My setup:

OS:PCLinuxOS & Windows XP - use mainly Linux
Motherboard: Intel DQ965DF
CPU: Dual Core @ 2.8Ghz
RAM: 3.5GB Kingston DDR2
GPU: 512MB Nvidia Geforce 8800 GT
HDD: Western Digital CAVIAR Blue WD2500AAJS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal

My problem:

My computer became suddenly sluggish a couple days ago out of the blue. Programs are slow to load, scrolling with the mouse is jerky, videos pause then continue 5-30 seconds later, DOWNLOADING(any protocol) brings my PC to a standstill, etc. I have this problem on both Linux and Windows, so I know it's not a software problem. Additionally, I've had unexplainable data loss. Files that used to be there(on my Linux /home partition) have suddenly disappeared without a trace.

I've tried the following so far: I've cleaned my computer of all dust and dirt. I've switched to onboard graphics(intel). I disabled 3D desktop effects.

Both operating systems are fully up to date, including drivers. The xorg.conf file for my Linux OS is correct. Since software, dirt, my graphics card, and 3d acceleration don't seem to be the problem I've moved on to my hard drive. I decide to use smartctl in Linux to analyze my hard drive, however, I'm not sure what to make of the output.

Checking to see if my hdd supports S.M.A.R.T. technology:
Code: [Select][[emailprotected]]# smartctl -i /dev/sda
smartctl version 5.38 [i586-mandriva-linux-gnu] Copyright (C) 2002-8 Bruce Allen
Home page is http://smartmontools.sourceforge.net/

=== START OF INFORMATION SECTION ===
Model Family: Western Digital Caviar Second Generation Serial ATA family
Device Model: WDC WD2500JS-60NCB1
Serial Number: WD-WCANKC800832
Firmware Version: 10.02E02
USER Capacity: 250,059,350,016 bytes
Device is: In smartctl database [for details use: -P show]
ATA Version is: 7
ATA Standard is: Exact ATA specification draft version not indicated
Local Time is: Thu Oct 8 11:07:02 2009 CDT
SMART support is: Available - device has SMART capability.
SMART support is: Enabled
Enabling S.M.A.R.T.:
Code: [Select][[emailprotected]]# smartctl -s on -d ata /dev/sda
smartctl version 5.38 [i586-mandriva-linux-gnu] Copyright (C) 2002-8 Bruce Allen
Home page is http://smartmontools.sourceforge.net/

=== START OF ENABLE/DISABLE COMMANDS SECTION ===
SMART Enabled.
Running overall-health self-assessment test, results were unexpected:
Code: [Select][[emailprotected]lhost harley]# smartctl -d ata -H /dev/sda
smartctl version 5.38 [i586-mandriva-linux-gnu] Copyright (C) 2002-8 Bruce Allen
Home page is http://smartmontools.sourceforge.net/

=== START OF READ SMART DATA SECTION ===
SMART overall-health self-assessment test result: PASSED
Please note the following marginal Attributes:
ID# ATTRIBUTE_NAME FLAG VALUE WORST THRESH TYPE UPDATED WHEN_FAILED RAW_VALUE
190 Airflow_Temperature_Cel 0x0022 068 030 045 Old_age Always In_the_past 32
More data:
Code: [Select][[emailprotected]]# smartctl -d ata -a /dev/sda
smartctl version 5.38 [i586-mandriva-linux-gnu] Copyright (C) 2002-8 Bruce Allen
Home page is http://smartmontools.sourceforge.net/

=== START OF INFORMATION SECTION ===
Model Family: Western Digital Caviar Second Generation Serial ATA family
Device Model: WDC WD2500JS-60NCB1
Serial Number: WD-WCANKC800832
Firmware Version: 10.02E02
User Capacity: 250,059,350,016 bytes
Device is: In smartctl database [for details use: -P show]
ATA Version is: 7
ATA Standard is: Exact ATA specification draft version not indicated
Local Time is: Thu Oct 8 11:10:16 2009 CDT
SMART support is: Available - device has SMART capability.
SMART support is: Enabled

=== START OF READ SMART DATA SECTION ===
SMART overall-health self-assessment test result: PASSED
See vendor-specific Attribute list for marginal Attributes.

General SMART Values:
Offline data collection status: (0x84) Offline data collection activity
was suspended by an INTERRUPTING command from host.
Auto Offline Data Collection: Enabled.
Self-test execution status: ( 0) The previous self-test routine completed
without error or no self-test has ever
been run.
Total time to complete Offline
data collection: (7680) seconds.
Offline data collection
capabilities: (0x7b) SMART EXECUTE Offline immediate.
Auto Offline data collection on/off support.
Suspend Offline collection upon new
command.
Offline surface scan supported.
Self-test supported.
Conveyance Self-test supported.
Selective Self-test supported.
SMART capabilities: (0x0003) Saves SMART data before entering
power-saving mode.
Supports SMART auto save timer.
Error logging capability: (0x01) Error logging supported.
General Purpose Logging supported.
Short self-test routine
recommended polling time: ( 2) minutes.
Extended self-test routine
recommended polling time: ( 90) minutes.
Conveyance self-test routine
recommended polling time: ( 6) minutes.
SCT capabilities: (0x103f) SCT Status supported.
SCT Feature Control supported.
SCT Data Table supported.

SMART Attributes Data Structure revision number: 16
Vendor Specific SMART Attributes with Thresholds:
ID# ATTRIBUTE_NAME FLAG VALUE WORST THRESH TYPE UPDATED WHEN_FAILED RAW_VALUE
1 Raw_Read_Error_Rate 0x000f 200 200 051 Pre-fail Always - 0
3 Spin_Up_Time 0x0003 184 181 021 Pre-fail Always - 5800
4 Start_Stop_Count 0x0032 099 099 000 Old_age Always - 1337
5 Reallocated_Sector_Ct 0x0033 200 200 140 Pre-fail Always - 0
7 Seek_Error_Rate 0x000f 200 200 051 Pre-fail Always - 0
9 Power_On_Hours 0x0032 084 084 000 Old_age Always - 12154
10 Spin_Retry_Count 0x0013 100 100 051 Pre-fail Always - 0
11 Calibration_Retry_Count 0x0012 100 100 051 Old_age Always - 0
12 Power_Cycle_Count 0x0032 099 099 000 Old_age Always - 1325
190 Airflow_Temperature_Cel 0x0022 064 030 045 Old_age Always In_the_past 36
194 Temperature_Celsius 0x0022 114 080 000 Old_age Always - 36
196 Reallocated_Event_Count 0x0032 200 200 000 Old_age Always - 0
197 Current_Pending_Sector 0x0012 200 200 000 Old_age Always - 0
198 Offline_Uncorrectable 0x0010 200 200 000 Old_age Offline - 0
199 UDMA_CRC_Error_Count 0x003e 200 200 000 Old_age Always - 13
200 Multi_Zone_Error_Rate 0x0009 200 200 051 Pre-fail Offline - 0

SMART Error Log Version: 1
No Errors Logged

SMART Self-test log structure revision number 1
Num Test_Description Status Remaining LifeTime(hours) LBA_of_first_error
# 1 Short offline Completed without error 00% 12148 -
# 2 Short offline Completed without error 00% 12147 -

SMART Selective self-test log data structure revision number 1
SPAN MIN_LBA MAX_LBA CURRENT_TEST_STATUS
1 0 0 Not_testing
2 0 0 Not_testing
3 0 0 Not_testing
4 0 0 Not_testing
5 0 0 Not_testing
Selective self-test flags (0x0):
After scanning selected spans, do NOT read-scan remainder of disk.
If Selective self-test is pending on power-up, resume after 0 minute delay.
Extended self-test of hdd:
Code: [Select][[emailprotected]]# smartctl -d ata -t long /dev/sda
smartctl version 5.38 [i586-mandriva-linux-gnu] Copyright (C) 2002-8 Bruce Allen
Home page is http://smartmontools.sourceforge.net/

=== START OF OFFLINE IMMEDIATE AND SELF-TEST SECTION ===
Sending command: "Execute SMART Extended self-test routine immediately in off-line mode".
Drive command "Execute SMART Extended self-test routine immediately in off-line mode" successful.
Testing has begun.
Please wait 90 minutes for test to complete.
Test will complete after Thu Oct 8 12:41:31 2009

Use smartctl -X to abort test.
After waiting more than the required time I tried to view the self test log with:
Code: [Select][[emailprotected]]# smartctl -l selftest
smartctl version 5.38 [i586-mandriva-linux-gnu] Copyright (C) 2002-8 Bruce Allen
Home page is http://smartmontools.sourceforge.net/

ERROR: smartctl requires a device name as the final command-line argument.


Use smartctl -h to get a usage summary...but for some reason it wouldn't let me.

I also ran the Data Lifeguard Diagnostic for Windows app provided by Western Digital but it stated everything was fine, however I'm not sure what to make of the results with smartctl, in particular '190 Airflow_Temperature_Cel 0x0022 068 030 045 Old_age Always In_the_past 32'. I can't get Google to help me with this and am unsure how to proceed. Is it time to replace my hard drive? Are there other tests I can run? Is there anything else I can do to troubleshoot this problem(on Linux or Windows)?Thank you for your comprehensive post.

I am not familiar with the Linux tests but am very familiar with WD Data Lifeguard Diagnostic for Windows, which is able to diagnose issues 95% of the time. I have a WD drive sitting here that I have tested dozens of times and it always checks out okay, but all of a sudden it will "click-click" and fail to be recognized. Turn it off and come back the next day and it could work for days and then exhibit the same behavior, again. It was in a RAID array and was being rebuilt every week or two. No SMART messages were ever generated.

The point is, it can pass all tests and still not be functioning properly. Therefore, I suspect your hard drive is the culprit. Good news is that's it's only $50.Thanks for your reply. I'm pretty convinced it's the hdd as well, though I think I'll spend the extra $15 for one twice the size with a bigger cache and better response time.