What are the symptoms of a hard drive going bad?

My computer is running totally slow today, yet this past week it's been perfectly fine.

I have done EVERYTHING known to man to try and fix it.

3 virus scans; found nothing

5 spyware scans; nothing

deleted system restore points to free space/delete spyware

disk cleanup

disk defragment

disk error check

restarted who knows how many times

cleaned out a lot of unwanted files to make space.

Now it's running even worse...

I think my HDD might be going bad, but I need to know what the symptoms of that are.

Basically my computer is kind of freezing up; even the mouse moves slowly and stutters. Video and audio stutter; it takes forever to start applications and programs.

What are the symptoms of a hard drive going bad?computer virus

The most popular symptom is clicking within the hard drive. It comes from the needle that reads the info going too far %26 hitting the outer casing inside. The drive can last years or even less then minutes, you never know. The best thing to do is start backing up the files from it, if you end up with a "file is corrupt" error(s), then the drive is failing.... (edit) After reading your question even more, it sounds like the problem isn't your hard drive, but your CPU getting too hot! turn the PC off (If it's not already) open the side (usually 2 screws) then carefully turn the PC on %26 see if the fan on the CPU is spinning (It's the one on the motherboard facing outword) If it's not spinning, then the fan needs to be replaced. It can also be the heat sink "goop" that needs to be on the fan when it is first installed. This can be found at any PC store, alot of times they'll just give you a little (it only takes a drop or 2) If you have to purchase either one, both are pretty cheap (Fan runs anywhere from $10 - $30 depending on the type %26 quality. The "goop" is only a couple dollars for a tube, I'm not sure...I've always had it given to me =)