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Signs of a Failing HDD or SSD and How to Check Its Health in Windows

"Learn the signs of a failing HDD or SSD, from overheating and freezes to read/write errors and Blue Screens, plus how to check drive health."

Kompudows Kompudows 8 min read

Sometimes, as a laptop or computer user, you may feel worried when a system error occurs, ranging from minor issues to serious problems such as an HDD or SSD becoming unusable, this can happen for various reasons, one of which is a lack of attention to the device's cooling system.

many users overlook the internal temperature of their laptops or computers, even though the components inside are highly sensitive to heat, therefore, it's important to keep temperatures stable, for example, by:

  1. Using a cooling pad for laptops
  2. Making sure the fans are working properly
  3. Using air conditioning or ensuring adequate airflow in the room

Keep in mind that it's not just the GPU or CPU that can overheat, HDDs and SSDs can also generate heat, especially when they're used for long periods or operate continuously for hours.

If temperatures aren't properly controlled, this can accelerate performance degradation and even damage the storage device, therefore, maintaining stable temperatures is one important way to extend the lifespan of an HDD or SSD
Now, here are some signs that your HDD or SSD may be starting to fail that you should watch out for

1. An HDD or SSD That Gets Too Hot Even When Idle


Idle mode is a state in which your computer or laptop is turned on but isn't performing any demanding tasks, such as browsing, opening applications, or multitasking, in this state, the system is simply sitting at the desktop without a significant workload, so CPU, RAM, and storage usage should remain relatively low.

Under normal conditions, neither HDDs nor SSDs should generate excessive heat while idle, the storage device's temperature usually remains stable because there are no intensive read or write operations taking place, therefore, this condition is often used as an initial reference when checking hardware health.

However, if you touch the part of your laptop or computer near the HDD or SSD while the system is idle and it feels unusually hot, this could indicate a problem, there are several possible causes, including:

  1. Undetected background processes (such as updates or indexing)
  2. Poor airflow inside the device
  3. An aging HDD (with bad sectors) that has to work harder
  4. An SSD experiencing performance degradation or controller errors

If the heat feels abnormal and persists over time, there's a possibility that the HDD or SSD isn't functioning optimally or is beginning to deteriorate

2. Frequent Black Screens, Blue Screens, or Automatic Recovery Mode


Frequent Black Screens or Blue Screens of Death (BSODs) can also be signs of HDD or SSD problems, when a storage device begins to fail, its ability to read and write data may become unreliable, as a result, the operating system may struggle to access important files required to run Windows normally.

The effects aren't limited to slow performance, as the system may also freeze, become stuck, or stop responding completely, the cursor may stop moving, applications may become unresponsive, and the system may eventually crash and display a Blue Screen or even a Black Screen without warning.

If this condition is left unresolved, the risk of further problems may increase, an HDD or SSD doesn't directly damage other components, but recurring errors can cause the system to behave abnormally, potentially contribute to overheating, and worsen the overall condition of the device

Other symptoms may also appear, such as:
  1. Turning on your laptop or computer only to enter the recovery menu within a few minutes
  2. Repeatedly failing to boot normally and returning to recovery mode
  3. System recovery or repair taking an extremely long time, sometimes with seemingly no progress

This can happen because the system is trying to read and repair files from a storage device that's experiencing problems, if storage sectors are damaged or SSD performance has deteriorated significantly, the process may become extremely slow or even fail.

3. Files Cannot Be Read or Written


One of the most common signs of a failing HDD or SSD is trouble with read and write operations, when a storage device is no longer healthy, the system may struggle to read or write data normally

The symptoms usually become noticeable when you try to copy, move, or even open a file, an operation that should be quick may instead become extremely slow, unstable, or fail completely

Some common symptoms include:
  1. File copying or transferring takes an unusually long time, even when the file is small.
  2. The progress bar gets stuck at a certain percentage (such as 1% or 5%) and stops progressing.
  3. Files cannot be opened, or an error appears when you try to access them.
  4. Notifications such as Data Error (Cyclic Redundancy Check) or File cannot be accessed appear.

This is usually caused by bad sectors on an HDD or damage to an SSD's chip or controller, preventing data from being read or written correctly, when the system tries to access the damaged area, the operation may slow down significantly or stop altogether.

If this starts happening frequently, it may indicate that the storage device is experiencing a serious problem.

4. The Drive Can Be Read but Not Written To


In this situation, the HDD or SSD can still be accessed normally, allowing you to open the drive and read files, but it has serious problems when writing data, this means you can still open existing files, but you can't add, copy, or move new files to the drive

Common symptoms include:
  1. The drive opens normally, and its files are visible
  2. Existing files can still be opened or read
  3. Copying or pasting files to the drive fails
  4. Writing starts briefly before producing an error, freezing, or failing completely
  5. The system may freeze or crash after a few minutes of use

This condition can occur because of damaged sectors on an HDD or problems with an SSD controller, preventing data from being written properly, on an SSD, it may also indicate that the drive has entered a read-only state, in some cases, this can happen automatically when the controller detects a serious problem

5. A Black Screen Showing the Message "BOOTMGR is Missing"


the BOOTMGR is Missing message on a black screen indicates that the system cannot find or read the Windows boot manager file, this file is essential because it helps start the operating system when the computer is turned on.


In general, there are several possible causes of this error:
  1. Windows wasn't installed correctly.
  2. The boot file (BOOTMGR) is missing or corrupted.
  3. The boot priority in BIOS/UEFI is incorrectly configured.
  4. The HDD or SSD is beginning to fail.

In some cases, this problem can still be fixed using methods such as:

  1. Running Startup Repair using Windows installation media.
  2. Repairing the bootloader through Command Prompt (using commands such as bootrec /fixmbr and bootrec /fixboot).
  3. Adjusting the boot priority in BIOS.

However, if you've tried these methods and the same error keeps appearing, repeatedly returning to the BOOTMGR is Missing screen, there's a possibility that the storage device itself is experiencing a problem.

HDD damage, such as bad sectors, or SSD errors can prevent the boot files from being read, as a result, the system cannot start Windows and remains stuck on the error screen.

The Easiest Way to Check HDD/SSD Health


One of the simplest ways to check whether an HDD or SSD is beginning to fail is to use hardware monitoring software, one option is Hard Disk Sentinel, which is quite popular because it provides detailed and easy-to-understand information about storage health and temperature

With Hard Disk Sentinel, you can check:
  1. The HDD/SSD health percentage
  2. Real-time temperature
  3. Overall storage performance and status
  4. Early warnings about potential problems

These features are useful for detecting problems early, before serious damage occurs, for example, a declining health percentage or excessively high temperatures may indicate that the storage device isn't operating optimally.

If you notice that your HDD or SSD isn't under a heavy workload but still runs hot during relatively light activities, such as browsing or playing games for extended periods, this could indicate a problem with the cooling system or the storage device itself.

An Overview of Hard Disk Sentinel


This software typically displays the storage device's health as a percentage, a high health percentage generally indicates that the HDD or SSD is in good condition, while a declining percentage may indicate that its condition has deteriorated.



If you notice a condition like down below, you should take the following steps immediately:
  1. Back up important data before the drive fails completely
  2. Reduce heavy workloads on the storage device
  3. Monitor the temperature to prevent overheating



Additionally, you can use the temperature monitoring feature to check your HDD/SSD temperature regularly, this allows you to take preventive measures, such as improving airflow or cleaning dust from your device.

Tips to Extend HDD/SSD Lifespan

  1. Avoid using your laptop or computer continuously without breaks
  2. Use Sleep mode or turn off your device if you won't be using it for an extended period
  3. Avoid leaving your device powered on or in standby mode for long periods without any activity
  4. Make sure the cooling system is working properly

Keep in mind that improper usage, especially leaving your device running continuously without proper power management, can accelerate performance degradation and shorten the lifespan of your HDD/SSD.

With regular monitoring and more careful usage, you can help extend the lifespan of your storage device and prevent unwanted data loss.

Final Thoughts


HDD and SSD failures can often happen without you noticing, especially when the warning signs are ignored from the beginning, symptoms such as excessive heat, frequent freezes, and errors like Blue Screen or BOOTMGR is Missing may indicate that the storage device is no longer in good condition.

Therefore, it's important to check your storage device regularly, keep its temperature stable, and avoid pushing it too hard when problems start to appear, don't forget to back up important data regularly to reduce the risk of permanent data loss.

By understanding the warning signs explained above, you can take action sooner before the damage becomes more severe and costly.
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