Computer Repair Tips: Seven More Early Warning Signs of a Hard Drive Crash
Author: Chancer Reese

Here are another seven signs of eminent hard drive failure. If
your hard drive is having any of these seven symptoms then you
must take immediate action to backup your files...

"Back up my hard drive? How do I put it in reverse?" ~ Unknown

While doing regular backups is very important, sometimes people
believe that backups are some kind of magic bullet so they let
themselves get over confident and let bad hardware issues get
out of control. By paying attention and seeing if your machine
is experiencing any of these seven signs of eminent hard drive
failure, you may be able to save yourself hours of wasted time
and an expensive repair bill.

Sign 8 - Disappearing files and folders

As a drive goes bad it will often display subtle indications of
trouble. One of the most overlooked are "vanishing" files or
folders. If you notice that you can never find your files
anymore or that folders you "know" were there are now gone, then
your hard drive maybe slip sliding away.

Sign 9 - Folder and file names that have been scrambled and
changed

A related issue is that you can find the folder or file you
want...or at least you think you have. The filename is messed up
but when you open it, it's the letter you were looking for. But
you have a set way of labeling your files it is way wrong. A
sign of things going badly quickly.

Sign 10 - You experience really loooong waits to access folders
and files

Another related issue. You can find the file fine but you
notice that over the last little bit, it's been taking
practically forever to open folders or files. Once you click on
a file, you can get up, grab a coffee, and read the front page
of daily paper before it opens up. Just joking, but accessing
files are noticeably slower.

Sign 11 - The System locks-up during boot up, repeatedly

Okay, even the best of machines, even brand-new-outta-the-box
ones will misbehave by locking up occasionally. Occasionally...
If you start have lockups every other time you boot up your
machine, the drive can be having lots of read/write errors that
overwhelm it. Time to go shopping.

Sign 12 - ScanDisk or a third-party utility shows bad sectors

Windows' drive diagnostic tool Scandisk if one of my faves. By
running it and setting it to "automatically fix" errors, you can
see if your drive has physical bad "spots" or sectors on the
disk platters. You can also use a third-party program. All the
major hard drive manufacturers have free utilities on their
websites.

Sign 13 - Error message: Disk can't find the Windows Master
File Table (MFT) or Master Boot Record (MBR)

You may have a bit of luck with this one. The good news, a
virus or piece of spyware has taken over your drive and
rewritten or "hidden" the MFT (on Windows 2000 and later) or MBR
(Windows 98/Me and earlier). You may be to repair this with some
technical help. The bad news, is that the MFT/MBR files rarely
get corrupted or become infected, so this is almost a sign of
drive gone bad.

Sign 14 - The drive is running hot

This one sign you probably will never notice since, it requires
that the case be removed from your computer. Instead of sign
this should actually be classified as a more of a test. If you
notice any of the other problems mentioned above, then you can
pop your PC case and lay your hand on top of hard drive while in
operation. It should be warm but not hot to the touch. A hot
device is positive physical sign of early failure.

Your PC is having any of the above issues then you must backup
your files, as completely as possible as soon as you can. Even
with these danger signs, hard drives have been known to fail
without warning, so backup frequently.


About The Author: Sick of computer headaches? Tired of wasting
money on that "computer guy"? To learn more fast and free fixes
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