Things You Should – And Should Not – Do In the Event of Hard Drive Failure
Hard drive failure is one thing that a computer owner or user will have to face. Because of its mechanical nature, it’s bound to just stop working one day, and it’s just a matter of when. No matter how long your hard drive has been in use, you can never rule out the possibility that it can one day just quit on you. To prolong the life of your hard drive, it’s important to know what causes the failure, recognize the symptoms of a failing drive, and what you can do to help prevent it.
A hard drive that’s been making ticking and grinding noises for a few days now is a likely candidate for failure. When you add strange noises to that mechanical clicking, you can be sure trouble is quite near your digital paradise. If you haven’t done any backup of the data stored in your computer yet, there’s no time to waste. Backup your files immediately. And if your OS is also located in that drive, it would be a good idea to transfer it to another location to prevent it from crashing as well.
However, do not even think about fixing the problem yourself. Some computer users think that they may be able to correct whatever is wrong with the system if they open the drive. This is true for old hard drives and even new ones which you may think would be easy to “fix.” Not so. Opening a hard drive without the proper tools and facilities would only worsen the situation. Hard drives are assembled in clean rooms and are therefore susceptible to damage even by the smallest microscopic particle. If you open the case by yourself, you are making the repair more difficult.
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.
If you are ever tempted to try the home remedies that are said to work with damaged hard drives, stop. For one, don’t freeze your hard drive. That “solution” has no basis whatsoever and can only worsen the problem. The same can be said about troubleshooting it yourself. If your hard drive suddenly stops, your best course of action is to send it off to a technician that specializes on data retrieval. Typically, these hard drives will no longer be functional again. But purchasing a new hard drive is actually a minor problem than the thought of losing one’s important files, personal documents, music collection, family recipes, and treasured photos altogether. Make sure this never happens to you by backing up your computer data.
