Hard Disk Drive Failure Symptoms, Causes and Recovery Guide

If you are a business owner or an individual who cannot afford to lose critical information , then you might want to know how long your har...

If you are a business owner or an individual who cannot afford to lose critical information, then you might want to know how long your hard drive lasts does. And quoting the famous notion, "everything must end" your hard drive does have a lifespan.

Yes, your hard drive is meant to fail in its due time.

Hard Disk Drive Failure Symptoms, Causes and Recovery Guide

The real question is, how long is it due until your hard drive demands a replacement?

Well, the life span of your hard drives depends on not just one factor. For example, the make and type of hard drive you have and the environmental conditions in which it is stored are some of the most influential factors.

Typically, if you go for high-end brands, you may find it surprising that they last longer than the ordinary ones. Moreover, the frequent cycles of reading and writing data may also shorten the age of your hard disk.

There are a plethora of reasons why and how your hard drive fails. What’s really important is if you can identify your failing hard disk in time? And what are your options, if it fails?

What signs does your hard drive throw at you before failing?

Your hard drive gives away numerous subtle signs before it fails. For example, your computer might start slowing down, or it may freeze or display a message stating warning for corrupted data or bad sectors. Additionally, virus or malware infliction and improper shutdowns may also impact your hard drive.

If you’ve been experiencing any of these symptoms, then your next step should be running a diagnosis in safe mode. Or in case, you’ve already lost some or all of your data, you may need to contact data recovery company for easy extraction of lost data. Otherwise, you may wish to purchase and install a hard drive protection software which can scan logical and physical problems in your hard drive.

What to do if your hard drive has already failed?

Hard drives usually fail because of either physical or logical failures. The aforementioned symptoms are for logical failure, whereas disturbing noises means the damage is physical.

For data lost due to logical faults, data rescue software can help regain your data. While physical damages certainly call in for replacement and transfer of data on to the new one.

Despite the fact that in either of the events, you risk losing your data to corruption, erosion or even crashed drive kernels, it is important to understand that your data can be recovered. A professional data recovery engineer has all the required skills and expertise to get your data back, even from the oblivion.

Having said that, investing in a data recovery program can safeguard your business and the critical data needed for the smooth operation of your business. But, before you buy just any data recovery plan, make sure that the engineers possess the skillset you need, and if they expertise in handling data format your business is accustomed to. Once you are sure that the engineers are suitable and meet all your needs, make sure you discuss the budget with them as well.