All you can do on hard drive temperature is ensure the airflow isn't restricted somehow. So opening the case and making sure the fan(s) are all working as desired and not gunked up.
I'm a little confused by the numbers you provided though. "Worst" as 42, yet current is 61? I think you need temps to be in the low 40s, so aye, 61 wouldn't be great.
Not sure if that's the cause of your problems, or that the problems with the drive are causing it to get soopa hot.