Keeping files, data, photos, and documents on a computer is a fundamental component of any computer, since it stores a lot of information we might need in the future. Taking care of it and keeping it in good condition not only ensures the safety of all our stored data, but also ensures a pleasant user experience.
With this guide we want to share with you a series of basic tips so that we become aware of how important and necessary it is to properly care for a hard drive, and so that we know where we should start and what we should do.
Obviously, like all technological components, hard drives have a certain useful life, which normally reaches an average of six years, so sooner or later they will end up failing and will have to be changed, but if we follow all these steps we can extend their duration and prevent them from spoil prematurely. If you cannot solve problem for yourself then go for hard drive recovery services provider.
Table of Contents
Be Careful not to Harm
We mean to avoid physical damage stating that a hard drive has very fragile moving parts, which can become irreversibly damaged if they suffer any type of damage.
It can occur in many different ways, not only through direct blows, but even a sudden movement while you are reading or writing operations can have fatal consequences.
What should I do? To ensure that your hard drives do not suffer any physical damage, avoid as much as possible moving the equipment when it is running.
If you have to move it even if it is disconnected, be very careful and avoid any type of blows. In the case of laptops, everything we have said applies, since although you can move them even though they are working, it is not the most recommended.
Avoid Excessive Heat
As with all computer components, heat is a natural enemy of them, but they generate it with their own operation and can be affected that released others if we do not have a good cooling system, so we must have a lot careful.
If the heat is high but it is not excessive, we may experience a poor general performance of the equipment, but if we do not solve the problem, it may end up causing damage that ends in a general failure of the hard disk.
What should I do? Ideally, keep the hard drive in a position as far away as possible from the rest of the components, so that it does not “catch” the heat generated them.
If, in addition to that, we also maintain a good flow of air inside the equipment and clean it periodically, we will never have problems of this type and we can be calm at all times.
Turn off and on too Often
Although it may not seem like it, the most complex and demanding process for a hard disk is the system startup and shut down operations, that is, starting and stopping the disk.
The acceleration during acceleration and the deceleration during deceleration both have an impact on the disc’s lifetime, for both can lead to incurable wear.
How can I proceed? The equipment does not need to be always on, but it is best if it is switched on and off as little as possible. In general, we recommend not turning off the equipment until the day after we turn it on, i.e., not using it until the next day.
If you turn it on in the morning and you are going to spend several hours without using it, you can go to sleep mode, since you will reduce consumption to a minimum without having to turn it off.
Power Surges
It is another of the biggest dangers for electronic components. A power surge can wipe out an entire computer, I know this firsthand, and hard drives are one of the most vulnerable components.
A “fried” hard drive is fatal and can lead to unexpected data loss that is very damaging to us, so protecting it is highly recommended.
What I can do? It is possible to protect the equipment with strips that are capable of stopping power surges, although their effectiveness depends on their quality and therefore on the price of the same.
On a personal level, I recommend buying a UPS, since although it is an investment, it protects not only the hard disk but all our equipment against voltage surges and also drops. Avoid disappointments and pay for itself.
Defragmentation
The fragmentation of hard drives remains one of the most common problems and also one of the most annoying. When we say that a hard drive is fragmented, we mean that the parts that make up the files are scattered on the turntables, that is, in remote sections instead of being recorded consecutively.
This means that to read files the hard disk has to work harder and look for those bits of file in sections in different areas, which implies a lower performance, slows the computer and also increases the wear and tear of the drive.
What should I do? The answer is very simple, defragment the computer, and you do not need any specific tool, since the one that Windows brings fulfills its duty more than enough.All in all, it is not necessary to defragment continuously, but only when the fragmentation begins to be noticeable.
