How Did My Hard Drive Die?

What happens when a hard drive bytes...er, bites...the dust?

"How did my hard drive die?"

That is one of the most common questions we get at All Star Computer Service, because it's one of the most common issues in computer repair -- a #2 right behind "Where/How did I get a computer virus?" (A question we will cover in a future blog post.)

So, how do hard drives die?

Think of a hard drive like you would a record player. Your computer's hard drive reads, writes and stores information on a platter of discs that spin super fast, while a laser scans back-and-forth over the disc, just like a record player plays music by running a needle over the record. You see, it's a mechanical process. And, like most mechanical devices (your car's engine, for example), it will go out over time. However long that is depends on several variables.

A whitepaper study by DriveSavers estimates that 80% of hard drive failures occur because of good old mechanical failure, including heat, electrical failure, media failure or head crash (that's when the read/write device crashes and comes in contact with the disk platter. That's never good, because it generally means that data recovery is impossible.) The other 20% is due to virus infection, failed data writing or even human error.

So, what is the best way to avoid this problem?

Unfortunately, all hard drives will eventually die, taking your family photos, videos and that huge media collection to the digital grave with it. So, the best way to proactively protect your digital belongings is to have a constant backup, whether on another external hard drive (but we know all about hard drive failure now, right?) or with an online backup service, like Carbonite Online Backup.

If you are experiencing computer system slowdown, the dreaded blue screen of death or any other computer health issues that may be attributed to a failing hard drive, call us today. We may be able to save your data before the drive crashes completely.