Hey everyone! I have a Lenovo All-in-One desktop that's about 5 years old with Windows 11 installed. Recently, I've been having some major issues. The startup time is super slow, and the PC crashes a lot. Programs take ages to load, and some become practically unusable, forcing me to reinstall Windows every 7-8 months. I've had one Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) before, but Lenovo support said it was due to Windows corruption, and I haven't seen one since.
I ran multiple tests, including chkdsk, which showed no problems. However, I just used Lenovo's hardware diagnostics, and it failed two tests: the Linear Read Test and the Full Disk Scan. I found some info online suggesting that failing these tests could indicate that the HDD is starting to fail.
Additionally, my HDD runs at pretty high temperatures (around 52 to 55 degrees). Given all these issues, do you think my HDD is really on the brink of failure? What steps can I take to confirm this? Should I continue using it, or would it be wise to just replace it?
2 Answers
Windows 11 can be pretty heavy for older hardware, particularly if you're running it from an HDD. If it's feasible, upgrading to a SATA SSD would greatly improve your performance. Since it sounds like you might need to replace the drive soon anyway, that could be a smart move!
It sounds like your HDD is showing signs of age, especially since it's failed two diagnostic tests. Mechanical HDDs can be very unreliable as they get older, and while chkdsk may show no obvious problems, about 20% of SATA drives fail without clear SMART errors. It’s definitely a good idea to keep your data backed up just in case.
Totally agree! Just because the self diagnostics say no errors doesn’t mean there aren't underlying issues. Best to err on the side of caution.