So a few days ago I was browsing my one year old laptop as normal, scrolling through reddit. I went to get a snack, came back, and I went to connect/unconnect to my internet since that always happens. I have my toolbar disappear when I'm not using it, so I went to click the internet icon in the toolbar. The networks didn't pop up, and I couldn't click anything else on my computer. My toolbar for some reason didn't disappear, so I powered off my computer (via the button) and powered it back on.

I got greeted with QR Code to scan and an annoying sound, and so I scanned it with my iPad and it says Critical Issue Found. Error Code: 142. Description: Hard Drive - self test unsuccessful , terminated.

Recommended Action: Replace Hard Drive. Your hard drive is operating outside of normal parameters and should be replaced.

Surprised, I just clicked continue on my laptop, and it said it was fixing the problem, and I never got the error screen again.

But now, after using my laptop for about an hour, the same thing happens. I am unable to click anything, and clicking my taskbar freezes it and prevents it from disappearing. When I restart, I don't get the error message again.

TLDR of above : Browsing Reddit innocently, when computer becomes unresponsive. I get an error message upon restarting (that takes me to my bios) and a hard disk replacement is recommended by Dell. My computer now becomes unresponsive after around 1 hour of use, but I never get the error message again.

So, do I just get a new hard drive? What caused the problem, and is this the only solution? My computer model is Dell Inspiron 5558, so if I need to get a hard drive, does it have to specifically match with Dell, or the Inspiron 5000 series? Basically, if I need to get a new hard drive, what type does it have to be?

Secondly, Dell's website recommends hard drives I should purchase. Should I actually buy from their site, or is it overpriced? I'm asking because when my laptop charging port had issues and I went to get it fixed, the guy working there said I should use a charger from their site specific to my model number, rather than buying one on Amazon.

Also, if I do need a new one, how do I back up my data? (Or just tell me to google this if an answer is more readily available/easy to understand via google, because I'm a bit iffy about it). Thanks so much.

Hi guys! Any thoughts on receiving this hard drive error "2000-0142" after replacing a bad hard drive? I replace a 2 tb hard drive with a 1 tb hard drive and I was able to download Windows and get PC to boot but it is extremely slow and uses 100% disk and memory usage. I ran PC diagnostics in BIOS and received the same hard drive error even though I am using a brand new hard drive that I had for months but never used. Please help.