When to replace HDrive?

[JohnM]

I have a hard-drive that's almost 4 years old now; it's running fine but how do I know when it needs to be replaced?

And does anyone know where the XP scandisk-at-bootup log file goes? I wanted to see if there's any bad sectors.

Thanks for any tips.

[Gizmo]

There really is no telling of when a Hard Drive will die. You can download and run Hard Drive diagnostics to see if it passes S.M.A.R.T tests etc. You can also right-click "My Computer", go to "Manage" and you can see certain details of your Hard Drive there.

[JohnM]

OK thanks.

How long do HDrives usually last for personal use?

[Cricket]

That's hard to determine. I've had hard drives die on me within 2 years and other hard drives running for 6 years. If you have a IBM hard drive figure on it dying soon. They aren't called the "DeathStars" for nothing.

:) Cricket

[mc2phat]

Some drives will last forever, some last a few years, some last a month...my point here is it's a crapshoot. That's why backups are important. To answer your question, there are three reasons IMO to buy a new drive.
1) Your current drive is dead or dying
2) You need more storage capacity, i.e. a larger drive
3) You want better performance. Switching to a drive with larger cache, higher RPM, or a new interface (example, SATA).

HTH

[Gizmo]

Well, I'm currently running a 5 year old Maxtor. I reckon I can shave a good 2 years more off of it. The longest I've heard a Hard Drive can last for is at least 7 - 9 years tops.

[JohnM]

Yeah, it's a tough quesiton for me: my drive is working fine but I nead reliability.

Also I noticed that the "scandisk", if you can call it that, of Windows XP doesn't seem to generate a bad-sector report.

That's one way I used to get an indication.

[RenamonXP]

Ive got a Maxtor 40GB Drive it's doing well it's 3 years old and I use it as a back up drive.

[kilgoretrout]

I'd run the hard drive diagnostics on it from the manufacturer. If your getting a lot of bad sectors, it's time to replace the drive. It's really a crap shoot though. Manufacturers generally have a stated service life and a warranty period. The sevice life is always longer than the warranty period. The sevice life is basically a statement that if your drive lasts this long you've gotten good value from it and should consider replacing the drive. The warranty period is how long the manufacturer is willing to bet the drive will last and be finacially liable if it doesn't.