The
drive is the store house of programs that runs the computer.
However,
there are times, this device fails you when you least expect .The worst of all
is the imminent loss of data.
As
in vehicles, a good and careful user can spot the signs of a troubled hard
drive and take a proactive actions.
Below
are signs or symptoms to look out for when your hard drive is about to pack up
or give up the ghost
(i.)
Frequent but irregular crashes,
especially while booting up Windows®
(ii.)
Frequent and cryptic error messages
while performing typical activities like moving files
(iii.)
Folder and file names that have been
scrambled and changed
(iv.)
Disappearing files and folders
(v.)
Really long wait times to access
folders and files
(vi.)
Hard disk is silent for a long
period after you request data by opening a file or folder
(vii.)
Garbled output from open files or
printing
(viii.)
Hard drive grinds away constantly
because of noisy bearings
Sound can be an excellent indicator
of disk trouble! If you previously didn’t hear a
peep from your hard drive, but now you d. If it seems much louder than usual or
makes occasional clicks or grinding sounds, check it ASAP and get ready to
backup your data and replace the drive.
If your drive is making regular
clicking or grinding sounds, chances are you have a mechanical failure
within the drive. Turn off your computer as soon as possible as continued use
may damage the platters (data storage area) and make your data unrecoverable.
The longer the drive is powered on, the more damage you may be doing to your
data. You should then make a note of what happened and contact a computer technician
immediately.
