Is my Hard disk failing?

Question

I used to have Windows 10 in my Laptop prior. Out of nowhere the updates were not installing properly and the system always had a 100% disk usage problem due to which it was very very slow. I found on the internet that it was almost impossible to solve so i decided to transition to another OS. (Ive already tried scans like SFC, DISM, CHKDSK etc etc but no use)

My PC Information:

My laptop is two years old

Handle 0x0001, DMI type 1, 27 bytes
System Information
    Manufacturer: HP
    Product Name: HP Laptop 15-da1xxx
    Version: Type1ProductConfigId
    Serial Number: CND84514TK
    UUID: ef325e8a-e8dc-e811-a4c3-84a93ea27d6c
    Wake-up Type: Power Switch
    SKU Number: 5PC90PA#ACJ
    Family: 103C_5335KV HP Notebook

Handle 0x000B, DMI type 12, 5 bytes
System Configuration Options
    Option 1: ConfigOptions1
    Option 2: ConfigOptions2
    Option 3: ConfigOptions3
    Option 4: ConfigOptions4
    Option 5: ConfigOptions5
    Option 6: ConfigOptions6
    Option 7: ConfigOptions7
    Option 8: ConfigOptions8

Handle 0x0010, DMI type 15, 29 bytes
System Event Log
    Area Length: 0 bytes
    Header Start Offset: 0x0000
    Header Length: 8192 bytes
    Data Start Offset: 0x2000
    Access Method: General-purpose non-volatile data functions
    Access Address: 0x0000
    Status: Valid, Not Full
    Change Token: 0x12345678
    Header Format: OEM-specific
    Supported Log Type Descriptors: 3
    Descriptor 1: POST memory resize
    Data Format 1: None
    Descriptor 2: POST error
    Data Format 2: POST results bitmap
    Descriptor 3: Log area reset/cleared
    Data Format 3: None

Handle 0x001D, DMI type 32, 11 bytes
System Boot Information
    Status: No errors detected

---

Filesystem      Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on
udev            3.9G     0  3.9G   0% /dev
tmpfs           785M  1.9M  783M   1% /run
/dev/sda2       916G  219G  650G  26% /
tmpfs           3.9G     0  3.9G   0% /dev/shm
tmpfs           5.0M  4.0K  5.0M   1% /run/lock
tmpfs           3.9G     0  3.9G   0% /sys/fs/cgroup
/dev/loop0       56M   56M     0 100% /snap/core18/1988
/dev/loop1      100M  100M     0 100% /snap/core/11187
/dev/loop3       56M   56M     0 100% /snap/core18/2066
/dev/loop2      9.2M  9.2M     0 100% /snap/canonical-livepatch/99
/dev/loop4      219M  219M     0 100% /snap/gnome-3-34-1804/66
/dev/loop6       65M   65M     0 100% /snap/gtk-common-themes/1514
/dev/loop7       52M   52M     0 100% /snap/snap-store/518
/dev/loop8       51M   51M     0 100% /snap/snap-store/547
/dev/loop5      219M  219M     0 100% /snap/gnome-3-34-1804/72
/dev/loop9       32M   32M     0 100% /snap/snapd/11036
/dev/loop10      66M   66M     0 100% /snap/gtk-common-themes/1515
/dev/loop11      33M   33M     0 100% /snap/snapd/12159
/dev/loop12     180M  180M     0 100% /snap/spotify/46
/dev/loop13     296M  296M     0 100% /snap/vlc/2288
/dev/sda1       511M  7.9M  504M   2% /boot/efi
tmpfs           785M   72K  785M   1% /run/user/1000

Current Issue:

Ubuntu was fine for two days and i was happy but suddenly without notice i was having Read-only file system issues. And from yesterday i could not install any packages(i was trying to install Conda for python)

sudo apt-get update
Bus error

sudo apt install smartmontools
Bus error

Now my PC gives a "System Problem Detected" notification every now and then. This morning when I booted up my computer it asked me to perform "fsck" as usual and this is what it showed after:

I tried to download and install "GSMARTCONTROL" Sotware but it quits almost immediately and shows the following error:

Unable to install GSmartControl as download failed:
E:
Method http has died unexpectedly!

SMART Disk assessment self test:

I performed a SMART DISK ASSESSMENT and i don't know why but it works randomly. Initially it shows that the assessment is at 90.0% and "Disk is ok(53 bad sectors)" and then it fails and shows that "Self-test failed(read)"(above image)

Conclusion:

1. Is my disk failing?
2. Will the spare sectors be enough to repair this issue?

Answer 1

The SMART test failed, which tells you that the disk is failing.

Your file system turning read-only is a failsafe that is generally associated with a failing drive.

You cannot repair a failing hard drive. You will need to replace it.

Luckily, you are still able to read the contents of the drive so you still have a chance to back up data, in case you are behind or deficient on your back up strategy. Because a failing hard drive will only get worse, you should take advantage of that opportunity.

Answer 2

The drive may or may not be fine. Bad sectors are detected when read, but remapped when written. If a bad sector is never overwritten, it won't be remapped. If long-lived file system structures are contained within bad sectors, the drive will look like it's failing.

The easiest way to "fix" the drive is to backup all irreplaceable data and wipe it using the drive's built-in secure erase function. This will overwrite all sectors and remap bad sectors.

However, better to be safe than sorry. Replace the drive, preferably with an SSD.

Answer 3

Back up your important files: photos, documents to a flash drive immediately.

Get a new drive twice the size you have now.