I have an HP ENVY 700t computer running on Windows 7 with a 400GB HDD. The computer crashed all of a sudden while I'm on the internet. When I rebooted it, it will no longer boot to Windows. I reinstalled the OS and it didn't resolve the issue. How should I know if the hard drive is failing. Is there a certain diagnostic I can run?
There are several issues that may cause this. If a reinstallation of the operating system did not resolve the issue, then you are most likely looking at an issue with the drive itself.
I would check your settings in the BIOS. You can reach the BIOS by pressing the designated key the moment the PC begins to boot up (Usually F2.) Ensure that the hard drive is recognized in the BIOS and that it is set to the primary boot device.
If the hard drive is not recognized, then there is most likely a physical issue with the drive. Replacement, in this case, will resolve the issue.
Just like what happened to me, my PC crashed while I’m working on my computer. I was still able to boot the computer though the performance is a lot slower. The bad sectors I fixed affected the entire system’s processing making it slower than before so I ended up reinstalling Microsoft Windows also just like what you did.
If you have doubts that your hard drive is failing then you should connect it to a different computer and run some tests. Most of the time, the cause of the crash is because of failing sectors on the drive. But this doesn’t mean that your hard drive is already failing. You simply need to fix the failing sectors.
A failing hard drive normally triggers S.M.A.R.T. errors either before booting Windows or within Windows after booting the computer. If you are prompted by a S.M.A.R.T. error then that’s a clear sign of a failing hard drive. When your hard drive is in this state, you no longer need to fix it because it is really going down. You just need to replace it with a new one.
If your hard drive is not that old, run some tests. Connect it to a different computer then download PC Tools Performance Toolkit. Follow the instructions to download and unpack and then install it. Once installed, run PC Tools then go to “Recovery” tab and click “Repair Drives.” On the next screen, select “Surface Scan” and check “Perform on reboot.”
Select your drive from the list and click “Start” to begin the test. Restart your computer. If the test detected bad sectors, repeat the scan until it no longer detects a single bad sector for three times in a row.
