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Resolved What is the causes of internal hard disk damage?

Discussion in 'PC Hardware' started by polygon, 2011/11/05.

  1. 2011/11/05
    polygon

    polygon Inactive Thread Starter

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    Just some simple question:
    1. using computer for a long time, but temperature didn't exceed any critical point, will the hard disk still get damaged?

    2. computer can't shutdown well(such like sudden electrical black out) damage hard disk?

    3. format computer or change os wil also damage hard disk?

    or there still other causes of hard disk damage? Just want to know so i can take a good care of my hard disk.

    By Polygon,
    thanks in advance.
     
  2. 2011/11/05
    rsinfo

    rsinfo SuperGeek Alumni

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    1. The hard disk is a mechanical component and like all mechanical components it would/could get damaged even if you treat it well. Age is also an important factor. Extreme temperatures only accelerate the damage.

    2. This used to be true in olden days when the heads had to be parked by "Park" command. [Anyone remember it now ?]

    3. Formatting or changing OS is NOT going to decrease the life or damage it anyway. Its an old folk lore & is a myth.

    Causes of hard disk failure
    Hard disk failure
     

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  4. 2011/11/07
    mattman

    mattman Inactive Alumni

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    Some hard disk manufacturers provide a temperature monitor.

    You need to find a monitor program that can read the temperature. (Usually the HDD's utilities program.)

    Why do you suspect an overheated hard drive? Does it work overly hard or is it in a place that doesn't get cooled well?

    Matt
     
  5. 2011/11/07
    polygon

    polygon Inactive Thread Starter

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    Does that mean nowadays hard disk are hardly get damaged from disturbed shutdown, and what does that "park command" mean?


    Just like some people download something big sized files, they turn on their computer for hours or days...will that damaged the hard disk even with good cooling system?
     
  6. 2011/11/07
    wildfire

    wildfire Getting Old

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    Hard drives are made of several magnetic platters, each of which has a read/write head hovering micrometers above/below the platter. It's important that the heads are close enough to magnetically read/write but not to become physically in contact with the platters.

    In the old days hard drives needed to be parked (the heads would move to a safe area before resting on the platter) before power was removed (hence the PARK command). Nowadays they will retract automatically to that safe area on loss of power.

    The only issue you have to worry about now is loss of data if power was removed during a write operation, this can be serious but wouldn't cause physical damage to the disk, hence you should always shutdown your computer rather than just pull the plug.

    EDIT:mad:rsinfo, I think the description above proves that some people still remember it ;)
     
    Last edited: 2011/11/07
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  7. 2011/11/07
    SpywareDr

    SpywareDr SuperGeek WindowsBBS Team Member

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    Since mechanical hard drives contain moving parts that rub each other, they're going to wear out.

    --

    The round platter(s) in a hard drive are mounted on bearings.

    The little arms that the read/write heads are attached to are also mounted on bearings.


    The platters are constantly spinning at thousands of RPMs (revolutions per minute).

    The heads are also being rapidly yanked back and forth to read and write data to the spinning platters.


    Since all of this movement is causing wear and tear on the bearings, the bearings will eventually wear out and the drive will no longer be able to read/write data reliably.

    --

    It's the same with a car, or even a human. They eventually wear out.
     
  8. 2011/11/07
    rsinfo

    rsinfo SuperGeek Alumni

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    Yep, good to see some really old people like me, still there !
     
  9. 2011/11/07
    wildfire

    wildfire Getting Old

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    In short your four main concerns with HD's are...

    1) Natural wear, as SpywareDr pointed out, these are mechanical devices and will eventually wear out.

    2) Temperature, you're correct in being concerned with this but if there is adequate cooling it shouldn't have too much of an effect.

    3) Abnormal power spikes, anything from a dodgy power supply to an electrical storm can kill the electronics but often the data can be recovered (at a cost).

    4) G-Force, HD's don't like the heads to hit the platter and it doesn't take too much G-Force to do that. eg dropping a HD during replacment (even if only a few inches) or being a little too rough with your laptop could cause an HD to fail.

    EDIT: I'll add a 5th

    5) The MBR (master boot record), this is a specific area of the hard drive and if that is physically damaged the drive can't be used, but like with 3 often the data can be recovered.
     
    Last edited: 2011/11/07
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  10. 2011/11/07
    rsinfo

    rsinfo SuperGeek Alumni

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    And a 6th:

    6) Moving a powered hard disk. Since the heads fly only micrometers above the surface, any movement can send them crashing into the platter.
     
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  11. 2011/11/07
    wildfire

    wildfire Getting Old

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    I think 4 covers that rsinfo ;)
     
  12. 2011/11/07
    rsinfo

    rsinfo SuperGeek Alumni

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    Maybe 4 covers that, but its good to be quite sure that its understood.
     
  13. 2011/11/07
    MrBill

    MrBill SuperGeek WindowsBBS Team Member

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    I remember it also. I guess we are telling our age.
     
  14. 2011/11/08
    mattman

    mattman Inactive Alumni

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    Something that can prolong the life I have found is to keep the drive/s defragmented. It reduces the head movement (when bad, is termed "thrashing ") that SpywareDr spoke about.

    File fragmentation can get worse the lower the freespace on the drive.

    I have come across drives that are starting to make noises and found that they have low freespace and bad fragmentation.

    If it is regularly defragged the drive will have a less work to do (and the system will work better).

    Matt
     
  15. 2011/11/08
    SpywareDr

    SpywareDr SuperGeek WindowsBBS Team Member

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  16. 2011/11/08
    MrBill

    MrBill SuperGeek WindowsBBS Team Member

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    And by not know what version of Windows they are using, we don't know if we should tell them to defrag on a regular basis. As Windows 7 does it automatically.
     
  17. 2011/11/10
    polygon

    polygon Inactive Thread Starter

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    From the statement of MrBill, does it mean Window 7 defrag drive automatically and so we not really need to manually defrag on window 7?
     
  18. 2011/11/10
    MrBill

    MrBill SuperGeek WindowsBBS Team Member

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    Yes it does it automatically. You can set it to do it Daily, Weekly or Monthly. This is automatic. I think that it is default for weekly. To me, monthly is way to often unless you are installing and uninstalling a lot of big programs or applications.
    Go to the Start Orb and type in Disc Defrag and then click on it. There you can change it.
     
  19. 2011/11/10
    polygon

    polygon Inactive Thread Starter

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    Thanks to all of you that have replied me, I have learnt a lot. :)
     
  20. 2011/11/12
    Arie

    Arie Administrator Administrator Staff

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    Weekly is the default setting for Windows 7 defrag.

    You said
    I assume you mean that Daily is way to often.
     
  21. 2011/11/12
    MrBill

    MrBill SuperGeek WindowsBBS Team Member

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    Nope Arie, to me MONTHLY is way to often.
     

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