My eight-year-old hard drive may be failing. My computer froze while I was playing a game, so I forced it to shut down by holding the power button. Since restarting, Firefox, Chrome, and Edge all close immediately when I try to open them. They work normally in Safe Mode. Windows and the browsers are installed on a one-year-old SSD, while the old HDD is mainly used for extra storage. I tried setting the HDD offline in Disk Management, but that did not help. Could the failing HDD still be causing this, and what should I check before removing it?
3 Answers
Do not assume the HDD is the only possible cause. A hard shutdown can damage system files, and bad RAM can cause programs to crash in seemingly unrelated ways. Run the memory diagnostic, then check Windows with SFC. If the browsers still fail after the old drive is disconnected, repair or reinstall the affected applications or Windows on the SSD.
A failing secondary HDD normally should not make programs installed on the SSD instantly close, especially if the HDD is truly disconnected or offline. Test the memory with a bootable memory diagnostic, and consider physically disconnecting the old drive to see whether the browsers start normally. If they do, replace the HDD and recover its files carefully.
Since every browser is affected but they work in Safe Mode, faulty RAM or a damaged Windows file system are both worth checking. Run Windows Memory Diagnostic with `mdsched.exe`, then open an elevated Command Prompt and run `sfc /scannow`. Also back up anything important from the old HDD before doing more troubleshooting.
The computer itself is only about a year old; the eight-year-old HDD came from my previous PC and is just extra storage. Windows is on the SSD, but the system has frozen randomly since I built it. I’m going to remove the old HDD physically and test again.