| Here are another seven signs of eminent hard | | | | |
| drive failure. If your hard drive is having | | | | Sign 11 - The System locks-up during boot up, |
| any of these seven symptoms then you must | | | | repeatedly |
| take immediate action to backup your files... | | | | |
| | | | Okay, even the best of machines, even |
| "Back up my hard drive? How do I put it in | | | | brand-new-outta-the-box ones will misbehave |
| reverse?" ~ Unknown | | | | by locking up occasionally. Occasionally... |
| | | | If you start have lockups every other time |
| While doing regular backups is very | | | | you boot up your machine, the drive can be |
| important, sometimes people believe that | | | | having lots of read/write errors that |
| backups are some kind of magic bullet so they | | | | overwhelm it. Time to go shopping. |
| let themselves get over confident and let bad | | | | |
| hardware issues get out of control. By paying | | | | Sign 12 - ScanDisk or a third-party utility |
| attention and seeing if your machine is | | | | shows bad sectors |
| experiencing any of these seven signs of | | | | |
| eminent hard drive failure, you may be able | | | | Windows' drive diagnostic tool Scandisk if |
| to save yourself hours of wasted time and an | | | | one of my faves. By running it and setting it |
| expensive repair bill. | | | | to "automatically fix" errors, you can see if |
| | | | your drive has physical bad "spots" or |
| Sign 8 - Disappearing files and folders | | | | sectors on the disk platters. You can also |
| | | | use a third-party program. All the major hard |
| As a drive goes bad it will often display | | | | drive manufacturers have free utilities on |
| subtle indications of trouble. One of the | | | | their websites. |
| most overlooked are "vanishing" files or | | | | |
| folders. If you notice that you can never | | | | Sign 13 - Error message: Disk can't find the |
| find your files anymore or that folders you | | | | Windows Master File Table (MFT) or Master |
| "know" were there are now gone, then your | | | | Boot Record (MBR) |
| hard drive maybe slip sliding away. | | | | |
| | | | You may have a bit of luck with this one. The |
| Sign 9 - Folder and file names that have been | | | | good news, a virus or piece of spyware has |
| scrambled and changed | | | | taken over your drive and rewritten or |
| | | | "hidden" the MFT (on Windows 2000 and later) |
| A related issue is that you can find the | | | | or MBR (Windows 98/Me and earlier). You may |
| folder or file you want...or at least you | | | | be to repair this with some technical help. |
| think you have. The filename is messed up but | | | | The bad news, is that the MFT/MBR files |
| when you open it, it's the letter you were | | | | rarely get corrupted or become infected, so |
| looking for. But you have a set way of | | | | this is almost a sign of drive gone bad. |
| labeling your files it is way wrong. A sign | | | | |
| of things going badly quickly. | | | | Sign 14 - The drive is running hot |
| | | | |
| Sign 10 - You experience really loooong waits | | | | This one sign you probably will never notice |
| to access folders and files | | | | since, it requires that the case be removed |
| | | | from your computer. Instead of sign this |
| Another related issue. You can find the file | | | | should actually be classified as a more of a |
| fine but you notice that over the last little | | | | test. If you notice any of the other problems |
| bit, it's been taking practically forever to | | | | mentioned above, then you can pop your PC |
| open folders or files. Once you click on a | | | | case and lay your hand on top of hard drive |
| file, you can get up, grab a coffee, and read | | | | while in operation. It should be warm but not |
| the front page of daily paper before it opens | | | | hot to the touch. A hot device is positive |
| up. Just joking, but accessing files are | | | | physical sign of early failure. |
| noticeably slower. | | | | |