You should try and diagnose the drive. Its possible that there is a problem but Windows XP just didn't detect it (or didn't notify about it). Run a complete scan of your hard drive on the next boot:
Run a complete chkdsk scan of the file system: Go to Start - > Accessories - > Right Click on Command Prompt Go to Properties - > Run as Administrator Type chkdsk c: /f /r It will ask you if you want to perform a scan the next time your computer starts, type y -- If you are still getting the message after the chkdsk, You may have physical bad sectors on the drive meaning the drive itself is damaged. The drive may just be performing slowly because it is old. If your system is running on a RAID array (multiple hard drives) the array might have been corrupted if you lost power abruptly or your computer crashed. There are 3rd party tools that can rebuild an array but you would need an external drive to back everything up.
You may also want to open up your PC and check the HD cables (either IDE or SATA) to see if they are loose.