The hard drive is an integral part of the computer system and has a lifespan too. Usually, the average life of the hard disk in your computer ranges from five to ten years, and this period will decrease if it is exposed to a lot of external shocks, or changing temperatures or constantly high humidity, however there are several signs that indicate problems in the hard disk that may lead to its damage Absolutely, you should pay attention to it and act quickly.
Often times; The hard drive gets corrupted gradually, leaving you sufficient time to save or replace a copy of your data before it stops working permanently, but how do you know if the hard drive in your computer is on its way to damage?
1- Performance problems appear:
There are many indicators that you can notice that tell you that the hard disk is on its way to damage, the most prominent of which is the emergence of problems in the performance of the computer in general, such as: the computer takes a long time when opening it, or the slow opening of files, or the operating system stops working repeatedly, or The blue screen appears suddenly.
To rule out a hard drive problem, you can use a diagnostic tool, such as CrystalDeskInfo, which allows you to easily check the health of your hard drive.
2- Corrupted files appear on your computer:
There are many reasons that lead to the emergence of corrupted files on your computer, but the most common is the occurrence of corruption in a part of the Hard Disk where the file was stored, and this part is known as (Bad Sector), which is a part of the disk that has become It is not readable or writable, and internal hard drive components cannot access it, which is a common problem with hard drives.
Corrupted data can appear in countless different ways, but the most prominent of which are the following:
- Random error messages appear when opening, moving, or saving files.
- Some files do not open normally.
- Corrupt files appear inside the folders.
- Files or folders disappeared.
The CHKDSK tool can help you to perform a quick scan, by following the following steps:
- Press the two buttons 'Windows + E' to open the file explorer on the computer.
- Right-click the storage disk you want to scan.
- From the menu that appears to you, select the 'Properties' option.
- In the window that appears, click on the Tools tab, then choose Check.
- If you see a message saying: You don't need to scan this drive, you can click on the Scan drive option to run the tool anyway.
- Once done, you can choose to fix any errors, if any.
3- Hear a loud sound from the hard disk:
It is normal for the hard disk to make a low sound when operating, given that it has mechanical parts inside, but it is not normal for this sound to be exaggerated, and if this happens, know that you are in big trouble, and at this point, you will be lucky if you can save a copy Of data quickly.
Precautions:
If you experience any of the signs mentioned above, you should take these precautions:
First; Backing up your data:
The best thing that you can do is to always backup your data on a second drive. You can also use an online cloud storage service such as: OneDrive or Google Drive to keep your data and access it from anywhere.
Replace the hard drive:
When the three signs appear, you must at this point replace the hard drive in your computer. There is no doubt that choosing an SSD will be a better option. Because it delivers better performance, and is not damaged as it has no moving inner parts.
Safely dispose of an old hard drive:
Before getting rid of your old hard drive, make sure to wipe all data from it so that no one can recover it.
Beware! It should also not be disposed of in the trash, as the electronics contain toxic ingredients.
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