How to check which component is failing?

[TheBaddest]

Hello guys, I have a quite old HP Pavilion dv6 laptop (bought on 2010).
Specs:
Intel i5 M430 (iirc)
GeForce 230M
500GB HDD

Rarely turned it on since I got a PC. I was going to use it again but then problems show up.

Since the battery was already in a poor condition at the time I was using it, I bought a 3rd party replacement with more capacity. The old battery is virtually unusable now, it doesn't charge when it's plugged in. At around the same time, it frequently shuts down by itself when it's doing heavy HDD work.
EDIT: This all happens when a battery is attached (old and new). When the battery was removed the laptop runs normally without sudden shutdowns.

How do I know which component is failing? It's really hard to do a HDD health check since it always turns itself off abruptly mid-check.

Thanks.

 

[Boogieman_WD]

Hey there, TheBaddest.

If this is the case, perhaps your only option would be to test the drive by connecting it to a different computer either externally (via a SATA to USB adapter, external enclosure or a docking station) or internally via a SATA connection, so that you can test it and see if there's anything wrong with it. Are you sure that the laptop is not overheating? If it turns out that it's not the drive, I'd take it to a service shop to get it checked out if I were you. It might be a power supply issue or a loose connection or something else.

Hope that helps.
Boogieman_WD

 

[TheBaddest]

Yeah, removed the battery and had it run plugged in to the wall, doesn't seem to trigger the random shutdowns. I guess it's the battery connection. Nothing wrong with the HDD, just a bit slow due to its age.

 

[Boogieman_WD]

You did well troubleshooting this issue. Sometimes 3rd party parts could give you trouble like that, especially when it comes to phone/laptop batteries.
As for the HDD, if it's getting slow, it wouldn't hurt to check it for errors or bad sector, just to be on the safe side and please keep a regular backup of your most important data. You have no idea how much this is underestimated by most people. If everything's OK with the drive I'd suggest that you scan it with anti-malware/virus programs and run the defragmentation process. These things could speed things up a bit.

Cheers!