Worth Replacing Laptop Hard Drive?

[truckdiagnostics]

Shut down your Acer Aspire if it is running. Once the computer is off, press the power button to start it. Press “F2” immediately while your computer is booting up and displaying the “Acer” logo. Keep pressing “F2” until the BIOS Setup screen appears.
Above is what i could find on getting into the bios. once in the bios there should be a section on test and one for short and long test of the hard drive.
I have had both these test pass and still had hard drive issues.

 

[KubotainNH]

I wouldn't put a new drive in it, too many other things can create this sort of issue and it being a laptop it takes a beating. Every time you pick it up it flexes. Think about what that can do to circuit boards after 6 or 7 years. You could do lots of things like create a Parted Magic diag disk. You boot off the disk which is basically a Linux distro, it will allow you to test things like memory and hard drive if you set it up properly. There are youtube videos on it. You can also connect to the internet using the included browser. Maybe one way to prove out the hardware but given the age I think I would just pick up a new one with an SSD drive. I bought my daughter an Asus laptop for college like the one below. She loves the size and 10 hour battery life, no moving parts. May be too small for us old folks with weak eyes but perfect for on the go.

Amazon.com: ASUS X25TA 11.6 Inch Laptop (Intel Atom, 2 GB, 32GB SSD, Windows 1, Dark Blue) (Certified Refurbished): Computers & Accessories

 

[MossRoad]

Just a note on USB drives, a SanDisk 128GB USB drive can be had for around $30 on Amazon...

Aaron Z

That's dirt cheap...

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Easy to replace hard drives.

 

[KubotainNH]

Easy to replace hard drives.

The physical part yes, usually 5 minutes. The software side not usually so easy and what if you did all that work and it's not the drive at fault?

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Last one i did just cloned the drive, New one exactly like the old, except more space.

Rereading the problem, think I would get a new laptop.

 

[brown40]

I was having similar problems with an HP. Sometimes it just would run the fan and never power up fully.
I ended up taking the whole thing apart for a better look--you would not believe what debris lands inside a computer. The cooling fan was failing (completely full of fuzz), so I replaced that. During the process I broke the wireless card and had to replace that. That seemed to solve the problem 90% of the time... at some point it updated on its own from windows 7 to windows 10... the issues resolved.
From time to time I still will get a shutdown when the cooling grates are blocked. Many of these have less than 1/4" gap beneath the unit, so putting on a blanket, lap, or paper can spike the heat--quickly if there's no airflow. I'd back it up while you have it running and get a closer look inside to see if everything looks kosher.
I'd guess you have a heat issue or a windows compatibility problem. I'd run the updates after you do your backup and go to 10. I didn't want it, don't like it, have a hard time finding my stuff in here now... but it works, and 7 will soon be like XP & 98.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

I ended up taking the whole thing apart for a better look--you would not believe what debris lands inside a computer. The cooling fan was failing (completely full of fuzz), so I replaced that.

I took the back off of my 3 yo laptop a couple nights ago. Cooling fins clogged with dust. Used scotch tape to remove it, worked well.

 

[newbury]

<snip>
I ended up taking the whole thing apart for a better look--you would not believe what debris lands inside a computer. The cooling fan was failing (completely full of fuzz), so I replaced that. During the process I broke the wireless card and had to replace that.

And that's one of the reasons I recommend to just get a new inexpensive laptop.

Many of the laptops built in the last few years are not designed for repair, especially considering loaded labor rates. It's to easy to break a piece of plastic or a thin wire and have another paperweight.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

A good i7 laptop is still over $1k, not exactly cheap.