Anyone who has had a computer has been affected by a total hard drive failure at a certain point. When your hard drive fails, your operating system does not load, you cannot access your data, applications, and your computer is unavailable.
What Causes Hard Drive Failure?
There are two types of hard disc failure factors: logical and physical.
- Electric motor that rotates the platter fails.
- The circuit board is fried when it is overheated.
- Power outage during hard drive reading and writing.
List of Ways To Prevent Hard Drive Failure In PC
You can prevent hard drive failure By following some of the measures outlined below.
- Monitor the quality of your hard drive:
You don’t like to be caught off guard when your hard drive fails. Proactively check your hard disc on a regular basis. Effective monitoring software can monitor key characteristics of your hard drive.
- Defragment hard drive Frequently:
A fragmented drive has been forced to work more than it should. To minimize excessive wear and tear, all hard drives must be used in their most efficient states. To prevent hard drive failure, set your computer(s) to defrag once a week automatically. This helps to increase the hard drive’s life by maintaining the file structure compact, which means the read heads aren’t traveling as much or as frequently.
- Maintain the power supply of your hard drive:
You have no control over the power supply, peaks, and dips. However, you may strategize ahead of the event. Storms and weather-related fluctuations in the power supply are major causes and among the most prevalent reasons for hard drive failure. Ascertain that you have connected to an uninterrupted power source that will allow you to shut down your machine smoothly. The UPS includes management programs that safely shut down your pc during power cuts.
Note: Don’t buy cheap UPS. Invest in a high-quality UPS from a reputable manufacturer to prevent hard drive failure since it can effectively preserve your entire computer in the event of an unpredictable power spike or fluctuation.
- Tighten Screws:
Loose mounting screws (which hold the hard disc to the PC chassis) can cause High vibrations. These vibrations can cause damage to a conventional hard disk’s platters. If you notice vibrations emanating from your PC, open it up and check that the screws holding the hard drive to the mounting platform are snug. Tighten them if they aren’t. Keeping your hardware in good condition will help it last longer.
- Back up:
That drive will fail at some point. No matter how cautious you are, no matter how much efforts you take to avoid failure, the drive will suffer a horrible death in the end. If you have reliable backups, at the very least, the move from one disc to another will be smooth. And, with the help of a backup solution like Acronis True image which is a disk cloning software, you may easily move a system image from one part of the hardware to another
6. Free up hard disk space:
It is recommended that you maintain around 40% of your hard disc space free. This not only improves the performance of your system but also ensures that your hard drive works properly. When your hard drive is nearly full, each tiny search will cause a lot of movement on it, causing wear and tear that might eventually shorten the disk’s life.
- Separate the operating system and the user data:
Installing the operating system on a separate drive allows for less reading and writing on the disc, therefore safeguarding critical parts of your hard drive. It is best to keep your personal/business data on a different disc. Separating the two sorts of data will help ensure that your operating system runs smoothly at all times.
- Clean your hard disk (outside):
We sometimes fail to provide our computers with the clean, clear area and atmosphere that they require. It is not always practicable to utilize personal computers and laptops in a perfectly clean environment, air-conditioned. It is necessary to clean the system on a regular basis. Dust, grime, debris, and other impurities may collect excessively on your Pc’s air vent. Tight air circulation can cause overheating, which can result in the hard drive or computer component failure. If you have a desktop computer, open it up and use a low-pressure suction to thoroughly remove any dust from the insides.
- Static should be avoided:
Static electricity is a pc component’s worst enemy. When dealing with them, be sure you ground yourself first. This is certainly relevant during the winter or in places with drier air. If you tend to be shocked every time you touch anything, it’s a strong indication that you need to be extra cautious while dealing with such drives. This also applies to where you place those drives. I’ve seen users put Disks around TVs, stereo speakers, and other appliances/devices that may emit an electromagnetic wave. To be sure, most of these devices feature magnets that aren’t powerful enough to wipe a disc. But it’s a risk that no one should accept.
Conclusion
While there is no method of making your hard drive live forever, there are techniques to prevent hard drive failure to avoid a major loss that destroys your data. That’s why it is always advisable to regularly back up your hard drive.
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