Seven-year old Pavilion 23 still working perfectly

[DAPotter]

Maybe a weird question, but -- how long is it reasonable to expect a Pavillion 23-p114 (or any computer with a hard drive) to last? It may be old age setting in, but I am still happy with my computer, which meets all my current needs -- I am tempted by new ones, particularly with SSD for speed, but honestly this one is great. I'm just afraid that one of these days it will wake up dead... Any idea how long it should last?

[Prométhée]

hey
It is almost impossible to tell you the duration, when it is likely to break down or not
You can identify the model of the hard disk, and check on the manufacturer's site, the probable lifespan..
But it will depend on several factors
the hdd does not have a problem originally, sometimes it won't last very long
Depending on the use, frequency of use / request of the HDD more or less long / important
Improper handling, or electrical problem
Move the computer, in operation, a shock, that said even off, if too violent ..
power failure, storm ..
I have HDDs that are over 10 years old, sometimes we see users, so the HDD is brand new, less than three months old

{edit} for check

HP PCs - Testing for Hardware Failures | HP® Customer Support

a test, no matter which one, will be able to tell you if there are problems, but will not give you any more indication of the remaining lifespan...
A SMArt error, for example, will tell you that the hdd may fail, nothing more

https://www.seagate.com/gb/en/support/kb/my-system-reported-a-smart-error-on-the-drive-184619en/

[BeemerBiker · Accepted solution]

I assume you have been blowing dust out periodically.

General tips here https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c00292159

 For an AIO there are additional problems https://superuser.com/questions/811110/dusting-inside-all-in-one-computer

You should start monitoring your disk for potential failure.  A good diagnostic will report heat history in addition to errors

the HP built in F2 test can run disk diagnostics and so can the HP Support Assistant

The application speedfan will run a diagnostic and report more details as shown here

Note that the Support Assistant says 'ok" but speedfan reports some problems and show maximum temperatures of fan.

You should occasionally run windows 10 "check disk"  followed by speedfan's S.M.A.R.T test to see if any errors were triggered or added to.

[DAPotter]

Update -- I replaced the 1TB HD with a Crucial 1TB SSD -- works great! Like a new machine. And I connected the old HD as an external drive for extra storage... and am running HD Sentinel to monitor health on all my drives. Happy me!

Thanks for the help and support!