Common hard drive mistakes and how to avoid them ⭐️

Nobody is born learned, so it would not be less with hard drives. The hard drive is a super important component, so you have to take proper care of it and avoid a series of beginner mistakes. Dear friends, information is power, if I had known these errors I would have treated my hard drives differently. So grab paper and pen so you don't make avoidable mistakes.

Index of contents

Common mistakes when using a hard drive

Hard drives are intended to last a minimum of 5 years. It is possible that they will die before inevitably, but we will try to extend their duration as much as possible, avoiding making certain mistakes. This component can die on its own without our fault, but let's see what mistakes should not be made.

Virus

This is the main one: avoid getting into suspicious web pages or opening / storing files that are dangerous. We understand that this is complicated because here the knowledge you have about computing is mediated. A virus can damage the partition tables, that is, we will not be able to open files or save them.

Having our infected computer will mainly affect our hard drive: the place where we keep everything. So, you will wonder what to do to avoid infecting my computer? Broadly speaking, you can take the following precautions:

Have Windows Defender activated. Ignore emails with strange senders. Do not download.msi,.exe or.rar files from strange websites. Do not click on SPAM advertising, which is the one that appears everywhere and is usually annoying.Be careful with your passwords and change them frequently. Pay attention to what the file you are downloading weighs compared to what it should weigh. Many times, we have to download a program that usually weighs more than 10 MB and the RAR weighs 500 KB. Be careful with this, look at the interface of the website. If you see it outdated, be suspicious of the site.

Temperature changes

We always tell you that your PC must have good ventilation. Removing that, we also advise you to monitor the temperatures of the components of your equipment. If you wonder what monitoring is, it is about keeping track of these; if you are wondering how to do it, through HWMonitor. If you see that your hard drive changes its temperature constantly, it is cause for concern.

The consequences are clear: damage to the PCB. Be careful with this because it does not have to be a high temperature change, but may be due to humidity or condensation. The best thing you can do: disconnect it and repair it.

Corrupt files

We can see files corrupted by many different factors: power failure, the power goes out, viruses, logout too fast or without saving, inadequate shutdowns, etc. In this way, the so-called " corrupt or damaged files " arise. We cannot do anything with them, only pass them from one side to the other.

If you are wondering how to avoid creating these corrupted files, it is easy: using the PC well and protecting it from power problems. As for using the PC well, we refer to responsible use (without viruses), good maintenance (defragmentation, cleaning…), etc. Regarding the current, you can get a NAS, which keeps the team energized for a while.

Don't turn off your PC at once: close all the programs you have running before doing so. Especially, save the progress you have had.

Hits

This is more difficult to happen, but each person is a world, so we must contemplate all mistakes. If you have hard drives on the shelves or stored, keep them safe because they do not stand up well to blows or any fall. Think of them as components created and designed to be permanently installed. They were not designed to resist blows, as the one who says.

Avoid dropping it because the needle in the head can destroy the magnetic plate. In the case of portable devices, it is different because, if our equipment falls, it cushions the chassis, something different from the entire hard disk falling off. Likewise, dropping laptops can damage the hard drive completely.

Regarding those who venture to open and repair it, we strongly advise against it because two things are required for this: a clean chamber without particles and the necessary instruments.

Firmware

Hard drives need some maintenance, especially when they have factory bugs. For this reason, it is necessary to update its firmware or drivers so that it works correctly. In this regard, prevention is better than cure. It's not about doing something really complex, it's just the firmware.

Poor maintenance

For me, it is one of the worst mistakes you can make on your hard drive. I do not refer to the physical damage that the hard disk may have, which are varied. In this case, we put the focus on defragmenting the hard disk, cleaning; any software solution. If we want it to last a long time, we will have to maintain it properly.

WE RECOMMEND YOUHow to measure the speed of the hard disk on Mac

Be very careful with viruses because they can cut the component's life in half with a couple of serious infections. Another "nonsense" is when we turn off the PC when a program is working. It is a task that takes seconds and gives more life to the hard disk.

Power supply

Also, you must be cautious when choosing a certain power supply because it can seriously affect our hard drive. Normally, this happens with those that have a very low power, which causes it not to supply enough energy to the hard disk, causing it not to rotate as it should. This causes the BIOS to not detect the component.

Continuous formatting

Fortunately, flagger to format is the last solution of all. I have known many cases in which certain users have formatted the hard disk a lot, which has caused crashes, error messages, etc. Not everything is solved with a format, but sometimes it hurts more than it solves.

Partitions

Be careful with deleting and creating partitions because it can damage our hard disk. Many people believe that re-creating the partition will cause us to recover data, but quite the opposite: they can overwrite it. So, if you have any data failure, it is recommended that you go to a professional.

Open hard drive

Yes, open and disembowel it. This component is one of the most fragile that you will have in your team, so you should not open it under any circumstances . Why? Particles. If there are large companies that have clean cameras that cost thousands of dollars, it is not by chance. The hard drive platters are very sensitive to dirt, so don't open them.

Do not backup

Along with bad maintenance, another of the most serious errors on our hard drive is not doing a backup. You always have to make a backup in case the HDD fails or leaves us lying around. Prevention is better than cure, and making a backup is not complex, only we have to bother doing it.

This lesson is one of the most painful to learn because, normally, you learn the hard way: losing all the information. So heed the warnings and make backups before it's too late.

We hope it has been helpful to you. If you have any questions, do not leave without leaving it down so that we can help you solve it.

We recommend the best hard drives on the market

What mistakes have you made? What are your experiences with hard drive failures?