PC Suddenly Slow? Check Your Hard Drive

There are many reasons for a computer to all of a sudden become slow. The most obvious culprit is a virus or malware. Another common culprit of a suddenly slow computer is a bad driver. However, if you are convinced it is not a malware or driver problem, then another possibility is a hardware problem. When it comes to hardware, a faulty hard drive or bad stick of memory are the most common reasons that a computer becomes slow overnight. When it comes to bad memory, Windows will often warn you if you have a problem. Also, you may notice computer blue screen's if a memory module has gone bad.

A faulty hard drive can be a tougher problem to diagnose. It will sometimes produce Windows error messages or computer blue screens but not all the time. Let's take a look at how to check for a hard drive that is faulty or starting to become faulty.

How to Diagnose a Faulty Hard Drive

The first thing that you should do is to use the built-in Windows disk check. To run the disk check, open "computer" or "my computer". Right click on the hard drive and click properties. Click the "Tools" tab. In the tools tab, click the "check now" button located under "error-checking". Let the disk checker run and then follow any of the recommendations to see if this fixes your problem.

If the Windows check disk is unable to find the problem, then you should use a 3rd party tool to analyze your hard drive health. One tool we have found useful is http://www.drivehealth.com. This tool will analyze your hard drive and make sure it is functioning properly. Also, keep in mind that many manufacturers offer a drive health utility on their website. It could be worth checking for this utility as well. The drive health utility should be able to give you a good indication of whether or not your hard drive is faulty or starting to fail. If it is starting to fail, backup all important data immediately.

Is Your Hard Drive Making Weird Sounds?

Another indicator of a problem is a clicking or knocking sound coming from the hard drive in the computer. If you hear this sound, backup all data immediately. This is a clear sign that the hard drive is about to fail. After all essential data is backed up, you can confirm that the disk is failing by running the drive health utility.

Unfortunately, if your hard drive is starting to go out due to a mechanical issue, you will have to buy a new one. It is not worth the time or money to open up the hard drive and repair the fault. If you need a new hard drive anyways, this is a great time to look at a new SSD hard drive or a faster HDD to speed up your computer.

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-By Dominic
TAGS: Windows 7 Tips

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