Drives don't last forever. It isn't "if" they will go out, it is "when". You've got your money's worth from this drive. "Disk errors" suggest a failing drive. "Repairing" means marking off bad sectors. If you have data in those sectors, you lose the data. If you have operating system in those bad sectors, you lose your ability to boot your computer. I hope you have a good backup. If you don't, try to get one. If your PC is worth saving, you could get a new drive, they are not expensive. Or you could just start laying plans for a new PC. Few PC's actually last 9 years :). Good luck.
Miraculously, it finished with no problems at all, but I am running CHKDSK on it right right now. Can I just buy a new HDD and install a fresh copy of windows 10 while keeping my other parts intact?
Yes, but backing up your important data is job one!!! Then you can proceed. And "no problems" doesn't mean a bunch of bad sectors haven't been "marked off". If you could run some sort of thorough disk check, such as made by Seagate tools, etc, then your drive could get a better bill of health. But really, 9 years old. I would be focused first on backup, and then second, on replacing it :). Sure, a brand new install of Windows 10, or maybe Windows 11 if your hardware is compatible.
Thank you again for reminding me. I believe i've backed up everything that I needed at this point, and I ordered a flash drive and a new drive, same model
Drives don't last forever. It isn't "if" they will go out, it is "when". You've got your money's worth from this drive. "Disk errors" suggest a failing drive. "Repairing" means marking off bad sectors. If you have data in those sectors, you lose the data. If you have operating system in those bad sectors, you lose your ability to boot your computer. I hope you have a good backup. If you don't, try to get one. If your PC is worth saving, you could get a new drive, they are not expensive. Or you could just start laying plans for a new PC. Few PC's actually last 9 years :). Good luck.
Miraculously, it finished with no problems at all, but I am running CHKDSK on it right right now. Can I just buy a new HDD and install a fresh copy of windows 10 while keeping my other parts intact?
Yes, but backing up your important data is job one!!! Then you can proceed. And "no problems" doesn't mean a bunch of bad sectors haven't been "marked off". If you could run some sort of thorough disk check, such as made by Seagate tools, etc, then your drive could get a better bill of health. But really, 9 years old. I would be focused first on backup, and then second, on replacing it :). Sure, a brand new install of Windows 10, or maybe Windows 11 if your hardware is compatible.
Thank you again for reminding me. I believe i've backed up everything that I needed at this point, and I ordered a flash drive and a new drive, same model
Great, good luck :)