| There are so many reasons why your hard disk may | | | | The good news is, usually, in today's technology on |
| crashed: | | | | hard disks, if this problem occurs it normally will alarm |
| (1) It may be caused by mechanical or physical | | | | you and warn you before it will totally fails, so you |
| problem such as the spindle motor system failure. | | | | could get that chance to immediately back up your |
| This failure is usually caused by over-heating. The | | | | files. And there are also many data recovery tools |
| activity light flashing that you see on your CPU | | | | available in the market today. But at times, it is |
| (central processing unit) indicates that its head moves | | | | cheaper to replace the hard drive than to fix it |
| to different tracks. If this movement fails, it can no | | | | (unfortunately). |
| longer read or write data. Remember, a hard disk is a | | | | TIPS & TRICKS TO AVOID THIS DISASTER TO |
| hardware component, not a software. It is a | | | | HAPPEN: |
| magnetic device use to store data, it reads and | | | | 1. Keep your hard drive healthy by performing |
| writes data as it spins. | | | | defragmentation at least once a week (others |
| (2) Failure of logical system (the logical partitioned | | | | prefers once every two weeks) |
| drives assigned as C, D, E, F, G) may be caused by | | | | 2. Run your anti-virus program everyday! Run |
| and not limited to corrupt system files, corrupt | | | | spyware/adware removal tool at least once every |
| firmware, registry components and virus infection. | | | | week (there are many available free to download). |
| Spywares, adwares & all other malicious files may | | | | Keep updates with all these tools and programs too! |
| also cause your hard disk to crash. | | | | Turn on your firewall & pop-up blocker, it protects |
| HINTS: | | | | you from intruders! |
| (1) If you see the activity light flashing but the | | | | 3. Remove all unknown emails, clear your bulk and |
| computer does not boot, the case may be, your files | | | | spam emails immediately. |
| is still intact on the hard drive but becomes | | | | 4. Delete all internet temporary files (including all |
| inaccessible -- this may be because of logical system | | | | offline files) |
| failure. Try booting through a floppy disk or use the | | | | 5. Install all necessary updates on your computer |
| start-up disk that came with the system. | | | | 6. Be very careful in downloading files from different |
| (2) If you don't see any activity light flashing on the | | | | sites (firmware usually fails because of this) |
| CPU and that the system can not start up (ofcourse | | | | 7. The last but not the list - take "backing-up" your |
| after checking all power cables are "on") then it is | | | | hard drive on a removable disk or tape as a serious |
| likely of mechanical problem. And notice that if the | | | | task for you to do at least everyday or once a |
| system BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) can no | | | | week especially if you are using it for business |
| longer recognize the hard drive, then it is the physical | | | | purposes! |
| mechanical system that failed. | | | | |