Imac keeps hanging..

Question

imac keeps hanging. tried instal disk; disk utility;      repair permissions >done     verify disk>volume error repair disk     repair disk>volume error will not complete.
I am running disk warrior now and get "speed reduced by disk malfunction".  Trying to figure out if this is a disk error or actually a hardware issue?

Answer 1

replying to my own question:
Found this on the alsoft diskwarrior support page:
Product
DiskWarrior
Question
When I run DiskWarrior, I get a message that says "speed reduced by disk malfunction". What does this mean?
Answer
The message "speed reduced by disk malfunction" means there is a problem reading data from the disk due to a disk malfunction.
As long as the mouse cursor still moves during step 5, then the computer did not hang or freeze. DiskWarrior is still working on reading the directory of the disk.
Such slowdowns are usually the result of having bad blocks on the media. DiskWarrior is having trouble reading data from the locations on disk where the directory structures are stored.
You will also notice that an error count is kept at the end of the message. This feedback allows you to see that DiskWarrior is still working on reading data from the drive.
NOTE: This count does not increase at a regualr interval as disk errors are not distributed evenly across a drive.
Please let DiskWarrior run for as long as it takes. This can take quite a few hours but should eventually complete. On rare occasions, it might even be necessary to run this for a day or two.
Since the "speed reduced by disk malfunction" message indicates hardware-related issues, you will need to backup your files from the DiskWarrior Preview window (accessed from the DiskWarrior Report window) to another hard drive. Once you have a backup of your files, you will need to install a new hard drive to replace the damaged hard drive.
bummer eh?!