Go find a S.M.A.R.T. utility. S.M.A.R.T. is built into harddrives nowadays, its a technology that allows for determining of predictability of failure, before the failure happens.
For instance, my dell laptop harddrive, is now at 40% for reliability (Acronis True Image rules btw. for cloning.) and at some point, I'll bite the bullet, have a few shots and deal with someone in some non english speaking world and try to convey my drive is toast and I need a new one.
Just my
..