Warning signs of hard drive failure you need to pay attention to!

No matter how advanced technology is, any computer or laptop system uses a hard drive (HDD, SSD) as a data storage device. For that reason, this is an equally important component as other components. If your hard drive is damaged, it means that all the data in your computer will be lost. So what are the signs that the hard drive is about to fail? How to recognize it? Let's see the instructions below from HACOM.

Warning signs of a damaged hard drive

Hard drive making strange noises

Strange noises coming from the hard drive are the easiest signs to detect when the hard drive is damaged. The cause of strange sounds from the hard drive is because the bearings and the spinning platters are grinding against each other trying to read data while the hard drive is damaged. Strange sounds can be rattling, beeping,. The cause of the hard drive noise is due to a mechanical failure of the reading head or your hard drive.

Warning signs of hard drive failure you need to pay attention to! Picture 1

At this point, what you need to do is check and back up the data on the hard drive immediately to avoid data loss due to hard drive failure and then bring the hard drive to the most reputable repair address for inspection and repair support.

Computer is running slow or hangs frequently

When the computer hard drive has an error, the computer will suddenly operate slower than usual. Or often freeze while using. To temporarily fix the slow, laggy situation, you can reinstall the operating system or run the computer in Windows Safe Mode. However, you should take the computer to be checked and repaired to avoid causing major damage.

System error, blue screen error

When the hard drive is damaged, the computer will have one of two problems, one is the computer screen turns blue, the other is the computer freezes. These are two signs for you to recognize that the computer hard drive is damaged. See more information about recovering data from damaged hard drives in HCMC

Blue screen of death: This sign often appears and is accompanied by white text, people often call it by the scary name - 'Blue Screen of Death', meaning if this phenomenon appears on the computer screen, it proves that your hard drive is damaged.

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Hanging: When starting the machine, it will hang and you have to wait a long time to use it. In addition, during the process of working with the machine, the machine also freezes and runs slowly.

With these problems, the first thing you should do is to back up your data/files from your hard drive to another safer device and then reinstall Windows/. If after reinstalling Windows you still cannot fix it, take your computer to the most reputable computer/hard drive repair center for inspection. See more top 5 software to recover data from damaged hard drives

Bad Sector error

In the process of retrieving data from the hard drive, the most common error we encounter is Bad Sector. These are areas in the hard drive that are faulty and can no longer maintain data integrity. They will gradually take up hard drive capacity. If data is saved in bad sectors, it will certainly not be safe.

This is also the cause of the error phenomenon that we sometimes encounter: the hard drive still appears in the BIOS configuration, in DOS but then the system freezes and cannot boot; the system recognizes the name but the capacity is reported incorrectly or the name is incorrect; when giving the command to read or write a file, the system reports an error or hangs.

Bad sectors are classified into two types, including: bad sectors caused by physical errors of the hard drive (cannot be repaired) and bad sectors caused by software errors (can be repaired). There are many causes of Bad Sector errors, but in short, when this error occurs, your hard drive needs to be replaced.

Warning signs of hard drive failure you need to pay attention to! Picture 3

'Corrupted' error

For the 'Corrupted' error, the files are fine, but when you open one or more files, the system displays the message 'Corrupted'. This is a sign that there is a high possibility that the computer's hard drive has failed. You can check to see if your computer is infected with a virus.

Then, you check if the file is shut down properly. If all checks are fine, then the only possibility left is that your computer's hard drive is about to fail. You also prepare by backing up your data and going to the shop to check it.

SMART data is corrupted or incorrect

SMART (Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology) is data used to evaluate the reliability and accuracy of a computer's hard drive. Therefore, this is one of the tools that helps you identify whether the hard drive you are using is faulty or damaged.

To check the SMART data of your hard drive, you can use tools such as: CrystalDiskInfo, HD Tune, HDD Health, HDD Scan, . these are very effective, free SMART testing tools that give you accurate and reliable results. After checking, if SMART is found to be damaged or inaccurate, it is very likely that your hard drive is damaged. At this point, you need the support of someone experienced in the field of hard drive repair so that they can check whether your hard drive is really damaged or not and provide the most appropriate solution.

See more: How to check hard drive status

Isabella Humphrey

Update 16 January 2025