Is my hard drive failing?

3 starts out of the last 5 I got Disk Read Error.  I open DLGDIAG and got these result:

Test Option: QUICK TEST
Model Number: WDC WD5002AALX-00J37A0
Unit Serial Number: WD-[Deleted]
Firmware Number: 15.01H15
Capacity: 500.11 GB
SMART Status: PASS
Test Result: FAIL
Test Error Code: 06-Quick Test on drive 1 did not complete! Status code = 07 (Failed read test element), Failure Checkpoint = 97 (Unknown Test) SMART self-test did not complete on drive 1!
Test Time: 12:34:05, August 11, 2013

Test Option: EXTENDED TEST
Model Number: WDC WD5002AALX-00J37A0
Unit Serial Number: WD-[Deleted]
Firmware Number: 15.01H15
Capacity: 500.11 GB
SMART Status: PASS
Test Result: FAIL
Test Error Code: 08-Error was detected while repairing bad sectors.
Test Time: 15:00:30, August 11, 2013

Do I need to replace this hard drive ASAP?

I think you should copy anything critical on the disk immediately. Back it up and start the RMA process if it’s under warranty. If it is, I think WD will trade it in. The “error repairing bad sectors” does not sound good at all.

If this is in a Windows machine, what does ‘Properties>Tools tab>Error Checking>Check Now>Automatically repair errors’  (chkdsk /f) report? If the are bad sectors, you should definitely replace the drive one way or another.

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Hi yes replace the drive you can do the warranty check and start the RMA from here.  http://support.wdc.com/warranty/index_end.asp?lang=en

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Thanks.  The warranty expired 3 week ago.

John

That’s disappointing. I had one fail about three months out of warranty. Fortunately, I was able to get the large amount of data off it.

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Hi again if it was my hard drive and only 3 weeks out of warranty I would give WD a call explain the issue they are very reasonable to deal with, be nice on the phone and you never know they may help you out.

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I second Hammey’s advice. It can’t hurt, and I have seen signs that they might be understanding in such a situation…

Do see if you can save any data, too.

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Thanks for your assistance.  I cloned the questionable drive and replaced it.  I ran the WD diagnostics one last time and the questionable drive failed again.  Someone elsewhere  suggested trying Hard Disk Sentinel (free version) and it says the drive is OK. 

I have backed up all content from the bad drive in addition to cloning it, so I’ll be safe.

I have appealed to WD but have not had a reply yet.

Thanks again

Well, though the WD on-line RMA generator twice rejected my request for an RMA, the nice person at WD support, [Deleted], offered to give me an RMA even though the RMA on-line rejected me.  While doing this [Deleted] discovered that my HDD is, in fact, still under warranty.  No idea why the on-line system rejected my HDD.

So the HDD’s data is shredded and it is all packed up, ready to mail.  Glad I saved all the original packaging.

The PC is running fine on the cloned HDD.

John

Excellent outcome! Congratulations, and good work on securing your data!