HDD issues!!!

Hi there.

Based on how my laptop has been acting over the last few weeks, I can't help but suspect the drive might be failing. It freezes up—sometimes just a momentary stutter, other times it hangs so long that I have to force a shutdown. I went ahead and ran CrystalDiskInfo; I've attached the screenshot below. I'm looking for some advice on how to speed things up or if I should be worried.
This all started while I was watching a series in VLC—it never used to be this bad. Sure, the boot time was always a little sluggish, but it never used to lock up like this when I was just trying to watch something. :/
Thanks in advance!😛

What kind of laptop are we talking about, and how old is it? Which version of macOS are you running, and how long has that OS been installed? Has the thing ever been cleaned out—you know, blown out with compressed air or had the thermal paste replaced? Also, when was the last time you actually ran a disk cleanup or defrag?

Based on these stats, it looks like an older laptop that hasn't seen much heavy lifting. You've got a 750 GB Western Digital drive in there—is it really that empty? Are you telling me you actually have nearly 600 GB of free space left?

Maybe throw us a photo and the SMART status?

It looks like the drive is giving him some trouble for one reason or another; based on the symptoms, that seems to be the case. It’s possible the disk is just reaching the end of its life. I guess it might be a good idea to test it out on a different machine, just to make sure we aren't actually dealing with a faulty controller or some sketchy connectors instead.

My Dell Latitude is about five or six years old now—maybe a bit more. I did a fresh install of macOS three days ago, thinking it might breathe some life into the thing. It went from a 32-bit Windows Home Premium setup to a 64-bit Home Premium version. I’ve always been diligent about running cleanups and defrags, both on the old OS and this new one.
It’s never actually been cleaned out, and I haven't touched the thermal paste—ever.
The disk isn't exactly empty, though it feels that way now since the new OS is still pretty fresh and I haven't really pushed it yet. It’s strange, honestly, because I used to have a massive amount of junk cluttering up my previous installations.

I don't think there's much deep thinking required here—honestly, just picking up a new hard drive should solve your headache, especially since we're dealing with a relatively old laptop...

Which drive should I go with? I’m a bit out of my depth here—not really sure what to look for, where to shop, or even how much I should be spending... Help me out 🙂

For a laptop like yours, you’ll want a 2.5-inch drive. Honestly, if you're mostly just browsing the web or downloading a movie every now and then—nothing too crazy—I’d really suggest going with an SSD. They're several times faster than a standard hard drive, and once you swap it in, your machine will feel like a totally different beast. Just let me know what kind of budget you're working with? Does spending around $450-$167 for 120GB of storage sound like too much to you?

They’re actually even cheaper now; you can grab a 240GB drive for under $200
.
http://www.nabava.net/search.php?tp=...last+240gb+ssd

To put it in perspective, a 120GB version goes for about $117
.
Regarding hard drives, I agree with what my colleague mentioned: if you're looking at a laptop, stick to the 2.5" form factor. If 120 or 240GB isn't enough storage for you, prioritize an HDD with 7200 RPM speeds—most laptops default to 5400 RPM, which is noticeably slower. Alternatively, look into an SSHD (a hybrid SSD/HDD combo), such as this one from
:

Or for an SSHD option: