Way to determine if HDD going to fry

I just got a dead laptop HDD 12 hrs ago, it was in an excellent condition when i test it, runs at low temp at full load working state and doesn't have vibration then any other HDD compared.

Then i use it on my laptop for only roughly 6 months with care and fried. I checked on the HDD, motor runs but the mainboard has darkened texture on connector area. I've upload an image to show.

Right HDD is brand new, only used for a few times manufactured in Feb 2010, middle one 500GB use as USB external HDD manufactured Sept 2009 that i use it much more frequent. And the left is fried HDD notable with alot darkened areas, manufactured April 2010. All 3 are WD brand.

http://img64.imageshack.us/img64/5443/burnhdd.jpg

Now the question is, can i determine the HDD's lifespan by looking at the mainboard? Because for some reason even with the proper usage those mainboard can still be darkened without reason and even in a short use of time. And for example of that 500GB HDD is it taking damage and going to fry as well?

I'm confused because i have a Toshiba laptop HDD and one WD160GB looks like that 500GB state for over 4 years now and still working.

 

Uh, One, PCB's don't get darker from use, not that I know of.

Two, There's no way to tell when a Hard Drive is going to go bad, unless you're someone that drops your laptop a lot. It really just happens at random after a few years (or minutes) of use. Most you can get is warning signs like bad sector counts and whatnot, and even that isn't all that reliable.

Three; that's some bad luck there.

 

just bad luck
the only way to check a hhd life is by S.M.A.R.T

 

That's just variation in the color of the solder mask - which is just a coating placed on the board to prevent solder from sticking where it shouldn't during manufacturing.

To see actual burned boards, do a Google image search for "burnt pcb", like this.

By the way, you say the drive on the right is "new", yet was manufactured nearly a year ago? Also, it has a two non-factory stickers (that I can see). You should be aware that no authorized distributor of WD drives puts those stickers on - they're generally added by small computer shops who are paranoid that people are going to swap parts around and return other parts as "defective". You don't know where that drive has been or what was done to it between when it left the factory and when you purchased it. Further, a number of these drives are sold as OEM drives and do not have the standard warranty. Even if they do have the standard warranty, it will run from the newer of the date of manufacture or the invoice date from an authorized seller.

You may get some prediction of future drive failure with S.M.A.R.T., but some drive failures occur without any warning at all.

 

Thanks for the inputs, i guess just luck then. I didn't get any performance degradation, strange behavior or SMART error last use which was 3 days ago then i rest my laptop for days and started using it again and voila that happen.

There was no drop or knock while HDD is running whatsoever because there's no one else lives here cept i'm the care taker. I only know i was placing the laptop on floor vertical position lean on the wall because there was no space to put things.

@Blaze But how to explain the darker connector on the PCB after some time of use?

EDIT:

Yeah i actually look to the PCB's otherside and it wasn't burnt or anything. With the motor working fine i can only think of the heads has problem.

Well, i said that because i only used the drive couple times then i put it back to anti-static bag. Just look at the PCB, is clean. And is actually OEM from Asus laptop.

The 500GB was clean as the right one when i bought it, however i use it often and now i see some "colors" on the PCB.