4 Symptoms of Hard Drive Failure

Is your PC running slower than it used to?  If you answered yes, then there are somethings you need to troubleshoot the issue and find out why.  When your computer starts to get sluggish it is trying to tell you something is not quite right. If you don’t fix the problem(s) it can quickly develop into major problems that cause downtime or even worse hard drive failure.

Below are 4 symptoms of a hard drive failure heading your way.

1.       Your hard drive is making strange noises.

A hard disc drive is made up of many moving parts that work together seamlessly. However, if a hard drive starts making new noises it’s a symptom of a problem that needs to be addressed. Two noises to listen for are clicking and grinding. (if your hard drive is making these noises you can’t miss it, you don’t have to put your ear to your computer to hear it clicking or grinding away.) If your hard drive is making these noises, then you need to make sure your backup all your data (which you should be doing daily anyway) and take your computer to a repair shop.  If you need help setting up a daily backup of your data, Contact us and we can set up an automated backup plan.

2.       You are experiencing system hangs.

A system hang (also known as a freeze) occurs when the program you’re working on, or even the operating system itself ceases to respond to inputs–despite all of your desperate clicking. Granted, a system hang could be a symptom of a variety of other PC issues other than hard drive failure (like software-related issues or CPU issues). Regardless, you should have your PC looked at if it’s constantly freezing up on you.

3.       Your computer files are randomly disappearing.

Lost files are a symptom of a major hard drive issue. Usually, sectors are going bad on the hard drive. bad. If this problem isn’t attended to, it will only get worse and lead to a hard drive failure, as well as a loss of more data if the defective drive continues to be used.

4.       Your computer takes forever to boot up.

While it’s normal for your PC to experience longer boot times over time, especially as you add programs and put wear and tear on your machine, these extended boot times should be minimal. Noticeably longer boot times are a symptom of a hard drive that’s deteriorating and at risk of a failure.

What you can do to fix a failing hard drive.

Once a determination has been made that hard drive failure is inevitable, you’ll want to take action and either fix the hard drive or replace it altogether. Before taking any action, first, move all the data on your problem-prone hard drive to another drive. This can be done by connecting your computer to a docking station and then moving all of your files over. Also, relying on copies of your backed-up data will work, just make sure that you’re backed up files are up to date.

Due to the fact that hard drives are quite complex, we don’t recommend that you pop open the case and handle the components unless you’re trained for this kind of computer repair work. Instead, a more prudent and economical way of resolving this issue is to simply replace the problem-prone drive altogether. After all, the lifespan of a typical hard disc drive is about five years, meaning that money spent on servicing an older hard drive could be a waste.

Every Hard Drive will fail at some point, it’s inevitable!

If you have all your data backed up there will be no need to panic.  Just think of the situation as an opportunity to upgrade. Every five years or so hard drive technology advances considerably, especially when it comes to data storage. Your failing hard drive will give you the chance to refresh your equipment and benefit from the latest hardware. For example, swapping out an eight-year-old hard disc drive for a new solid-state drive will set you up nicely for many years of issue-free computer usage, seeing as the lifespan for SSD drives are way longer than their counterparts, thanks to the lack of moving parts.

As always we are here to help.

Until Next Time,

Megabite