Faulty Hard Disk Or Motherboard Beginning To Fail?

Hello, Just recently one of my hard drive (Not the primary drive) started to give problems, Occassionaly it did not appear in the list of drives (nor in computer management/storage/Disk management either)
When it was available I tried to copy the essential data from it but it only remained available for 5 - 10 Minutes before "disappearing".
I found a logfile (cannot remember which one) which listed some drive controller errors. I do not know if this refers to controllers on the hard drive or controllers on the motherboard.
In any case I removed the drive and installed it in a USB caddy. Now the drive seems to work fine - no disappearing and no problems copying the data from it.
I should be happy that I have recovered the data but am left not knowing the following
1. Should I discontinue use of the drive, or is it stable now it is in a caddy.
2. Was this a sign of impending motherboard failure and should I be preparing to replace the machine (I.e. document all installed software, find all the installation disks/files, backup data etc.

Are there areas of log files I can check to ascertain what was going on?

The computer is an ACER Veriton M221 running Windows professional 7
with an AMD Athlon II X2 215 processor 2.7Gb

Thanks
Roy

 

Have a look over here.
http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000446.htm

 

Thank you for that link, it confirms many things I know about hard drives.

On reflection I think my question would be better phrased as:
Is there a logfile of the disk errors which would better identify the faulty component?
If so how can I find it and can someone de-cipher the contents (I usually find these are too technical for my level of knowledge)

Thanks

 

Windows does have Log Files, Error Reporting & Event Logs, but finding the right file and analyzing it will take forever and a day.
I suggest you run HDDlife Pro.
http://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/hddlife_pro.html
It's full-featured for 14 days.

 

Thanks, That's exactly what I needed.
As you said trying to analyse the log files needs such a high level of knowledge.

HDDLife shows me all I need to know, however, HDDlife will only analyse the first hard disc AND I have now removed the suspect drive to a USB caddy.
Will HDDlife pro analyse a hard drive located on a USB port. I am very happy to purchase the software but only if it will work without the need for me to re-install the HDD in the PC.

I will also review the HDDlife help files and website to see if I can find the answer there

Thanks again

 

OK A quick look of the help files answered the question:

Why doesn’t HDDlife control my USB disks?
Unfortunately, the controllers of USB hard drives do not support S.M.A.R.T. commands so it is impossible to determine the state of health for such disks.

One final question then........
I have been considering purchasing a SSD drive to improve the performance of the PC, but I would like to check the "health" of the motherboard first (as this could have been the source of the problem)
Is there something like HDDLife but for motherboards?

Thanks again

 

HDDlife Pro will scan all internal HDDs and/or SSDs.

You have 2 options to check the HDD.
1. Re-install the HDD and check it with HDDlife Pro. (Recommended)
2. Leave it in the caddy and check it with Windows. This will only 'Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors'. You wont know the health/performance of the HDD.

With regards to motherboard testing...
Start here.
http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch001089.htm

Then have a look at this video.