5 Signs Your Hard Drive is About to Fail

We all know the fleeting moment of fear as a computer slows to a grinding halt, taking forever to perform the most basic of tasks. At the same time, we also know the relief of when you find out there’s nothing wrong with your PC. Still, what if that relief never comes? What if you’re dealing with one of the most dangerous computer issues of all: a hard drive crash?

The risks of a hard drive crash are similar to any other type of hardware failure. If your drive is used for storing data, it can lead to data loss. If you’re not using a quality backup and disaster recovery solution, you can bet that it’ll be difficult, if not impossible, to restore your infrastructure to its former glory.

Frequent Computer Crashes
If there’s anything you’ve learned from reading our newsletter, it should be that computer crashes are never a good sign of anything. Ever. The reason it crashes is because it’s incapable of locating or accessing important files that are crucial to the operation of the system, and it’s a clear sign that something is not right with your machine.

Disappearing Data
Another sign that your hard drive is failing is that data isn’t where it’s supposed to be. You’ll probably notice this when you try to access a mission-critical application, but the software can’t load because a file is missing or some other complication. Unless someone is behind the scenes messing with the location of data, your hard drive is probably just about done.

Out-of-the-Ordinary Noises
You know there’s something wrong when you hear strange grinding noises coming from your hard drive, but really, if anything at all sounds out of the ordinary, you probably have a big problem on your hands. If you start hearing noises coming from your hard drive that aren’t normal, you should shut down your PC and contact a professional for further consultation. These typically sound like a clicking noise coming from inside your PC. The last thing you want is your hard drive crashing on you while you’re in the middle of an important project.

Your Computer Doesn’t Recognize the Drive
If your PC doesn’t acknowledge the hard drive, it’s a clear sign that there’s something wrong. You can test whether this is an issue with the hard drive by testing it in another PC, but you should do so only if there’s a professional on-hand to guide you through the process.

Painfully Slow Processing Speed
If it takes your PC ages to open a basic folder or file, this means that it’s having trouble locating and accessing it. Basically, if there’s ever a problem opening files, you can assume that there’s something wrong with the hard drive.

The idea behind these tips is to identify problems with your technology before they cause irreparable damage to your systems and, more importantly, your business. Unexpected problems can cause downtime, which is one expense your organization can’t afford to deal with. By taking these proactive approaches, you can make sure you spot a problem before it harms your business’s productivity.

What Directive offers is a more comprehensive and equally proactive solution called our remote maintenance and monitoring solution. We are able to monitor your network and detect hard drive issues before the drive actually gives you any signs. Most of the time, through special logs that we monitor, we can step in and save your data before the drive fails on you. Give us a call at 607.433.2200 to learn more.