i need a programe to check if my hdd is dying any recommendations?

what make is it? goto the manufacturers site and grab a program off there
i got a seagate one last time, checks yer drive, zero fills the free space and stuff

To soem degree the tools with Windows will giev some indication.

If you're getting an increasing number of errors from scandisk, it could mean problems.

Also, just listen - is there any screeching noises? Do you get the occasional error about disc writes failing / read errors when you are accessing the disc? Does it appear to thrash around and the disk light stays on for a long time even though there's plenty fo space?

These can all indicate problems.

Might be worth giving Hard Drive Inspector a try. It's a commercial product, but it seems you can get a 30-day trial (http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/Hard-Disk-Utils/Hard-Drive-Inspector.shtml)

quite a few hard drive tools on ultimate boot cd
http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/index.html