For 60 years, hard disks have been on a journey of innovation. The first model of it had a space capacity of 3.75 MB, and now the latest version has 4 TB of space. To ensure quality, manufacturers use a test called MTBF. It is an abbreviation for “mean time between failures.” MTBF is an estimate of hard disk reliability. It predicts the number of hours a disk can operate without interruptions.

Some brands claim their products will be fault-free for 34 years, according to MTBF. That’s not possible. These calculations use an average of all drives in a specific range. They come from short-term tests.

Up to 25% of hard drives, no matter which brand or model, can fail in 4 to 5 years with regular use. Here a question arises: “What causes a hard drive crash?”

Below in this discussion, we have explained some reasons that can be responsible for a sudden failure of the hard disk, along with how to protect a hard drive from damage. By keeping a keen eye towards early signs of collapse, you can evade a situation of data loss easily.

What Factors Lead to a Sudden Hard Disk Drive Crash?

HDD (hard disk drive) works on a “spindle and platter” system. This mechanism resembles a record player as it has an arm that reads the data on the platter. Now, one of the principal reasons for the hard disk collapse is a mechanical breakdown. Here, it means that the spindle and platter system has started to wear out or is losing accuracy due to regular use. There are several other reasons, which are as follows:

1. Overheating

If your device is encountering heating issues, then it will have a direct impact on the hard disk. Check for all possible reasons such as obstructed ventilators or viruses and fix them.

2. Liquid damage

A small spill of water is enough to damage a hard drive. Here, only an expert who has experience in this domain can help you with hard drive data recovery and repair.

3. Static Electricity

A 10 volt discharge can damage a hard drive, but humans are unable to feel it unless it is more than 12,000 volts. An accidental touch of your fingers can pass an electric charge, which can damage the hard drives.

4. Power surges or lightning

If your system suffers a huge shock, it can quickly end the life of your hard drive.

5. High Magnetic Fields

A hard disk has two neodymium-iron-boron magnets that control the movements of read-write heads. But if you try to use the system in high magnetic fields, then it may erase your data or damage the component.

6. Impact

A hard disk drive is made up of fragile parts. A fall of a laptop or drive can cause immediate malfunction of it.

Warning Signs that Can Help You Protect Your Hard Drive from Damage

Before giving up totally, the hard disk shows some signs of issues. With these hints, you can take the right steps to save your drive as well as data. Once you are sure that the disk is facing problems, then with the help of the SMART (Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology) diagnostic tool, you can catch potential issues before they become serious. Following are the warnings for an imminent hard disk crash, which you should look for:

  • Frequent computer crashes or BSOD (blue screen of death)

Your system may crash due to Windows newer versions starting from Windows 7 till 10 or BSOD. The reason behind this is the bad sectors in hard drives, which do not allow the OS to read data accurately.

  • Error generation while moving files or copying them

Your device will start facing issues whenever you try to copy or move data from one place to another if the drive is about to collapse. The moment you detect such problems, immediately initiate a SMART test or perform a disk check.

  • Missing files

Missing some of your files and being unable to find them may or show hard disk problems. Here a disk check can help you to find the cause.

  • A system is taking longer to access files.

If the gadget is unable to open files even if the size is small, then it signifies that the hard disk is facing problems.

  • Clicking Noise

Usually, you will not hear a noise when a drive is working smoothly. If you experience clicking hard drive noise, then it is a clear sign of a hard disk crash in the future.

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It is necessary for you to understand what causes a hard drive to crash so that you can save it from sudden malfunction. By catching early signs, you can contact an expert on time who can offer you quality hard drive repair services.