Caring for a hard drive is like raising a susceptible child in some third world country. The environment out there is fraught with all kinds of pathogens, just waiting to infect some unexpecting victim. Besides, any personal negligence may aggravate the matters even further. Since the dawn of the computer era, hard disks have proven to be more or less reliable media for storing data. Though being essentially hardy, hard disks are basically mechanical devices, prone to crash at any time in their lives. This possibility has continuously haunted both the manufacturers and the end users since the last few decades. A hard drive may crash owing to a variety of reasons. It may be because of any damage to some internal mechanical or electronic component or due to some external reason. So far, the experts have failed to come out with some fool proof strategy to prevent a hard drive crash. A hard disk crash in itself is not much of a problem, so long as it does not harm the stored data. Yet, it will be true to say that hard drives often behave like kamikaze pilots. They not only destroy themselves, but, pose a serious threat to the valuable data stored in them. However, there is no reason to lose heart. Luckily, we can take some precautions to avoid a hard drive crash. Hard disks often prove to be loyal friends, if we do not rub them on the wrong side.
A virus attack could be one of the reasons for a computer crash. A virus is a parasitic program that has the ability to continuously replicate itself and causes damage to a computer or the computers connected in a network. Once a virus infiltrates your computer, it may proliferate to the other computers in the network at a lightening speed. The possible repercussions may range from a benign blinking of a message on the monitor to an outright computer crash. However, you can protect your computers against viruses by installing efficient antivirus software that is updated on a regular basis. Firewalls aught to be installed to bar the entry of invaders into the system. The chances are that, authentic software will provide you with genuine protection against all kinds of malware threats.
Hard drive mostly crash due to mechanical failure. The internal constitution of a hard drive is quite delicate. The read/write heads slide at just a microscopic distance above the platters. Any kind of excessive external vibration may cause the heads to fall upon the platters. This magnetic media may get scratched off the platter by the head and render both the data and drive head inoperable. Thus, never move or shake your hard drives while they are functional. Any external shock or trauma to the hard drive may cause serious mechanical damage, rendering all the stored data almost permanently irretrievable.
Overheating was never a serious problem with the old computers that processed data at a very slow speed. However contemporary computers are high speed performers and are prone to overheating. Exposure to high temperatures may melt the drive components and damage the fragile electronics of a hard drive. So do take care that the cooling system of your machine is working at an optimum level. Always install your computers at a cool ventilated place. You may also use the monitoring software tools available in the market. They will alert you incase your computer gets overheated.
Head drives should be protected from the dust. Sometimes a dust particle may get trapped in the drives air filter and ultimately land on a platter. This may cause a head crash, if the head happens to sweep over that particle. So always keep your computer in a cool, clean and dry environment. If anybody deserves the best room in your office, it is your hard drive.
Hard drives should never be exposed to an environment charged with static electricity. A miniscule amount of static electricity may cause serious damage to the logic board. Precautions should be taken against power surges and breaks by investing in quality surge protectors and UPS systems. This will pay in the long run.
Never try to tamper with or dissemble a hard drive on your own, if you do not have the proper knowledge. Remember that it is not a kiddy toy set, but a sophisticated device, demanding astute handling.
Last, but certainly not the least, always back up your important data on a regular basis. Computer forensics (or digital forensics) can help uncover illegal actions that may have caused you to lose data.