Failure

What are the tell-tale warning signs that your hard drive is failing?

If you suspect your hard drive is failure, it’s sensible to start backing up your important data before it’s too late.

Hard drives are sensitive electronic equipment with moving parts. Unfortunately, all electronics with moving parts are subject to inevitable wear and tear.

This article contains four tell-tale signs that your hard drive might be failing. If you’re concerned about your photos, files, and data, speak to one of our qualified data recovery technicians today.

Sign # 1. Your Hard Drive is Making Strange Noises

Sounds coming from a hard drive can indicate anything from minor to major problems. Some hard drive noises are totally normal, even if they do sound a little unsettling.

For example, you might hear whirring as the drive spins up when it’s first powered on and seeks data from different parts of its platter; this noise might increase in pitch the faster and more frantically your processor works to read the data.

However, if your hard disk is making unusual noises like beeping, clicking, or grinding, it could be failing.

Listening to the weird noises that come from your hard drive is an excellent way to determine whether it has a problem. If you use your device often, you’ll likely become familiar with the regular noises that your hard drive makes.

When these noises start to differ or get louder, that’s when it’s time to start preemptively backing up your files!

Sign #2. Frequent Computer Crashes, Blue Screens of Death Etc.

Another one of the signs that your hard drive could be failing is when your computer frequently crashes or experiences blue screens of death.

These crashes can be caused by a variety of hardware and software issues, but if you find yourself frequently experiencing these problems, it might be time to get your hard drive checked out.

If this happens, back up your files immediately and replace your hard drive before it fails completely.

Sign #3. Bad Sectors and Corrupted files

A bad sector or block is an area on a hard drive, disc, or other storage device that cannot be used due to permanent damage. The operating system (OS) can no longer write data to the damaged sector or read data from it, but you might still be able to read data from it.

A bad sector is a physical defect on your hard drive (or any storage device), while a corrupted file is usually caused by a hardware failure. It can also be caused by software issues such as an application error or virus infection. In this article, we will focus on corrupted files while discussing how they’re related to bad sectors.

Sign #4. Your Hard Drive is extremely slow when reading and writing data

Another one of the signs that your hard drive could be failing is when your hard drive is extremely slow when reading and writing data.

For example, if it takes a few minutes to load an application or even boot up your computer, then there’s probably something wrong with your hard drive.

Some applications and large files can take a long time to load even at the best of times, but if your regular programs are suddenly taking much longer than usual, it may be a sign that your hard drive is struggling.

In modern computer systems, it’s more common for operating systems and applications to be stored on solid state drives (SSDs), but many computers still use hard drives for applications as well as data storage.

The most common culprits would be either a read/write head issue, bad sectors, or even a faulty PCB (Printed Circuit Board).

Signs that your hard drive is failing: Conclusion

When a hard drive fails, there’s often no warning.

You could even consider it a lucky sign if your hard drive gave you one of these warning signs, as you had a chance to prepare.

If you’re already experiencing symptoms that may indicate an impending disaster, always consider placing your important files on a secondary external drive.

Doing so could feasibly save you countless hours of rebuilding your computer and ultimately save you time, money, and headaches.

Our technicians are on hand if you’re worried about losing data saved on your hard drive.

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