Is my HD on the way out?

[vertigo]

Had my HD for quite a while now, actually something like 4 years.
Seems to me that even with a new install of XP Pro, it takes twice as long as another install I have to start, even with next to nothing enabled at startup in msconfig, longer than it should to actually start doing things once loaded, takes a while to load applications and freezes while it does it and at some point through the boot process makes a different noise than the rest of the process, not unlike a Gamecube disc seeking very quickly.
I also have a problem that even after a full disk scan and repair, in my downloads folder it takes about 10 seconds to actually display it in My Computer, there's not a ton of stuff in there, it just does, and whichever video is top most in the directory by alphabet will come up with the file information of one of the mp3s when played in something that shows the info. Is this a file system problem (bearing in mind it's an install that was fresh 3 months ago and started the instant I did that) or is there a sector problem with my HD?
I should just replace the HD anyway, right?
If so, any recommendations of a good reliable HD that isn't drastically expensive? Doesn't have to be huge really. My current one is a IDE UATA Seagate ST380011A 80GB which disk manager says is healthy, but I'm not convinced and want something of similar reliability instead of a cheap, large generic one that'll die quickly.
My mobo has facility for SATA, although I'm aware of the problems of installing XP on SATA drives and have the SATA drivers for this system anyway, but ghosting from an IDE to SATA might cause a problem too.
Or is the problem that I'm stuck using on-board graphics which takes up 128MB of my system RAM out of 1GB, because I don't have a PCI Express graphics card and didn't want to spend money on one when the on-board is actually better than my old AGP GeForce? Is the shared RAM causing problems with the OS?
Sorry for the ramble, any help gratefully received.

[Rossco]

Hard Drives are cheap as chips these days mate so knock yourself out and get a new one if your really having a problems!

http://www.ebuyer.com/store/Components/cat/Hard-Drives?refmen=tn

I've only ever bought Seagate Barracuda and had nothing but great performance from them.

[vertigo]

But I'm not sure if it's the HD or the OS.
To be honest I probably need a new one anyway and a PCIE Graphics or an extra 1GB of RAM though, don't I?

[Rossco]

Well 1 GB RAM isn't a lot these days so would help for more. I don't know how it works though between RAM being distributed from GPU's etc but running the on board graphics will suck alot too. Maybe just save up for a complete new system if your going to be replacing alot, usually works out better and your get more bang for your buck rather than trying to keep a dying system alive when it's well past it's best days!

[Matt]

Maybe a HDD issue, maybe lack of RAM. Download a proper HDD test program, leave it running overnight, see what it picks up.

I'd suggest a full format and restore, that solves most issues

If you get a new HDD, don't ghost, do a full install on it. It's for the best.

May be worth getting a proper defragger as well - the Windows one isn't very good. There are some amazing third party options out there, though they do cost.

[MartyG]

Probably best back-up any important data ASAP, but it's probably worth a defrag first. Drives tend to fail without much of a warning, so it's not necessarily a duff drive ( and they all fail eventually ).

You don't have to pay for alternate defrags, I use this one which is free: http://www.auslogics.com/disk-defrag

[vertigo]

Well 1 GB RAM isn't a lot these days so would help for more. I don't know how it works though between RAM being distributed from GPU's etc but running the on board graphics will suck alot too. Maybe just save up for a complete new system if your going to be replacing alot, usually works out better and your get more bang for your buck rather than trying to keep a dying system alive when it's well past it's best days!

Well I got an email earlier from CCL about some pretty good deal on desktops, £200 for something a lot better than I have now This one, for example http://www.cclonline.com/product-inf...roduct=BUN1012

Chain: I tried HDDLife and it says the drive is fine. I think the cross-file-info is maybe an OS problem, in which case I need a reinstall, but even then on a fresh install it was still very slow to boot, so it may well be that the HD is slowing down as it gets old.

MartyG: I did defrag actually via OODiag, and it had no effect, so I'm sure it's the HDD dying :-/

Thanks everyone, I'll take a look at what I can get and probably just buy a new complete system, this one's a bit decrepit now anyway.

Anyone know where I can get a legit XP Pro for dirt cheap?

[MartyG]

This site is worth a look for some bargain PC stuff - http://www.bigpockets.co.uk/ - with MS pushing Vista, XP seems to attract a premium price atm.

[vertigo]

Still £80-odd there which seems to be a similar price as places I've looked. 80 quid extra just to get your PC working
First person to mention Linux gets a free testicle massage

[MartyG]

I wouldn't totally discount Linux, I actually quite like the Ubuntu distro, but I guess it depends on what you're using your PC for.

There are some PCs for sale on that site for under £200 that include Vista.

[vertigo]

I wouldn't totally discount Linux, I actually quite like the Ubuntu distro, but I guess it depends on what you're using your PC for.

Thanks, but I don't want anything that isn't XP Pro, I want to actually switch my computer on and use it, not faff for ages just to get things working and then have to find loads of device drivers and then try to get all my applications in Linux flavour. It's too much arsing around. And if Linux has moved on... I still don't care

There are some PCs for sale on that site for under ?200 that include Vista.

I don't want Vista. It's horrid. And I don't want a page of attempted persuasion either, as it won't work
I'd also wager that a sub-?200 PC with Vista on it would defeat the object, by being slower than what I already have.
Thanks for your help, though

[MartyG]

Linux has moved on massively - you can totally use Ubuntu without having to search for drivers at all ( I have it installed on an IBM T22 with a wifi card ). Having used Vista too, it's a nice OS.

But I get what you mean - I like XP too - I guess you'll just have to fork out the extra £80