HDD Failure: Error 0142 -- then works perfect

I have a Dell Latitude E4300 running Windows 8.1 Professional (I know, it's odd and yes, getting the drivers to work on this thing was a pain) and I custom installed Windows 7 Ultimate a while back. Yesterday, I turned on the computer and everything just started failing. First my Windows boot screen would show and get stuck on the logo, then when it restarted, it didn't start at all and went straight to Startup Repair, where it told me that it couldn't fix the problem. Then I went to the Diagnostics provided in the BIOS. Everything passed until it hit the HDD Self-Diag checks. It failed almost immediately with error 2000-0142, which is basically HDD Failure. So I called the people who I had ordered this computer from and I am getting a new HDD, but I figured I'd continue to tinker with it and see what happens. I booted up an install USB and opened up Command prompt, then used DiskPart to clean the disk and reformat it. I then wiped the disk up to US DoD Standards. (Department of Defense) Afterwards, I installed Windows 8.1 Pro with only one hitch, and a reinstall fixed that. Upon the first install, it installed Windows 8.1 to the USB that it installed from. (I know, but it was weird, computer wouldn't boot unless USB was in) A reinstall fixed that and I was able to get it on my HDD. Now a day later, here I am, typing up this post and have basically, a new computer. I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions on why this would happen. I figure maybe the connector for my HDD came loose and that's why everything failed. I've ran S.M.A.R.T. and Seagate HDD Diagnostics and everything checks out just fine. Really weird. Any suggestions appreciated!

Buy two external HDs, get Macrium backup/restore software, make OS partition images and data partition images on both external HDs. Do this on a regular [at the very least -- bi-monthly] basis. For now, do this quickly. Your internal HD may or may not be heading for the last roundup. I've been using Acronis True Image for awhile now, in the past, was a Norton Ghost [2003-version] user.