Symptoms of hard drive failure are often overlooked. One of the most common questions we get from our customers is “why did my hard drive fail?” and it is difficult to pinpoint exactly what causes a hard drive to fail. However, there are warning signs that a hard drive may be failing. It’s very important to pay attention to these signs to be prepared for any potential hard drive failure, which often results in losing important data.
All hard drives (regardless of brand, model, and operating system) will fail at some point. There are two main types of hard drive failure: physical and logical. Physical failure involves mechanical wear in the drive itself. A computer being dropped or jostled around often causes physical damage. Logical failure occurs from corruption in the file system. Accidental deletion of registry entries, improperly formatting the drive, or even a very nasty virus can cause hard drive failure. It is very important to back up your data regularly to avoid data loss. (See our recommended cloud backup services) Below is a list of the most common hard drive failure symptoms:
- Overheating
- Missing/Corrupted Files and Folders
- Freezing, Crashing or Blue Screens
- Clicking or Grinding Noises
- Boot or Mount Issues
- Bad Sectors
If you are experiencing any of these symptoms, it may be a warning sign that your hard drive is failing. At On The Spot Computer Repairs, we are here you help you determine if your hard drive is failing and what the next steps are to either replace your failing hard drive and/or recover your data.
