[SledgeHammer]

Sounds like the drive is going bad. If you put a "normal" drive in there (non AV application) or a 7200 RPM one or the fan died or you don't have good cooling, it will shorten the drives lifespan by ALOT. Plus, the HR24 is a junky DVR. Never been that fast and with software updates over the years, it got a lot worse. It got to the point, where they're unusable now.

If you're going to replace the drive again, the forum recommends that you use a SSD instead. Will solve the heat problems and compensate for the slowness. But either way check the fan too.

 

[SledgeHammer]

I would be surprised if the fan was causing the problem. A new SSD will likely resolve the issue as well as making the HR24 more responsive. If you have to replace the HR24 with a newer DVR, the SSD can be moved to the new one.

If the fan is dead and you have it in an enclosed cabinet, it can get VERY hot, even in idle. I had an old HR24 lose a fan, and it destroyed the front LCD panel of the equipment it was sitting on. It also cooked the hard drive. We're talking about 140ish.

 

[SledgeHammer]

How about running a short smart test? Can that help repair the hard drive?

You can do the full drive test. Reset your HR24. When you see "Just a few more seconds..." on your TV screen using your DIRECTV remote press SELECT. This will bring up the BiST menu. Follow the prompts.