If you think the state of the HDD might be in question then checking information such as SMART values as well as running a chkdsk should really tell you everything.
http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vista/guide-to-using-check-disk-in-windows-vista/
http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vista/guide-to-using-check-disk-in-windows-vista/