Hard Drive Failure – How Does One Deal With It?
Unfortunately, hard drive failure is a fact of life for a computer owner. The circle of mechanical life and death does not skip over any hard drives. Even if yours has lasted for a decade, it is just as susceptible to immediate and catastrophic failure as any other drive. Protecting your drive from the causes of hard drive failure is important, but you must also learn to recognize the signs of a failing drive and know what to do. Or, more importantly, what to avoid doing.
So what are the signs of a hard drive failure? The most common signs of a failed hard drive are the strange noises coming straight from the drive. If yours is making an abnormal noise, it is highly advised that you take time to backup all your files. If your operating system is within the drive, you may also want to entirely remove it and reinstall your OS so you can avoid an even bigger potential headache.
But whatever you do, do not attempt to fix the problem yourself. Some people think they might be able to correct whatever is wrong if they just open the drive up. This is especially true for new drives, which people cannot imagine are having problems already. But the second you open that hard drive, you have taken the situation from bad to much, much worse. Assembled in clean rooms, hard drives are susceptible to damage from even the smallest microscopic particles. Opening the case is just asking to completely ruin the drive.
As long as you have been regularly backing up your data, you need only worry about the hard drive itself. There are a number of ways that you can backup your data; just one of these is inline backup services like MozyHome, which keeps your data safe online. You simple have to buy a replacement for your crashed drive, store the backed up data back in it, and it would seem like nothing happened. If you don’t have any backups available, it’s still not the end of the world as there are data recovery specialists who can help you. But be ready to spend for it though, because data recovery from a failed drive is an costly process that requires skill and knowledge. Even then, there’s no guarantee that they can recover all data.
Trying out home remedies to revive and keep your hard drive running may not be a good idea too. Do not ever attempt to freeze the drive in your refrigerator or try to repair it by yourself. These are simply myths which will only worsen your drive problems. Doing so will only make your drive unusable again. Only when you lose your hard drive and the data with it will you realize that the important files and personal documents you have stored over the years cannot be replaced by any amount of money. Old pictures, recipes, and emails are simply priceless. The best way to avoid such problems is by learning how to take good care of your hard drive.
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