costs and time associated with data migration and system setup.

When system slowness sets in, it becomes difficult to complete essential tasks. This slowdown impacts both personal and business activities, leading to wasted time and potential financial loss. If the slowness is linked to a failing hard drive, the financial impact can be even greater due to eventual data losses. In such cases, replacing the drive becomes a top priority and a clear, cost-effective decision.

Proactively upgrading to a faster, more reliable drive such as SSD reduces downtime, improves performance, and prevents the larger costs associated with sudden drive failure.

The Benefits of Upgrading to an SSD

Depending on the type of connection used and which version (SATA vs PCI-E) solid-state drives are between 5 times and up to 100 times faster than a conventional hard drive.  The lack of mechanical moving parts within solid state drives provides quieter system operation, with increased power efficiency, leading to a longer battery life as well for mobile devices.

Another great benefit of non-moving parts within solid-state drives is enhanced durability and reliability since they are less prone to failure. Sure enough, bad sectors can and will eventually still develop within their lifespan, but failures attributed to mechanical issues are very limited in comparison to mechanical hard drives. 

Increased speeds would most probably reduce frustration and improve productivity, making solid-state drives one of the most beneficial upgrades for a system. It’s usually a simple task for a trained technician and a cost-effective upgrade for the end user. Moreover, when done properly, both data and system configuration can be preserved. 

Maintaining Your Hard Drive for Optimal Performance and Longevity

Properly maintaining a hard drive or solid-state drive does not require much user intervention on the drive itself. Well-known tasks such as disk defragmentation or disk cleanup have been automated with the newest operating systems. Not only is defragmentation unnecessary for solid-state drives, but it is also harmful.

Defragmentation organizes data contiguously on the platters of a magnetic hard drive to facilitate quicker access for the moving actuator. Unlike hard drives, solid-state drives store data electronically making this an unnecessary task.

In fact, it is harmful, since SSDs have a limited number of read and write cycles, so erasing data from one location and moving it to another, would only waste these cycles unnecessarily, reducing its lifespan.

What a user can do to prolong the life of a drive is to ensure proper system airflow to control temperature, keep the storage to a limit of 80% or less to increase performance, regularly check S.M.A.R.T. properties and ensure proper environmental factors such as low humidity, and avoid exposing the system to extreme temperatures of either cold or hot.

Regular internal cleaning that includes dusting and changing the thermal conductors where necessary can also extend the lifespan of a drive as it facilitates better airflow, while at the same time reducing overall internal temperatures.  

Essential Steps Before Replacing Your Hard Drive

For IT professionals, replacing a hard drive can be a fairly straightforward task, though in more complex setups it can require diligent planning and preparation. The ultimate goal is for the system to “look” and “feel” the same once the replacement has been completed, which implies data and configuration preservation.

However, data and settings cannot simply be copied over with the expectation of the system to load as if nothing happened. Proper backup procedures need to be invoked, and they all differ based on existing configurations.  

If system configuration and third-party applications do not present a concern, a typical approach to replacing the hard drive would be a total “rebuild” without preserving data. A rebuild means installing a new operating system (Windows, MacOS, Linux) from scratch, using external media such as a USB drive.

When installing from external media, driver installation needs to be considered. External media usually represents a USB drive that was prepared with either Windows, MacOS or Linux and that does not include device-specific drivers. While factory resetting a system using the built-in feature takes care of drivers, external media contains a generic image that can be applied to any device, regardless of its make and model.

For Windows devices, once the installation had been completed, new drivers and third-party applications may need to be reinstalled. Unlike older versions of Windows, where licensing was handled locally on the machine, and reactivation required retrieving this license, with the introduction of Windows 10 and all subsequent versions, licensing is hosted and managed by Microsoft and re-activation occurs automatically based on a unique identifier associated with major components within the system. Third party application licenses will need to be reapplied or signed into in order to activate and data may need to be restored from either a local or cloud backup.

On Apple devices, replacing the hard drive is different and the process does not involve the requirement of installing drivers. Depending on the approach to handling data and settings, third-party applications can be restored along with user data from the old drive, by simply connecting it with an adapter to the system and using a built-in feature called “migration assistant”.

It is important to note that “migration assistant” will restore everything, which means eventual infections, errors in configuration and garbage data will also be restored when using this method, making it not so ideal in some circumstances. Should a clean slate and configuration be preferred, a manual data backup should be performed prior to replacing the drive, and a restore be invoked after.

One of the most advanced techniques that preserves both data and configuration and does not require a backup is “cloning” the existing drive. This method is operating system agnostic and makes the entire process seamless for the user. The system eventually boots up to the exact same screen with all third-party applications installed and configured the same way they were before. But this also means that eventual garbage data, infections, errors in configuration etc. are being preserved. This makes cloning an ideal solution only if the system is or was running properly, clean of infections, and was up to date, prior to the procedure.

Assessing the previous version and state of the system is crucial in determining the best approach to replacing the hard drive. Choosing between installing from an external media or cloning is easy, once data, third-party applications and settings preservation requirements have been properly understood as well as how each method involved affects these. However, in some unfortunate circumstances, the old hard drive may not be accessible, and specialized data recovery services may be required.

Choosing the Right Replacement Hard Drive

With so many types of storage available today, it is no surprise confusion is at its highest when attempting to choose the best replacement drive. From conventional hard drives to solid-state drives there are a lot of terms that refer do various properties and are being used interchangeably, without proper understanding. SATA, M.2, nvme, and solid-state are terms you probably heard before but are unsure what they refer to. Understanding the differences between form factors, technology used, and type of connection is crucial in making the proper decision when choosing a new drive.

Hard drives are the oldest type of storage around and are the only type of drives that are equipped with moving parts. They are the slowest ones but also the least expensive, making them a great choice when wanting to store dormant data, that rarely needs accessing.

Common use scenarios are backups, dumping old data such as photos and videos, archives, data needed for audit purposes etc. They can be used in both desktop computers and older laptops, as well as in NAS (network attached storage) devices and servers.

 Solid-state drives are drives that store data electronically and are not equipped with moving parts. They are way faster than hard drives and fall into a few categories based on form-factor and the type of connection used.

SATA and PCI-E are the two types of connections available for storage to communicate with the rest of the system, of which the latter is the fastest. NVME solid state drives (Non-Volatile Memory Express) drives use the PCI-E connection, making them the better choice over the SATA solid state drives.   

Form factors dictate how the drive connects to either SATA or PCI-E and how it physically fits within your system. 2.5” and M.2 are the two main types of form factors and the 2.5” will only connect to SATA. This is the oldest type of solid-state drive available and is compatible with most systems, except for some newer laptops. M.2 form factor drives can connect to either SATA or PCI-E, depending on where the notch (key) is located on the drive and motherboard.

A “B-key” drive (notch closer to the center of the drive) connects to SATA while a “M-Key” drive (notch closer to the edge of the drive), with some M.2 drives supporting both. M.2 drives also come with different length and width specifications to accommodate various casing, especially in laptops or mobile devices where space can get very limited. Some common sizes are 2280 for desktops and laptops, 2230 for mobile devices and 22110 for high-performance servers, where the first two digits represent width, and the last two represent length in mm.

Solid-state drives are a great choice for systems and applications requiring fast read and write access, with SATA drives situated on the lower side of the spectrum but still considerably faster than conventional hard drives, and PCI-E on the higher side of the spectrum.

Common use cases for solid-state drives can range from home use to creative workflows such as video editing or 3D modelling, making them a great choice for both regular users as well as professionals needing cutting-edge technology and speeds.

Professional Hard Drive Replacement: When to Seek Expert Help

Replacing the hard drive on a regular desktop computer, where no data backup is required may pose a simple challenge for a technically inclined individual. But for the majority this could prove to be an overwhelming task.

More complex system configurations such as computers leveraging RAID technology, systems equipped with more than one drive and dependencies between multiple drives such as folder redirects, and laptops that aren’t easier to take apart represent tougher challenges for many, that only specialized professionals can address.

Backing up systems that are part of a more complex environment, such as domain-joined systems, servers storing centralized information, and computers with data scattered on multiple locations both local and cloud require diligent planning and careful handling to ensure no data loss or productivity disruption would occur during a hard drive replacement.

When no proactive measures have been implemented and all signs of failure were overlooked causing a drive to come close to their end of life or complete failure, specialized data recovery may be the only viable option, though not guaranteed.   

Preventing Future Hard Drive Issues: Best Practices

Being proactive by implementing proper backup measures and regularly checking on the health status of your storage devices can considerably reduce the negative impact a drive failure would have both on your pocket as well as productivity-wise. It could make the difference between spending thousands of dollars versus a few hundred and the difference between losing all data and experiencing disruptions or having zero data loss or disruption.

There are plenty of local and cloud backup options available, with many of them being free for the home user and even for some business cases. These backup solutions can cover most bases and work on all platforms, with some of them representing built-in features in many systems. Most cloud backup providers offer limited plans for free, allowing backing up data to up to 100GB or more. Paid options can increase the storage space to up to 2 TB offering plenty of space for most users. Should more space be required, contact the vendor or a third-party IT company like EezIT that can offer private cloud solutions such as NAS devices or AWS storage solutions.

Employing monitoring tools such as Crystal Disk Info, Hard Disk Sentinel, or DriveDx is a great way to stay ahead of the game and predict failure, or at least catch it early enough in time, to allow for a replacement with the least amount of effort and cost. Regularly checking on these tools or paying for the full version that allows for live alerts are easy tasks that require no technical knowledge and are inexpensive or free.

Key Takeaways

Recognizing signs of hard drive failure is crucial to avoid data loss and expensive repairs. Better off, implementing proactive measures such as proper backup solutions and monitoring tools can avoid getting caught off-guard and allow for an eventual seamless replacement with minimal cost implications. 

Replacing old hard drives with better-performing ones as a proactive measure can also eliminate frustration and increase productivity while extending the life of your computer.

If you’ve been noticing your system getting slow, application freezes or system overheating, it may be a good idea to seek a professional computer repair company like us for help. Contact us or book online and one of our experts will be dispatched to your location to swiftly address all these issues.