Philosophy Notes41

Factors that May Cause Hard Disk Failure
auslogics.com/en/articles/hard-disk-failure/
Much like your car, a hard disk is a mechanical device. Most of your
computer's other components are purely electronic and can only be
damaged by electronic means (such as a power surge). However, hard
disks are subject to both electronic and mechanical stresses, which can
each cause hard disk problems. Here's a guide to both protecting
against hard disk failure, and emergency recovery if hard disk problems
have caught you off guard.
Why do hard disks fail?
Because hard disks are mechanical devices, they are subject to wearing out,
even if you treat them better than your own children. Around 60% of hard
drive failures occur through predictable mechanical failure, with the
remaining 40% of failures occurring through misuse. Hard disk failure might occur if any of the following happens:
Your computer is bumped or jostled while it is running;

The electric motor which allows the platter to spin fails due to bad bearings or other components;
The filter on your air intake gets too clogged or the filter isn't working properly;
Extreme heat while running causes the electronic circuit board to fail;
There is a sudden power failure while the disk is writing.
Types of hard drive failure
There are two main types of hard drive failure - physical and logical.
Physical failures are often due to a failure of the electric motor or the drive itself - the moving parts. They can also happen
because of a major head crash (caused by your computer being dropped or jostled while it's running).
Logical failures come from corruption in the file system. If you've accidentally deleted an important registry entry
or formatted the drive improperly, or if you have a nasty virus, hard drive problems will occur. The BIOS will
recognize the drive, but it won't boot.
Signs of hard drive failure
All computers have problems, but you don't need to panic about hard disk failure unless one or more of the
following things are happening:
Clicking or grinding noises while running;

Files mysteriously disappear. Usually more than once;
Locking up during the boot process - hard disk problems are indicated if this happens frequently;
The computer often freezes, and when it does you are left without mouse or keyboard input and have to
do a hard reset;
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Standard file processes like saving and opening slow down interminably, even for small files;
Increase in the number of bad sectors noted when running chkdsk;
You can't speed up computer performance even by applying optimization tricks;
You notice that your computer is unusually hot.
Using S.M.A.R.T.
If your hard disk is equipped with S.M.A.R.T. technology (Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology),
there will be log files that can be checked to predict the probability of failure in the near future. S.M.A.R.T.
technology monitors a wide range of hard disk symptoms and logs the condition of the disk. It aims to provide a
predictable failure date for the disk.
Can data be restored from a failed hard drive?
Usually it can be. Unfortunately, though, recovering from a failed hard drive isn't as simple as some other
computer issues that can be fixed with the help of Google and forums telling you how to speed up your computer.
Professional help is definitely recommended.
In order to prevent massive data loss in the case of hard drive failure, install a program that creates a disk
image quickly and easily. Use this backup system at least weekly or more often if you're a heavy or business
computer user. If you don't take these preventative steps and need data recovery services, there are
professionals such as Secure Data Recovery that specialize in retrieving your potentially lost data.
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Why hard disk drives fail: answer to a FAQ
data-master.com/why-harddrives-fail-Q11.html
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Now:
Your Question:
Why does the hard disk drive fail? 844.432.8256
Our Answer:
MicroCom
First we should set aside the colloquial and obvious wisdom that Services &
everything built by humankind falls apart and fails sooner or later. Info
Typically when we ask the above question there are at least two
distinct reasons why it came to mind. The number one most common
reason is because we'd like to know if there's anything we can do to
prevent failure of our hard drive. And the answer to question number
: Data
one is: not very much beyond a few common-sense behaviors. The
important thing to remember in this regard is that hard disk drives Recovery
almost always fail without warning. Some fail after 15 days, some
persist without failure for 15 years, but in both cases failure is usually : RAID
sudden, precipitous and completely unexpected. Recovery
The second reason for inquiring about hard disk drive failure probably stems
: Solid State -
from what could be called scientific curiousity. On this matter there are some
informative points to be made in the interest of technical SSD Recovery
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edification, and it is this second question the following information
: Forensic
will address.
Discovery
There are not only two main reasons why people ask the question that's the
topic of this webpage, but there are also two main categories of hard drive : Platforms /
failure: physical and logical. Sometimes it's both. When it's both, diagnostic
Media Support
evaluation can become a bit tricky since the logical fault will generally not
become apparent until remedy of the physical fault enables extraction of
: Service
drive's recorded information (which includes your data) and placement onto
another drive that's mechanically stable. Options
Physical Failure : Contact Us

If the system BIOS does not detect the
hard drive, then there's a good chance : FAQs
your issue is a physical one. Physical
failures can be either mechanical or : Site Map
electronic. It's not uncommon for both
types of failures to occur more or less
simultaneously; disk drive complexity
being what it is, a fault in one section
commonly precipitates a related fault in
another section. Mechanical failure Remembrance
usually results from a breakdown of the
high-precision internal moving parts or a
head crash. You may get some kind of
warning that a mechanical failure
has occurred, or is about to. If your hard drive makes clicking, clanking,
beeping, scraping or grinding (or any other unusual) noises, shut it Committed
down immediately and call a data recovery firm. In laptops, these
to
sounds can be very difficult to detect. Allowing a hard drive to continue
operation under such conditions (whether you can hear the sound or
Excellence!
not) very often leads to permanent, non-recoverable data loss. When a
hard drive has failed mechanically, software based remedies can only
expand media damage while the attempts are being undertaken; data
recovery may only be safely recovered by a full -service data recovery
operation using processes performed within a cleanroom.
The other most common physical issue is an electronic failure. All hard
drives have a circuit board (PCBA: printed circuit board assembly), and this
component allows the drive, among many other things, to communicate with
the computer system and vice-versa, control positioning of the R/W
(read/write) heads, orchestrate the recording or writing of new data, read back
previously stored data by interpreting signals received from the heads
originating as detected magnetic flux-reversals and converting them to "ones"
and "zeroes", keep track of thousands of emerging defects in the media,
maintain organization necessitated by user editing of stored data files, and a
long list of other things too esoteric for the scope of this document. Electrical
failures are common and can occur almost just as easily on a brand new drive
as an old one. Ambient heat around the drive unit can become a mortal enemy Call Toll-Free
from outside the computer, causing either or both the electronics and the Now:
mechanism to fail, so, always keep your computer system cool and well
ventilated. For example, don't keep your CPU or external hard drive next to a 844.432.8256
window where the sun is going to beat down on it and heat it up, or do check
to make sure all the fans are working.
Logical Failure
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Logical faults have to do with the previously recorded information
("written" upon the drive data storage medium) becoming inaccessible,
or in more severe cases, improperly organized. These more severe
failures are typically described as file-system corruption. Causes for
inaccessible data include accidental formatting of the drive, deletion of
important registry keys or other critical files, and also viruses or other
"malware". Physical damage to the media resulting from contact with
the flying R/W heads can destroy a critical recording of information that
leads to a logical fault (see first paragraph above) . When logical faults Call Toll-Free
cause apparent drive failure, your drive may still be recognized by the Now:
BIOS, it may not boot, but may appear to be normal otherwise.
844.432.8256
Another form of logical failure can occur from expected fatigue of the
recording medium over time. The drive's media is used to store magnetic
impressions, which the drive electronically converts to the ones and zeroes
we call data. This means that the magnetic plating on the platter(s) which spin
inside your drive, and upon which data is recorded, has become subject to
corruption or physical damage through an aging process. Gradual, very slow,
yet nonetheless physical deterioration of the magnetic medium takes place
with all hard disk drives. In the vast majority of cases, this point is moot,
because mechanical breakdown takes place first, on average in roughly three
years.
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How long do hard drives actually live for?
extremetech.com/computing/170748-how-long-do-hard-drives-actually-live-for
By Sebastian Anthony
For more than 30 years, the realm of computing has been intrinsically linked to the humble hard drive. It has
been a complex and sometimes torturous relationship, but theres no denying the huge role that hard drives
have played in the growth and popularization of PCs, and more recently in the rapid expansion of online and
cloud storage. Given our exceedingly heavy reliance on hard drives, its very, very weird that one piece of vital
information still eludes us: How long does a hard drive last?
Now, before you all rush to the comments section to tell me how long your hard drives have lasted, Im not talking
anecdotally. I mean, in hard numbers, just how long does the average hard drive last? One year? Three? Five?
Because the standard warranty is now only 12 months, do hard drives die sooner? If I slot a new hard drive in
today, how long can I expect it to last?
Surprisingly, despite hard drives underpinning almost every aspect of modern computing (until smartphones),
no one has ever carried out a study on the longevity of hard drives or at least, no one has ever published
results from such a study. Until now. Backblaze, an unlimited online backup company that keeps 25,000 hard
drives spinning at all time, has published its results on hard drive lifespan and it makes for very interesting
reading indeed.
How long does a hard drive last?
Backblaze has kept up to 25,000 hard drives constantly online for the last four years. Every time a drive fails, they note it
down, then slot in a replacement. After four years, Backblaze now has some amazing data and graphs that
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detail the failure rate of hard drives over the first four years of their life.
Backblaze hard drive failure rate, over the first four years
It seems that hard drives have three distinct failure phases. In the first phase, which lasts 1.5 years, hard
drives have an annual failure rate of 5.1%. For the next 1.5 years, the annual failure rate drops to 1.4%. After
three years, the failure rate explodes to 11.8% per year. In short, this means that around 92% of drives survive
the first 18 months, and almost all of those (90%) then go on to reach three years.
Extrapolating from these figures, just under 80% of all hard drives will survive to their fourth anniversary. Backblaze doesnt
have figures beyond that, but its distinguished engineer, Brian Beach, speculates that the failure rate will probably stick to
around 12% per year. This means that 50% of hard drives will survive until their sixth birthday.
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Hard drive failure conforms to the bathtub curve a curve that reliability engineers use that neatly illustrates the three
distinct phases of a products lifecycle
Why hard drives die
There are three distinct failure phases and, correspondingly, three distinct ways in which hard drives die.
Failures in the first year are primarily caused by manufacturing defects. This describes the lemon effect
where, despite most of your drive live for years, some just die after a few months. Between 18 and 36 months,
drive deaths are caused by random failures small, random issues that only occur if youre unlucky. Then, as
the drive moves into its fourth year, failure rates skyrocket as drives start to wear out the various components
can only rotate, gyrate, and actuate so many times before something goes sprronngggg.
Its worth noting that Backblaze uses normal, consumer-level drives the kind of drives with 12- or 36-month
warranties. Considering around 97.5% of these drives are still alive after one year, and about 90% are alive
after three years, these warranties are probably spot-on.
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Hard drive failure rate, by quarter, for the first four years
In the case of enterprise-class hard drives with five-year warranties, they are probably manufactured to higher
tolerances and subjected to more stringent quality assurance testing. Were only guessing here, but enterprise-
class drives probably dont have the same year-one infant mortality rate, but still die off fairly quickly once their
moving parts start to wear out (4+ years).
In conclusion back up your data!
So, there you have it: If you buy a hard drive today, theres a 90% chance that it will survive for three years. If
your drive makes it to the three-year point, you would be wise to back up your data, as theres a 12% chance per
year that your drive will die. Its worth noting that these figures are for internal hard drives: External hard drives,
for a large number of factors, may not last as long (though if you only plug it in every few days to back your data
up, it might last longer). Its also worth mentioning that Backblazes drives are spinning constantly these failure
rates are for drives that are turned on 24/7. Your home computer probably isnt powered up 24/7, and thus the
drives may last longer.
Because theres a 5.1% chance that your drive will die in its first year, you should either back up your data regularly
or, if youre feeling dangerous, not keep any valuable data on that drive until its worked out any kinks and survived to the
18-month mark. After 36 months, though, you should definitely back up your data, or copy the data to
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a new hard drive. (Backblaze, at $5/month for unlimited backup space, is a remarkably good deal.)
Backblaze says it will continue to update its data as the years go by, so that we can see if the failure rate
indeed stays the same after the four-year mark. Of course, the other statistic were interested in is the failure
rate of solid-state drives but I imagine itll still be a few years until one company has enough SSDs to give us
a good idea of the failure rate of NAND flash.
Now read: How a hard drive works

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Hard Drive Failure
harddrivefailurerecovery.net/hard-drive-failure-solutions/
Call now for expert help:
1-877-443-2821
Hard drive failure is one of the most common and frustrating problems for computer users, but its also one of the
easiest problems to recover from. If you do suspect that your hard drive has failed, your first course of action
should always be to turn off your system. Your second should be to get a free consultation from a professional
data recovery shop.
Speaking with a professional data recovery technician is absolutely free, and will at least enable you to get an
idea of what youre dealing with, and in this case, knowledge is power.
Contact us here for a free hard drive evaluation.
If, on the other hand, you suspect that your hard drive is failing (as in, the drive hasnt died just yet), then by
all means do your best to back it up now!
Here Are The Most Common Questions Our Customers Ask (click to read the answer):
What causes hard drive failure?
What causes external hard drive failure?
How can S.M.A.R.T. help me if my hard drive is failing?
What are the warning signs of hard drive failure?
Are there specific signs for Macbook hard drive failure?
The Specific Causes Of Hard Drive Failure
Hard disk drives (or HDD) are mechanical. Most are based on a spindle and platter system that works much in
the way a record player does. The arm reads the data on the platter, and your system uses it for pretty much
everything on your computer.
The second type of hard drive, and one that has become extremely popular, is the Solid State Drive or SSD.
This type of hard disk uses an electrical cell grid to write data directly to a memory module, exactly like the
RAM in your system. These drives read and write data extremely quickly and are a key reason why todays
computers are so fast.
Now, the key cause of failure for either an HDD or an SSD is one thing: mechanical failure.
For HDD drives, this means the spindle and platter system may be wearing out or losing precision due to age
or heavy use.
For SSD drives, the blocks to which data is written do wear out. They can only be written too a certain
number of times, and then, without warning, your drive is dead.
Some other key causes include:
Excessive heat Either form of drive will fail if used continually in a very hot environment or
improperly cooled computer system
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Water Damage These are electronics, and one of lifes harshest equations is
Water+Electronics=Damage. (Read more about water damaged hard drives)
Static Electricity A dry environment can make for high amounts of static electricity.
Lightning or power surges A mass shock to your computer system can quickly spell the end of a
hard drive.
High Magnetic Fields Magnets and hard drives of any kind are a bad mix.
Impact The parts inside a hard drive are very sensitive. Dropping a drive or laptop can cause
immediate hard drive failure
Contact us here for a free hard drive evaluation.
The Specific Causes Of External Hard Drive Failure
External or portable hard drives are even more susceptible to damage than internal or laptop hard drives.
This is essentially because they are small, usually poorly padded within their case, and can be dropped at a
moments notice.
So essentially, all of the causes of internal hard drive failure are the same for external, with a specific focus on Impact or
Environmental Hazard. This means that it can be dropped on the ground. Immersed in water. Burned in a fire. It can more
easily be affected by a powerful magnet. They can be thrown across the room by a toddler.
Believe us, weve seen it all.
Basically, an external drive is more risky than those in a PC or laptop, so saving as little critical data on them
as possible is always a great idea. But if you need help recovering an external or portable drive, we can do
that, too. Even if you think a recovery might not be possible, trust us: 95% of the time, it is.
How S.M.A.R.T. Helps Warn You
S.M.A.R.T., or Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology, is an early warning system for hard drives
that first gained popularity around 2004. SMART does not actually prevent hard disk or SSD failure, but it does
warn you of the potential.
When SMART is activated, it will usually warn the user that the hard drive may have issues during the boot sequence.
But, the unfortunate fact is that many computer manufacturers do not automatically enable SMART.
A quick web search for your specific model will often tell you if SMART is activated on your computer.
If you have Windows and you want to see your SMART details right now, do this:
First, open a Command Prompt window. (Press the Windows key, type Command Prompt, and press Enter.)
Once you have a Command Prompt window, type the following commands, pressing Enter after each one:
wmic
diskdrive get status
If there are no SMART errors, you should see this:

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Those 3 OKs mean that yes, youre OK. Now backup that
hard drive!
Warning Signs That Suggest Failure Is Imminent
If you havent had the opportunity to check your SMART

settings (see above), but suspect that your hard drive may be
failing, you may consider the following issues as warnings that
a hard drive crash is on its way:
Computer Crashes Or Blue Screen Of Death A classic

Windows scenario that is all but licked with the newer versions
starting at Windows 7 and extending to 8 and now
10. This is why if you do experience a crash, it may be a big deal. Backup that drive!
Error Messages While Copying Or Moving Files Believe us, this is not something that happens
unless there are disk problems at hand. At the very least, it might be a good time to do a SMART test (as
above) or do a disk check by going into Explorer, right clicking on the problematic drive, clicking the Tools
tab and clicking the Check button.
Losing Files Without Notice This can sometimes mean that your drive is having issues. A disk
check again may help.
File Access Takes A Long Time Todays hard drives are fast. If your system was made in the past
10 years, you shouldnt be waiting long periods of time for your file access.
Noise Most recently manufactured hard drives are whisper quiet. Any noise at all, particularly a clicking hard
drive noise, can mean the drive may be on its last legs. Do your best to backup whatever you can, or
shut down the system and call an expert (our number is above ).
Macbook Hard Drive Failure Signs
Suspect that your Macbook hard drive is failing? Well, certainly all of the signs noted above for Windows
machines do also work for Mac users, so feel free to go through that checklist.
Fortunately, the folks at Apple have built-in what they call the Apple Hardware Test. Within that module is
something called the AHT Disk utility, which does help correct errors and solve disk problems.
If you find that your drive is slowing, it may either be fragmented, or its possible it may be failing. Again, back it
up to another drive. An external hard drive is extremely handy for this.
(Because todays hard drives are extremely cheap when compared with even five years ago, it is always worth
the expense to buy an external USB hard drive for backup purposes. A 2TB portable drive can often be
purchased for less than $60. Consider it a very worthy investment.)
What Happens Next If Your Drive Has Failed?
If you call on an expert quickly, and your system isnt very old, your data is VERY recoverable. Basically, the
quicker you discover the drive issue and power down your system, the more effective (and less expensive) your
data recovery will be.
Free Hard Drive Failure Consultations
When you call HDRA, a technician will ask you a number of questions to determine the cause of your hard disk failure. This
is because in many cases, your drive may be mechanically sound, but has issues with its file system (or
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Logical Errors) that prevent data from being accessed.
Many people panic and mistake logical drive failures

for mechanical failures, which can often lead them to
rash actions that can further damage their data.
Each day, HDRA technicians help customers troubleshoot

these logical errors over the phone, saving them hundreds of
dollars in data recovery costs with one call.
In doubt? Find out for yourself by calling the toll

free number above!
Thankfully, hard drive failure typically doesnt look like this.

Its Mechanical What Now?
If you describe a situation that tells us that your drive has experienced a mechanical failure, we will likely
request that you ship the drive to our lab. This is to see how badly damaged your drive is, and to find out what
the best and least expensive way of recovering the data will be.
For all in-lab recoveries we perform, we give you the option of either copying the recovered data to a brand
new hard drive, or compressing the data so that you can download it from a secure location.
Contact us here for a free hard drive failure evaluation.

4/4
Common Causes of Hard Drive Failure
hard-drive-recovery-services-review.toptenreviews.com/common-causes-of-hard-drive-failure.html
By Katie Nielsen November 12, 2012
When we have a hard drive fail, most of us have the same panicked reaction: how do I fix this? The reality is, hard
drive failure isn't easy to repair, and the resulting lost data can be difficult to restore. This is why professional hard
drive recovery services exist. While recovering data on your own is feasible in some cases (such as simply
recovering deleted files), you often risk doing more harm than good and can ruin your chances of a successful
recovery if you don't know what you're doing. There are several reasons why hard drives can fail, each with
unique contributing factors. Here are the most common, along with warning signs that could be indicative of
impending drive failure.
Physical Damage Water, heat and shock all pose serious threats to internal and external hard drives. Both
heat and water can cause significant physical damage to hard drives' electronic parts, which are not built to
withstand either element. Hard disks are not shock resistant either, so a jarring drop or other physical impact
can damage the drive's mechanical components. Hard disk shock most often results in a head crash, which
occurs when the read-write head of the drive touches the magnetic platter, scratching the platter's surface and
thus causing sometimes-irreparable data loss.
Warning Signs: Inadequate ventilation can lead to overheating and eventually cause drive damage. Make sure
that your computer's fan (usually located on the bottom or rear of the machine) isn't blocked so that it can
provide adequate ventilation; your computer should never be too hot to touch. Water and shock damage can be
difficult to avoid. It typically happens quickly and without warning. Taking conscientious care of your computer is
the best way to combat these risks.
Logical Failure This refers to non-physical failure, or in other words, when damage occurs in a hard drive's
file structure or software rather than the actual hardware. Many factors can contribute to logical failure, including
malware infections, human error and corrupted files. Sometimes the failure can be extensive enough that the
system will not boot up. In most cases of logical failure, a hard drive recovery service can successfully restore
data because there is no damage to the drive's hardware.
Warning Signs: Disappearing data, disk errors and a sluggish system are all signs of impending logical hard drive
failure. Other symptoms can include computer crashes and the ominous "blue screen of death." When you start
to experience these symptoms, the best thing to do is back up your data if you have not done so already. If you
cannot access your data, a hard disk recovery service may be able to restore it.
Mechanical Failure While most components of a computer are electrical, the hard disk is one of the few
mechanical parts. Thus, it will inevitably fail at some point. This type of failure occurs when the read-write head
or other components become faulty as a result of normal wear and tear.
Warning Signs: Strange noises such as grinding, clicking or screeching likely mean that mechanical failure is
imminent. Similar to logical hard drive failure, computer crashes and frequent freezing can also be symptoms.
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You can avoid most causes of hard disk failure with common sense and a little planning. Furthermore, recognizing the
warning signs of impending failure can help minimize the potential for concurrent catastrophic data loss.
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Data Recovery Dictionary: 10 Terms to Know
hard-drive-recovery-services-review.toptenreviews.com/lca.html
By Ryan Goodrich June 4, 2013
When using a computing device, you always face the risk of hardware failure. Where computers are concerned,
most hardware can be replaced only at great financial expense. But when a hard drive fails, you also stand to
lose a lot of data. And unlike a dead graphics card, you cant just replace it and continue on with life. If youve
never looked into the data recovery market before, youll want to consider a number of things as you investigate
recovery services. Here are 10 terms youll need to keep an eye out for as you research:
Data Recovery
The process of retrieving data from a damaged digital media device, either through data corruption or hardware
failure, is known as data recovery. Services in this market typically extend beyond simple computer hard drives
and can include memory cards, tapes, mobile phones, PDAs, CDs, DVDs, data cartridges and even Xboxes.
Backup
A copy of inactive data created as a precautionary measure against data failure or loss. Common business
practice is to create data backups on a periodic basis in redundant locations (e.g., DVDs, secondary hard drives
and flash drives).
Formatted Capacity
The actual available storage space in a hard drive. The formatted capacity equals the gross capacity minus
the capacity taken up by the data required to monitor the hard drive.
Fragmented Data
Data that has been broken up and stored in multiple locations on a single hard drive is often referred to as
fragmented. As data is written and removed, new data is often split up and placed in available locations.
Hard Disk Drive

Often abbreviated to HDD, or simply called a drive, hard drive, disk or hard disk, a hard drive is the component
of your computer in which data is stored and retrieved. The data is stored on a disk, or platter, which is then
accessed by read/write heads.
Head
A small electromagnetic device inside the hard drive which reads, writes and removes data from the drive.
Platter
The platter is the part of the disk where digital data is stored on a hard drive. It's made of a nonmagnetic material like
aluminum, which is then covered in a magnetic material derivative of iron-oxide or a cobalt-based solution.
Reading Problems
When the magnetic coating of platters is damaged, sectors of the disk can become unreadable and thus
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inaccessible. This damage is most often caused by rough handling of the disk when installing or while
transporting it.
Sector
The smallest data unit that is accessible on a disk is known as a sector. This typically consists of 512 bytes of
data, though the size will vary depending on the formatting.
Source Drive
The non-functioning hard drive is often referred to as the source drive as data will be recovered from the original
or source location.
As is the case with most any technology, your data may not always be recoverable. Understanding the
complexities of the hard drive will help you better realize the work involved in recovering hard drive data. In most
situations, your personal data can be saved. But depending on the damage done to the hard drive, even
knowing these terms wont save you.
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Basic Knowledge about Partition and Partitioning
hdd-tool.com/hdd-basic/basic-knowledge-about-partition-and-partitioning.htm
What is a hard disk?
A hard disk/drive is one the part of your computer responsible for long-term storage of information. Unlike volatile
memory (often refers to RAM), which lost its storage information once its power supply is shut off, a hard disk
stores information permanently, allowing you to save program, files or any other data. Hard disks also have much
more powerful storage capabilities than RAM.
What is disk formatting?
Computer must be able to access needed information on command; however, even the smallest hard disk can
store millions of bits. How does the computer know where to look for the information it needs? To solve this
problem, hard disks are organized into discrete, identifiable divisions, thus allowing the computer to find any
particular sequence of bits easily.
The most basic form of disk organization called formatting. Formatting prepares the hard disk so that files can
be written to the platter and then quickly retrieved when needed. Hard disk can be formatted in two ways:
physically and logically.
Understanding the file systems
All file systems consist of structures necessary for storing and managing data. These structures typically include
an operating system boot record, directories, and files. A file system also performs three main functions: 1)
tracking allocated and unused space, 2) maintaining directories and filenames.3) tracking where each file is
physically stored on the disk.
Different file systems are used by different operating systems. Some operating systems can recognize only one
file system, while others can recognize several. Some of the most common file systems are: FAT (File allocation
table), FAT32 (File allocation table 32), NTFS (New technology file system), Linux ext2 and Linux swap.
Understanding partitions
After a disk has been physically formatted, it can be divided into separate physical sections or partitions.
Each partition functions as an individual unit, and can be logically formatted by any desired file system.
Once a disk partition has been logically formatted, it is referred to as a volume.
During the process of formatting operation, you are asked to name the partition, called the volume label. This
name helps you easily identify the volume.
Understanding how a computer boots
The way a computer boots from a hard disk depends on the way that hard disk is partitioned and the way that
operating system is being booted. When you turn on your computer, the central processing unit (CPU) takes
control. It immediately executes the instructions built into the computers ROM BIOS, a program which contains
the startup procedures. The last part of the BIOS instructions contains the boot routine. This routine is
programmed to read the master boot record (MBR) from the first sector of the first physical hard disk.
The MBR contains a master boot program and a partition table which describes all of the hard disks partitions. The BIOS
boot routine executes the master boot program, which then continues the boot process. The master boot
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program looks over the partition table to see which primary partition is active. If there is only one primary
partition, then the partitions OS is loaded and booted into operation.
Managing your partitions
The following concepts and activities can help you manage your disk partitions.
Setting an active primary (boot) partition. When you create multiple primary partitions to hold different operating
systems, you must tell the computer which primary partition is to boot from. The primary partition from which the
computer boots is called the active partition. If there is no active primary partition on the first physical hard disk,
your computer will not be able to boot from your hard disk.
Before you make a primary partition active, make sure that it is a bootable partition. Bootable partitions are
logically formatted and have the necessary OS files installed. Partitions without an OS cannot be booted.
By creating an extended partition and then dividing it into logical partitions, you can:
Access the Same Files from Multiple Operating Systems
Make Efficient Use of Disk Space
Simplify File Access and Enhance File Security
Understanding drive letters
The OS that you boot assigns drive letters to the primary and logical partitions on each hard disk. These drive
letters are used by you, your system, and all your applications to reference files on the partition.
Your OS may change the drive letter assignments if you add or remove a second hard disk. Drive letter
assignments may also be altered if you add, remove, or copy a disk partition; reformat a partition with a different
file system; or boot a different OS. These kinds of drive letter changes can sometimes invalidate parts of your
system configuration. For example, applications that are programmed to look for startup files on a specific drive
may no longer launch.
Understanding the BIOS 1024 cylinder limit
The BIOS 1024 cylinder limitation exists because the start and end cylinder values on the partition table (and
some BIOSs) have the maximum value of 1024. Because some operating systems such as DOS 6.22 use the
CHS (Cylinder, Head, and Sector) values to address sectors on the disk, they cannot access sectors beyond the
1024 cylinder. When you start your computer the BIOS boots the operating system using the CHS values to
locate the first sector of the bootable partition. If the partition starts beyond the 1024 cylinder, the BIOS may not
be able to boot it because it cannot address a cylinder number higher than 1024.
Changing the BIOS LBA mode setting
Caution: Never change the LBA mode in your system BIOS once data is present on any hard disk. Changing
this setting may cause data corruption and loss.
Most modern system BIOS designs support LBA or Logical Block Addressing. The LBA mode setting, no matter
enabled on your system or not, determines how your computer translates logical cylinder-head-sector (CHS)
addresses. If you change this setting, the resulting shift in CHS values may corrupt all the files and partitions on
your hard disk(s).
If you must change the LBA mode setting in your system BIOS, first back up all data on your hard disk(s). Contact the
BIOS and/or disk manufacturers technical support departments to ensure that understand how to proceed
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safely.
Get what you need about hdd tool, pc utilities
Related Articles
What is Partition Boot Sector?

What is disk sector and bad sector, how to repair bad
sector What is CHS (Cylinder/Head/Sector)?
Hard Disk and Hard Drive Physical Components
What is the difference between FAT and NTFS?
Hard drive interface introduction and comparison

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Change Partition Type between Logical and Primary without Data
Losing
hdd-tool.com/partition-manager/change-partition-type-logical-to-primary-without-data-losing.htm
Firstly, let's see what partition type, primary partition and logical partition is, if you are clear about partition type,
please skip the first paragraphs and see how to change partition type between logical and primary without
data losing directly.
Primary Partition Type
A primary partition contains one file system. In MS-DOS and earlier versions of Microsoft Windows systems, the
first partition (C:) must be a primary partition. Some operating systems are not limited in this way; however, this
can depend on other factors, such as a PC's BIOS. The "partition type" code for a primary partition can either
correspond to a file system contained within (e.g. 0x07 means either an NTFS or an OS/2 HPFS file system) or
indicate the partition has a special use (e.g. code 0x82 usually indicates a Linux swap partition).
Extended Partition Type
An extended partition is a primary partition which contains secondary partition(s). A hard disk may contain only
one extended partition; which can then be sub-divided into logical drives, each of which is assigned additional
drive letters. Windows allow creating at most 4 primary partitions, or 3 primary partitions and one extended
partition. Extended partition could contain many logical partitions.
Why change partition type
There are many reasons why you need to change partition type between logical partition and primary
partition, below are some examples.
In MS-DOS and earlier versions of Microsoft Windows systems, the first partition (C:) must be a primary
partition. So it is impossible to set up dual boot operating system if there is no other primary partition,
except that you convert an existing logical partition to primary.
Due to Windows limitation, you can only create 4 primary partitions at most, so you are very likely
to encounter this problem that you cannot create more partitions, especially for Windows 7 users.
In some special conditions, only primary partition or logical partition is allowed (not both), but you
cannot provide partition with such type.
If you can change partition type directly from primary partition to logical, or convert logical partition to primary,
it is time saving and more convenient.
Change partition type without data loss
With partition editor software, you can change partition type between Logical and Primay without losing data,
for details, refer the videos
How to convert logical partition to primary?
How to convert primary partition to logical?

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Resize Windows Server 2000/2003/2008 with Partition Manager
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How to resize RAID 1 partition without reformatting

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Difference between Full Format and Quick Format
hdd-tool.com/hdd-repair/difference-between-full-format-and-quick-format.htm
Why you need to format partitions?
As you know, Windows provides two ways to format a partition, Full Format and Quick Format. Many applications
provide partition format feature, too, especially, partition magic software. Why you need to format partitions? Different
people may give different answers, but normally, it was used to delete all files of a partition or reconstruct the file
structures. Many people dont know the difference between full format and quick format, so well discuss the
difference in this article.
Format partition in Windows XP
What is the difference between full format and quick format?
When you choose to run a Full format on a volume, files are removed from the volume that you are formatting and
the hard disk is scanned for bad sectors. The scan for bad sectors is the reason why the Full format takes twice as
long as the Quick format.
If you choose the Quick format option, the format removes files from the partition, but does not scan the disk for bad
sectors. This option is best when your hard disk has been previously formatted and you are sure that your hard disk is
not damaged nor has bad sectors. This can be a problem later because bad sectors that are not located can cause
damage to the hard drive. For example, if data is later installed on this bad sector, the data will read errors or as
corrupted files.
In simple terms, a Full format will truly scrub through the hard drive from scratch, rebuild all of its file structures, and
scans the drive to make sure that everything is on a satisfactory level. On the other hand, what a Quick format does is
lay down a blank FAT and directory table without checking for bad sectors.
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This is why when you buy a brand-new unformatted hard drive, you cannot give it a Quick format. The drive needs a
Full Format because it needs the entire file structures set-up, so the FAT actually has blocks and sectors to track,
rather than a chaotic mess. However, like we mention earlier, if your hard drive is already has a clean slate and has no
bad sectors, a Quick format will be suitable.
Also, If you installed Windows on a partition that was formatted by using the Quick format option, you can check your
hard drive by using the chkdsk /r command after the installation of Windows is completed. In conclusiondont be
lazy. You already went the distance with the tedious task of reformatting. Select the Full Format and both your
computer and you will live in harmonyuntil the next format.
More things to note about partition format
As we mentioned above, both quick format and full format could remove all files of a partition, but in fact, these files
could be recovered until they were covered by other files.
1. So if you format a partition by mistake and there are important files on this partition, dont write any new files to
this partitions and try to recover files by data recover software.
2. If you want to remove individual sensitive files from your hard drive, to format partition is not a good idea, you
need to erase data completely, I suggest you read more articles in Data Security category .
3. Full format just marks the bad sectors, so Windows wont read or write from these bad sectors, but by full format
you cannot get rid of bad sectors, the space that marked as bad sector cannot be reused. Well discuss another way
to format Low Level Format.
4. The default format option in Windows XP and Windows 7 is different. That is Windows XP Full format, Windows 7
Quick format. Full format in Windows 7 will erase data completely and no data recovery software could recover files
again.
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Hard disk repair how to repair hard disk.
Use PC3000 to repair your hard drive even if there is physical malfunction
HDD format tool, 6 ways to format disk drive.
2/2
Extend system c drive on Windows Server 2003
hdd-tool.com/extend-partition/extend-system-c-drive-windows-server-2003.htm
This article introduces how to extend system boot partition (c drive) on Windows 2003 Server. Expand C
drive without reinstalling or losing data.
The most common disk partition issue in Windows Server 2003 is " Low Disk Space". After running this server
for a period, you'll find that the system C: drive is running out of space, there is no enough free space to install
Windows updates and applications. Sometimes, server reboot unexpectedly or even crash.
Learn why low disk space alert and how to free up disk space http://www.hdd-tool.com/disk-space-usage/free-
up-space-windows-2003-server.htm
Don't expect too much by freeing up space, because Windows cleanup utility just help you remove this warning
temporarily. You cannot get large amount of free space, you'd better extend the system c drive, especially when
it is created too small.
Firstly, let's see how to resize partitions and extend C: drive by taking free space from data volumes.
Tips
1. No partitioning software is able to extend system c drive by shrinking a data drive on another singe hard disk,
so open "Disk Management" to check which data volume you can take free space from into system c drive.
2. Norton Partition Magic from Symantec isn't compatible with Windows Server 2003 and all partition utilities
for Windows servers are commercial.
Explain how to expand c drive
Actually, this video can be divided into 2 parts. The first part shows how to extend c drive by shrinking the
next contiguous data volume (D:), while the second shows how to get free space from another data drive.
In the first part, "Resize Partition" feature is similar with other partitioning tools, it is okay when there is enough
free space in partition D, but if you have to take free space from drive E: or any other non-continuous drives, it is
too complicated. So Aomei Partition Assistant provides unique feature "Allocate free space", you can shrink
any data partitions to expand c drive within few steps.
I've tested many partitioning software before, but I like to use this one, because it "understand" what I want to do,
so the task of repartitioning becomes easier. Furthermore, it has many benefits you don't know, such as:
1. Resize partitions and extend c drive without rebooting server.
2. Besides Windows setup you can create bootable CD/DVD/USB disc. These boot discs are WinPE based,
much better than Linux kernel tools.
3. Clone disk & partition, migrate OS, recover lost partitions, align partition, convert Primary partition from/to
Logical partition, oh too much to list individually.
To better understand how to resize partition and extend system volume on Windows 2003 Server, you may go
on reading the complete solution http://www.hdd-tool.com/resize-partition-server/resize-partition-windows-
2003-server.htm
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More about this server partition software http://www.partition-assistant.com
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Windows Server 2003 extend system partition fast and easily

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2012 How to extend system C: drive in Windows SBS 2008?
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How to extend partition in Windows Server 2003?
How to extend C drive in Windows 2008 Server?

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hdd-tool.com/hdd-repair/fix-fat-ntfs-partition-boot-sector.htm
Many computer users had this problem that when they open a partition, Windows prompt that this partition is corrupted
and needs to be reformat, especially when you open the external hard disk. If you allow to format the partition, the files
of this partition will be lost. This article introduces a method to fix the partition table problem and re-open the partition.
Compare to data recovery software, this method helps you solve problem much quickly.
Please remember that do not format this partition.
Basic knowledge of Boot Sector
The first sector of partition is also known as the Boot Sector. What the MBR is for entire drive, that the Boot
Sector is the first sector of an individual partition, like the MBR, the Boot Sector contains information that the
system needs to locate the materials that are needed to start the operating system. A corrupt or missing Boot
Sector is a serious problem. Without it the partition can not be accessed.
Possible (but not all) symptoms are:
1. Invalid media type reading

drive Abort, Retry, Fail?
2. File system is displayed as RAW
3. Windows may ask if you want to format the drive
4. File names contain weird characters
5. Sector not found messages
Fix boot sector problem with partition table doctor
Notice: If the Boot Sector of a FAT16/FAT32/NTFS partition was corrupt, it will be marked with X by Partition
Table Doctor.
1. If you cannot access the FAT16/NTFS partition and the partition was marked with X, right click the partition
and choose Fixboot. Partition Table Doctor will automatically check and repair the Boot Sector of the partition.
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2. If you cannot access the FAT32 partition and the partition was marked with X, right click the partition and
choose Fixboot. There are two choice:
Auto mode: Partition Table Doctor will automatically check and repair the Boot Sector of the partition.
We recommend you choose this mode.
If Auto mode doesnt work, you could choose Interactive mode. You must input the Label for the partition or
file name (the file is in the Root Folder). If you do not know what file name to input, follow the file name that is
suggested:
Bootable partition:
io.sys, msdos.sys, ntldr, bootlog.txt
Other partitions:
_restore, recycled
File name can not support long name or wildcard character by DOS version of Partition Table Doctor.
3. Browse: In both of the modes, Partition Table Doctor will provide you a preview of the folders and files in the
root directory on this partition before Yes option being chosen to make the change valid on a dialogue box. If it
appears the same as the previous one that means this function can fix it.
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4. Save and reboot computer and you will find everything is just what it was, backup your
files!!! Partition Table Doctor limitation:
1. It doesnt compatible with Windows Vista/ Windows 7
2. It doesnt support USB flash drive.
Notice: This software is not free, if you need it, you may download the trial version below:
Related Articles

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Use PC3000 to repair your hard drive even if there is physical
malfunction Best RAID Data Recovery Software
4/4
Format recovery recover files from formatted disk partition.
hdd-tool.com/data-recovery/partition-format-recovery.htm
Many computer users may encounter this problem, when you access a partition Windows prompts to format this
partition. Sometimes, you want to format a partition completely to reorganize, but forget to copy some important
files. Format recovery is common requirement for many computer users. We have introduced some format
recovery software before. Today, I want to give step by step introductions how to do format recovery, but before
this, I want to tell more about format and recovery, and then youll understand this article better.
What is format?
Format is the process of repairing a storage medium, usually a disk, for reading and writing. When you format a
disk, the operating system erases all bookkeeping information on the disk, tests the disk to make sure all sectors
are reliable, marks bad sectors (that is, those that are scratched), and creates internal address tables that it later
uses to locate information. You must format a disk before you use it. (Get more format tools)
Why files can be recovered after partition formatted
Formatting a partition only erases the address table, not the data itself. Do not be panic if you accidentally format
a partition containing useful data. A computer specialist should be able to recover most, if not all, of the
information on the partition. You can also try using format recovery software to recover data from reformatted
disk. (If you do not understand address table, data itself, please read more articles about HDD Basic)
Format recovery test
We have introduced some format recovery software in another article. Today, lets test one of the most
popular format recovery software.
1. Erase files of a partition completely. As we know files can be recovered even you deleted them or formatted the
partition, to avoid confusing by old files, so I decided to erase the test partition. (Get more data erase software)
2. Prepare some test files and folders on other place, after that copy them to the test partition.
3. Format this test partition in Disk Management.
Note: The default format option in Windows 7 disk management

is Quick Format, if you uncheck this option, Windows 7 will run
Full Format. Different from Windows XP, Windows 7 full format
will erase files and these files cannot be recovered. So be
caution to use Windows 7 Full Format. (See more difference
between full format and quick format).
4. Run Recover My Files and choose Recover a Drive
5. Choose the default recovery option.
6. After searching, all files were recovered my Recover My Files. Test Files
7. You may choose Save Files to save to local disk partition, or Save to CD/DVD
In fact, there are many format data recovery software.

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Other partition format recovery software
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MDPL
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Recover Files after Delete and Format
Recover Option
2/3
Files Recovered
Save Files
3/3
hdd-tool.com/hdd-basic/hard-disk-and-hard-drive-physical-components.htm
What is hard disk drive?
A hard disk drive (often shortened as hard disk, hard drive, or HDD) is a non-volatile storage device that stores
digitally encoded data on rapidly rotating rigid (i.e. hard) platters with magnetic surfaces. Strictly speaking, drive
refers to the motorized mechanical aspect that is distinct from its medium, such as a tape drive and its tape, or a
floppy disk drive and its floppy disk. Early HDDs had removable media; however, an HDD today is typically a
sealed unit (except for a filtered vent hole to equalize air pressure) with fixed media.
How hard drive works?
A hard disk is a sealed unit containing a number of platters in a stack. Hard disks may be mounted in a
horizontal or a vertical position. In this description, the hard drive is mounted horizontally.
Electromagnetic read/write heads are positioned above and below each platter. As the platters spin, the drive
heads move in toward the center surface and out toward the edge. In this way, the drive heads can reach the
entire surface of each platter.
Hard drive physical component
PLATTERS:
Platter is a circular, metal disk that is mounted inside a hard disk drive. Several platters are mounted on a fixed
spindle motor to create more data storage surfaces in a smaller area. The platter has a core made up of
aluminium or glass substrate, covered with a thin layer of Ferric oxide or cobalt alloy. On both sides of the
substrate material, a thin coating is deposited by a special manufacturing technique. This, thin coating where
actual data is stored is the media layer.
Hard drive platters

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When the magnetic media is applied to the surface of the substrate material, a thin lubricating layer is applied
to protect the material. This complex three layered media is discussed in detail as follows:
THE SUBSTRATE MATERIAL:

The bulk material of which platters are made up, forms the base on which media layer is deposited. The
substrate has no specific function but to support the media layer. The most commonly used material for making
this physical layer is an Aluminium alloy. This alloy is rigid, lightweight, stable, inexpensive, easy to work with
and is readily available. Earlier, since the gap between the heads and the platter was relatively high, the platter
surface being smooth and flat was less of an issue. However, as technology advances, the gap between heads
and platters is decreasing and the speed that the platters spin at is increasing. For this reason demand for
alternatives on the platter material are increasing. Glass platters are replacing aluminium platters because they
provide improved rigidity, better quality, thinner platters, and thermal stability.
MEDIA LAYER:
The substrate material forms the base upon which actual recording media is deposited. The media layer is a
thin coating of magnetic material applied to the surface of the platters and where the actual data is stored. Its
thickness is only a few millionths of an inch.
Special techniques are employed for the deposition of magnetic material on the substrate material. A thin
coating is deposited on both sides of the substrate, mostly by vacuum deposition process called magnetron
sputtering. Another such method is electroplating, using a process similar to that used in electroplating jewelry.
PROTECTIVE LAYER:
On the top of the magnetic media, is applied a super-thin, protective, lubricating layer. This layer is called
the protective layer because it protects the disk from damage caused by accidental contact from the heads,
head crash or other foreign material from entering the drive
PLATTER DIVISIONS:
In order to get maintain the organized storage and retrieval of data the platters are organized into specific
structures. These specific structures include tracks, sectors, and clusters.
TRACKS:
Each platter is broken into thousands of tightly packed concentric circles, known as tracks. These tracks
resemble the structure of annual rings of a tree. All the information stored on the hard disk is recorded in tracks.
Starting from zero at the outer side of the platter, the number of tracks goes on increasing to the inner side. Each
track can hold a large amount of data counting to thousands of bytes.
SECTORS:
Each track is further broken down into smaller units called sectors. As sector is the basic unit of data storage
on a hard disk. A single track typically can have thousands of sectors and each sector can hold more than 512
bytes of data. A few additional bytes are required for control structures and error detection and correction.
CLUSTERS:
Sectors are often grouped together to form Clusters.
READ/WRITE HEADS:
The heads are an interface between the magnetic media where the data is stored and electronic components in
the hard disk. The heads convert the information, which is in the form of bits to magnetic pulses when it is to be
stored on the platter and reverses the process while reading.
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Hard disk heards
Hard disk heards
The heads are the most sophisticated part of the hard disk. Each platter has two read/write heads, one mounted
on the top and the other one at the bottom. These heads are mounted on head sliders, which are suspended at
the ends of head arms. The head arms are all fused into a singular structure called actuator, which is
responsible for their movement.
THE SPINDLE MOTOR:

Spindle motor plays an important role in hard drive operation by turning the hard disk platters. A spindle motor
must provide stable, reliable, and consistent turning power for many hours of continuous use. Many hard drive
failures occur due to spindle motor not functioning properly
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Spindle motorparts
HARD DISK LOGIC BOARD:

Hard disk is made with an intelligent circuit board integrated into the hard disk unit. It is mounted on the
bottom of the base casting exposed to the outer side. The read/write heads are linked to the logic board
through a flexible ribbon cable.
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Hard disk logic board
DRIVE BAY:
The entire hard disk is mounted in an enclosure designed to protect it from the outside air. It is necessary to keep the
internal environment of the hard disk free of dust and other contaminants. These contaminants may get accumulated in
the gap between the read/write heads and the platters, which usually leads to head crashes.
5/7
Hard disk drive bay
The bottom of the disk is also called base casting. The drive mechanics are placed in the base casting and a
cover, usually made up of aluminium is placed on top to enclose heads and platters. The entire contents placed
on the base and cover chamber are collectively known as the head-disk assembly. Once this assembly is
opened, it would instantly contaminate the contents and eventually ruin the drive.
On the bottom of the base casting is present the logic board, which is separated from the base casting
using a cushioning material.
Learn more about hard disk basics.
Related Articles
What is disk sector and bad sector, how to repair bad sector
What is CHS (Cylinder/Head/Sector)?
6/7
7/7
hdd-tool.com/hdd-repair/hard-disk-repair.htm
General speaking, Hard Disk Repair related to many scenarios, for example, disk cannot be detected,
partition cannot be accessed, computer fails to boot, Windows fails to read and write files, etc. These
problem caused by different reasons, so to give a complete solution is very hard.
To repair hard disk, you may try the following steps:
1. If partitions lost from My Computer, youd better check in Disk Management (Right click My
Computer > Manage > Storage > Disk Management).
If the disk is there and all partition information are correct, the only problem is that there is no drive letter for
the partition, then right click this partition and assign a drive letter.
If the disk disappears, then enter BIOS to check, different computers have different shortcut key. Reboot your
computer and press Del+Ctrl+Alt, F1, ESC or others. If there is no such disk in BIOS, it means your hard disk is
physically damaged, youd better disconnect it. To repair this disk, youd better sent to a company. If this
problem is caused by logic board, change another some logic board would solve this problem, see this story
http://www.deadharddrive.com/ If this problem caused by bad internal disk, Spindle motor or Heads, you cannot
do anything, as you have to open the disk drive, but you cannot provide a no dust environment. (Learn more
about hard disk components)
Generally, you wont encounter such disasters.
2. If your disk still exists, but there is loud noise from your hard drive, it means there is physical problem, too.
You have to stop using it again, as more operation could make things worse.
3. It is lucky if there are no such scenarios above, as you can repair disk drive yourself now. The common
drive problem but you may ignore is bad sectors, please refer How to repair bad sectors article.
4. Another common problem relates to hard disk repair is that the partition cannot be accessed. When you open a partition,
Windows prompts to format this partition, so you need to repair this disk partition. It means that the boot sector of this
partition is damaged, to do hard disk repair, see this article Fix boot sector of FAT and NTFS partition.
5. The last thing of hard drive repair relates to booting Windows. This is the most complex, as there are so
many error messages. Youd better search the specific error message in Google.
If there is no error message, you may follow the steps below:
Check Power Supply.
Check all connections.
If there is no problem, but the Monitor light is blinking, open the Chassis, and clear the dust and re-plugin
the RAW, Graphics card, etc.
If you have any other suggestions, please leave a comment and share your experience with others.
Related Articles

1/2
malfunction Fix boot sector of FAT16/FAT32/NTFS partitions
Why/When/How do HDD low level format? Difference
between Full Format and Quick Format How to
Recover Lost or Deleted Partitions?

2/2
hdd-tool.com/hdd-basic/hard-drive-introduction-and-comparison.htm
Some readers reflect that they dont know the difference among hard drives, so this article introduces the hard
drive interface, including IDE, SATA and SCSI.
What is IDE/ATA Hard Drive?
Integrated Device Electronics. It is the most widely-used hard drive interface on the market. The fancy name
refers to how the IDE technology integrates the electronics controller into the drive itself. The IDE interface,
which could only support drives up to 540 MB has been replaced by the superior EIDE (Enhanced-IDE)
technology which supports over 50 GB and allows for over twice as fast data transfer rates. The other most
common hard drive interface is SCSI, which is faster than EIDE, but usually costs more.
Although it really refers to a general technology, most people use the term to refer the ATA specification, which
uses this technology.
What is ATA?
AT Attachment. The specification, formulated in the 1980s by a consortium of hardware and software
manufacturers, that defines the IDE drive interface. AT refers to the IBM PC/AT personal computer and its bus
architecture. IDE drives are sometimes referred to as ATA drives or AT bus drives. The newer ATA-2
specification defines the EIDE interface, which improves upon the IDE standard. (See also IDE and EIDE.)
There are several versions of ATA, all developed by the Small Form Factor (SFF) Committee:
ATA: Known also as IDE, supports one or two hard drives, a 16-bit interface and PIO modes 0, 1 and 2.
ATA-2: Supports faster PIO modes (3 and 4) and multiword DMA modes (1 and 2). Also supports logical
block addressing (LBA) and block transfers. ATA-2 is marketed as Fast ATA and Enhanced IDE (EIDE).
ATA-3: Minor revision to ATA-2.
Ultra-ATA:[b] Also called Ultra-DMA, ATA-33, and DMA-33, supports multiword DMA mode 3 running at 33
MBps. [b]ATA/66: A version of ATA proposed by Quantum Corporation, and supported by Intel, that doubles
ATAs throughput to 66 MBps.
ATA/100: An updated version of ATA/66 that increases data transfer rates to 100
MBps. ATA also is called Parallel ATA.
Hard drive with IDE interface

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What is SATA Hard Drive?
Hard drive with SATA interface
Definition
Serial Advanced Technology Attachment, often abbreviated SATA or S-ATA, is a serial link a single cable with a minimum of
four wires creates a point-to-point connection between devices. As an evolution of the older Parallel ATA physical storage
interface, SATA host-adapters and devices communicate via a high-speed serial cable.
According to Wikipedia, SATA computer bus, a storage-interface for

connecting host bus adapters (most commonly integrated into laptop
computers and desktop motherboards) to mass storage devices (such as
hard disk drives and optical drives), offers several compelling advantages
over the older parallel ATA/EIDE interface: reduced cable-bulk and cost (7
pins vs 40 pins), faster and more efficient data transfer, and the ability to
remove or add devices while operating (hot swapping).
Advantage
Transfer rates for Serial ATA begin at 150MBps. One of the main design
advantages of Serial ATA is that the thinner serial cables facilitate more
efficient airflow inside a form factor and also allow for smaller chassis
designs. In contrast, IDE cables used in parallel ATA systems are bulkier than Serial ATA cables and can only
extend to 40cm long, while Serial ATA cables can extend up to one meter.
What is SCSI?
An acronym for Small Computer System Interface. This interface was introduced as a method of connecting multiple
peripherals to computers. Based on a parallel bus structure, with each device having a unique ID (or address), the SCSI bus
will support up to seven devices plus the host adapter. Newer wide interfaces, used almost exclusively for hard drives, can
support up to 15 devices plus the host controller, and can transfer data at burst speeds of up to 320 MB/sec. Because of the
multiple device support and extended cable length (up to 6 meters for SCSI-2), the higher transfer rate, and the ability to
install multiple host adapters on the motherboard or in available connectors, the SCSI interface is used most often to connect
external devices such as scanners, CD-ROMs, CD duplicators, and multi-drive storage enclosures, while at the same time
connecting to SCSI devices internally, usually on the same adapter.
Although SCSI is an ANSI standard, there are many variations of it, so two SCSI interfaces may be
incompatible. For example, SCSI supports several types of connectors.
The following varieties of SCSI are currently implemented:
SCSI-1: Uses an 8-bit bus, and supports data rates of 4 MBps.

SCSI-2:Same as SCSI-1, but uses a 50-pin connector instead of a 25-pin connector, and supports
multiple devices. This is what most people mean when they refer to plain SCSI.
Wide SCSI: Uses a wider cable (168 cable lines to 68 pins) to support 16-bit transfers.
Fast SCSI: Uses an 8-bit bus, but doubles the clock rate to support data rates of 10 MBps.
Fast Wide SCSI: Uses a 16-bit bus and supports data rates of 20 MBps.
Ultra SCSI: Uses an 8-bit bus, and supports data rates of 20 MBps.
SCSI-3: Uses a 16-bit bus and supports data rates of 40 MBps. Also called Ultra Wide SCSI.
Ultra2 SCSI: Uses an 8-bit bus and supports data rates of 40 MBps.
Wide Ultra2 SCSI: Uses a 16-bit bus and supports data rates of 80 MBps.
2/3
Hard drive with SCSI interface
SCSI hard drive
Learn more about hdd tool
Related Articles

sector What is CHS (Cylinder/Head/Sector)?
Basic Knowledge about Partition and
Partitioning Hard Disk and Hard Drive Physical
Components What is Partition Boot Sector?
3/3
How to convert NTFS to FAT32 without data losing?
hdd-tool.com/partition-manager/convert-ntfs-to-fat32-without-data-losing.htm
Many people ask me the same questions how to convert FAT32 partition to NTFS, meanwhile, some people
want to convert NTFS to FAT32 without reformatting or losing data.
Why convert FAT32 to NTFS
NTFS file system has many advantages than FAT file system, such as,
Allows indexing which improves file searching (mostly, faster).

Better security file encryption (not supported by Win XP home)
Supports user quotas.
File compression to save disk space.
Supports larger files than FAT (greater than 4GB).
Supported format on dynamic disks (no dynamic disks on Win XP Home).
Resistant to fragmentation.
Many computer users want to change partition from FAT to NTFS. Fortunately, Windows provides a non-
destructive way to convert FAT partition to NTFS directly,
How to convert FAT32 to NTFS?
1. Open Command Prompt, press "Windows & R" key.

2. Input "cmd" and then press Enter.
3. In the command prompt window, type: convert (your drive_letter): /fs:ntfs
For example, typing "convert D: /fs:ntfs: would format drive D: with NTFS file system. See more details
here http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb456984.aspx
Note: Once you convert a FAT32 partition to NTFS, you cannot simply convert it back to FAT32 with command
line. You need to reformat this partition, of course, you'll lose all data.
Convert NTFS to FAT32
It is strange that NTFS has so many advantages, why converting NTFS to FAT? Microsoft also says you
cannot convert NTFS to FAT32.
Let's see the real cased below: "I want to convert the USB from NTFS to fat32 so it can be supported by my
DVD player for playback.pls".
"I have got DVD player, this disposes about USB anschluss, unfortunately, only fat formatted partition recognizes."
The fact is that some devices can only supports FAT32 file system, so to convert NTFS to FAT32
without reformatting or data losing is required.
1/2
It cannot be easier to change partition file system with NTFS to FAT32 Editor ,
Just select and click, done, detailed steps

http://www.ntfs-fat32.com/convert-ntfs-and-fat32.html
Related Articles
Change Partition Type between Logical and Primary

without Data Losing
How to change Windows Server 2003 Partition
How to Solve C Drive Run Out of Space Problem
with Ease?
How to resize RAID 1 partition without reformatting
Extend Windows 7 Partition with Free Partition
Manager. How to resize VMware server boot partition?
2/2
hdd-tool.com/hdd-repair/fix-partition-table-and-repair-partition.htm
During the computer use, you may encounter some errors of hard disk or partitions. Some of the errors are caused by
physical problem and some caused by software error. If you need more advice about hard disk repair, please refer
another article Hard Disk Repair. Today, I want to talk about partition repair and how to fix partition problem.
Common partition errors
Invalid media type reading drive. Abort, Retry, Fail?
File system is displayed as RAW.
Windows may ask if you want to format the drive.
File names contain weird characters.
Sector Not Found messages.
Did you see or hear these error messages before? If you did, how you fixed these partition errors?
What caused partition error?
Error connections, especially for external hard drives, if the connection is correct, it may cause the
problem and you cannot access the partition again.
Insufficient power supply, also common for external drives.
Virus, the most probable reason for both internal and external hard drives.
Partitioning error, some users run software to resize partitions but this partitioning software failed due to
some reasons.
Other application errors, similar to partitioning software, these applications have the same feature that
they will write something to the hard drive sectors.
How to repair partition?
To fix the partition problem, there are two ways.
1. Recover files from this partition, after that reformat this partition to use.
This is the safest way, as data recovery software just read information from your disk partition and it will not
write anything, even if one recovery tool fails to recovery files, you may try the others. Here I recommend
Recovery My files.
2. Repair partition directly.
By partition repair software, you can fix the partition problem, after that youll be able to access the partition
again. The partition repair operation also is quick enough.
Note: Be caution to use this method, as it may cause problem worse. If you have backed up the disk partition
sector by sector, you may repair partition directly.
1/2
If you really want to repair partition directly, please refer another article How to Fix Boot Sector Error. As this
software doesnt support Windows Vista and Windows 7, so if you use these operating systems, try Active
Partition Recovery.
Related Articles

Use PC3000 to repair your hard drive even if there is physical malfunction
Format recovery recover files from formatted disk partition.
2/2
How to merge partitions in Windows Server 2008?
hdd-tool.com/windows-2008-server/how-to-merge-partitions-in-windows-server-2008.htm
Running Windows Server 2008 for a period, you need to change partition size, for example, C drive is running
out of space and "Low Disk Space" warning pops up, to fix this issue fast and easily, you may resize partitions or
merge drive C and D together. This article introduces how to merge partitions in Windows Server 2008 (R2).
Benefits
Within several minutes and steps you can merge partition in Windows 2008 Server without doing anything else.
Steps
1. Install this app to your server or create and boot from bootable CD/DVD/USB disc.
2. Launch this tool and check your disk partitions, select the partitions and merge.
3. Click "Apply" button on top left corner to proceed.
Tips
1. Only 2 continuous partitions can be merged. In the video, if you select drive D to merge, drive C and E
are available, but if you select drive E, only D is available. (All partitioning software works similar)
2. Close other applications before running this tool, you can merge Windows 2008 partitions under Windows
without reboot.
3. By merging drive D into C, you can increase C drive free space, but original drive D will be deleted (files
exist in C). I suggest you resize partition instead of merging partitions, learn how to.
4. All partition software for Windows Server are commercial, I suggest you download trial and check how it
works before buying.
For any questions or suggestions, leave a comment.
Related Articles
Merge partitions in Windows Server 2003, 2008.

How to partition Server 2008 drives safely and easily?
Solve Server 2008 Low Disk Space Problem fast and easily
Top 5 partition recovery software restore your lost partition
How to extend C drive in Windows 2008 Server?
Extend system c drive on Windows Server 2003
1/1
How to Merge Partitions in Windows Server or PC to Increase C
Drive?
hdd-tool.com/partition-magic/how-to-merge-partitions-to-increase-c-drive.htm
Many users encountered the problem that the system C drive running out of space, especially after upgrade to Windows
7. Before Partition Magic, you have to backup, delete all partitions and recreate the partitions, and then restore again. It
is time consuming, especially for Windows Servers, longer downtime means larger lose.
To extend system C drive, you may consider resizing partition one by one or mege partitions directly. In this
article, I'll introduce how to merge partitions in Windows Server 2008/2003 and Windows 7/Vista/XP.
Two kinds of tools to merge partitions
1. For Windows Vista, Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008, you can merge partitions in Disk Management
indirectly without any other partitioning software. (delete the data partition and extend system or another data
partition by Extend feature)
2. For Windows XP, Server 2003, you need third party partitioning software to merge partitions, but before
merging partitions, you'd better backup files, as no partition magic software is 100% secure.
How merge partitions under Disk Management?
1. Right 'My Computer' and select 'Manage'
2. Click 'Disk Management' under 'Storage'.
3. Delete partition D or other partition that you want to merge.
4. Right click C drive or other partition you want to increase and select 'Extend Volume'. After these operations
you can merge partitions and increase the system partition.
The disadvantages of Disk Management to merge partitions:
1. There is no such extend feature in old Windows Disk Management.
2. You cannot undo the partioning.
3. You cannot merge partitions with C and E if partition D is behind C drive.
How to merge partitions with partition software?
Launch Partition Assistant, you'll see all disks and partitions that connected your computer.
1/3
Step 1: Backup the files of drive D to other
partitions and delete it.
Step 2: Select drive C, drag the right border

rightwards to hold the Unallocated space that deleted
from Partition D.
Step 3: You'll find that the space of Partition D is

added to drive C, click Apply button to proceed.
Want to merge partitions directly easier and

faster? Check the video how to merge partitions .
The advantages:
1. Enhanced data protection technology helps you

resize, merge partition without data loss, even
when power off or hardware problem occurred.
2. Hot Resize feature helps you extend
NTFS partition without reboot.
3. Disk and partition copy feature helps you backup
or migrate data to another disk without reinstalling
Windows.
4. Changes made on partitions can be previewed
before applying to avoid incorrect operations.
5. With user-friendly interface, no professional
assistance or experience in using Partition Magic
is required.
Find more details about Partition Magic Server
Related Articles
How to merge partitions in Windows 2003 Server

Extend C Drive on Windows Server 2003
with Partition Magic Server
Resize windows 7 partition with partition
magic software freely and easily
Merge partitions in Windows Server 2003, 2008.
How to use diskpart command line to extend
server 2003/Windows XP
Resize Windows Server 2003 Partition
with Partition Magic Server
2/3
3/3
How to Solve C Drive Run Out of Space Problem with Ease?
hdd-tool.com/partition-manager/how-to-solve-c-drive-run-out-of-space-problem.htm
Many computer users have encountered the problem that "my C drive running out of space and Windows pop
up a window with Low Disk Space alert".
This problem is very common, as generally the system partition is not large enough (waste free space if you
won't use a large system partition). Windows continuously install updates and you have to install other
applications to the system partition, browser caches, restore points of system protection, temporary files also
eat up your free space very quickly.
The symptom of "c drive out of space"
Windows XP and Server 2003 displays the low disk space warning as "You are running out of disk space on
Local Disk (C:). To free space on this drive by deleting old or unnecessary files, click here."
If Windows 7 C drive is out of space, it will be shown in red

as below:
Windows 2008 Server runs out of space
If C drive running out of space, it will cause many problems,

such as:
1. Hard disk drive is not big enough to accommodate all your

needs, such as Windows update/upgrade, install programs.
2. Windows operating system is running much slowly.
3. System crash if the free space is extremely low.
How to solve low disk space problem?
To resolve "c drive running out of space" issue, follow each

of the below steps.
1. Clean up the hard disk drive Run Windows Disk Cleanup

function by clicking on the Low Disk Space popup. This tool will scan your drives and look for files that you
can safely erase. Usually this will be little help.
How to free up disk space in Windows 2003 Server?

How to free up disk space in Windows 2008 Server?
2. Remove programs. Consider removing programs that you don't use and moving large media files (videos, music, graphics)
to other partition, but it cost a long time. (Don't try to delete Windows files or those you are not familar with)
3. Extend partition ( add disk space to C drive). You may use partition manager software to resize partition and
it is the most time-saving and easiest way. Shrink other existing data partition to extend the system partition
without deleting or reformatting.
Extend partition to solve C drive out of space problem

1/3
Step 1, Launch Partition Magic Server, you'll see all disks and partitions that connected to your Server and free
space, used space and other properties of each partition.
Right-click the data partition and select "Resize", in

the pop-up window, drag the left border rightwards to
shrink it.
There will be some Unallocated space behind the

system partition.
Step 2, Right-click the system partition and select

"Resize", in the pop-up window, drag the right border
rightwards to hold the Unallocated space.
Click "Apply" to proceed, done.
Now you have a "new" Server that can be used for a

long time again.
Too complicated? Check the one-click solution to

allocate free space from one partition to another, lol.
If VMware VMDK C drive runs out of space, refer

how to extend C drive on VMware Server?
Related Articles
No space in C drive? Try partition magic

software, so easy to fix
How to solve Server 2003 low disk space
problem fast and easily?
Free up space in Windows Server 2003
How to convert NTFS to FAT32 without
data losing?
Extend Windows 7 Partition with Free Partition
Manager.
How to resize VMware server boot partition?
2/3
3/3
How to use Diskpart command line to convert/resize/delete
partitions?
hdd-tool.com/partition-magic/use-diskpart-command-to-resize-partitions.htm
What is diskpart?
DiskPart.exe is a text-mode command line tool interpreter which enables storage objects such as disks, partitions
or volumes configuration and management from a script, remote session, or direct input from a command
prompt. Diskpart is actually the underlying utility that augments the Disk Administrator graphical user interface
and enables a superset of the actions that are supported by the Disk Management snap-in. The Disk
Management snap-in prohibits you from inadvertently performing actions that may result in data loss, sometimes
it is recommended that DiskPart is used to enable explicit control of partitions and volumes.
What is Windows Disk Management?
Disk Management under Computer Management in Administrator Tools is a GUI (Graphical User Interface)
based disk partitioning utility that allows Windows 2000, Windows 2003 Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows
7 users to set active partition, change drive letter and paths, extend volume, shrink volume, delete volume, and
format the drives. However, Disk Management extension in Microsoft Management Console (MMC) does not
always work properly. Problems faced by users including random grayed out or disabled of Extend Volume and
Shrink Volume options, as Disk Management snap-in prohibits you from inadvertently performing actions that
may result in data loss.
If youre getting frustrated with Disk Management, try out DiskPart utility, a text-mode command line interpreter based
on scripts to manage, create, delete and resize objects such as disks, partitions and volumes in Windows 7, Windows Vista,
XP, 2003 and 2000. (Later 3 operating systems do not install with DiskPart.exe by default, so users need to download and
install DiskPart manually). As DiskPart is a command line utility, users will have to use various commands to instruct
DiskPart to perform a disk related task. Users can use HELP command to list out all available commands for DiskPart. For
various options for a command, append the command name to HELP, i.e. HELP [command], or simply type the command
name itself only. For detailed explanation and guide to use the command, append the full command syntax to the HELP, i.e.
HELP [full command syntax with option].
1/3
For easy reference and getting start guide, heres some simple operation that you can perform on your partition
or volume with DiskPart. But before you continue, make sure that you backup important files and programs in
case of any failure.
How to use diskpart command line?
1. Start and Run DiskPart To run DiskPart, type DiskPart.exe in Start Search in Windows Vista, or in Run
command text box in Windows 2000, 2003 and XP finished off by Enter key. A command prompt window
with DISKPART shell is loaded.
2. List all disks on system in DiskPart To all your available installed hard disks on the system, simply type
list disk, and hit Enter.
3. Select and set target disk to use in Disk PartTo set and select a disk which you want to work
with in DiskPart, use the following command syntax:select disk The disk number is retrieved from
list disk command.
4. Create a partition with DiskPart If the hard disk is empty without any partition or still has unallocated
space, a partition can be created on it with the following command syntax:create partition [size=]
[offset=] [id={ | }] [align=] [noerr]The partition types that are supported are primary partition (the only
bootable type, but limited to four per hard disk), extended partition (also limited to four per hard disk to
supplement those need more than 4 primary partitions), logical drive (to define within extended partition to
allow many volumes to be created), EFI system partition and MSR (Microsoft Reserved partition). Note
that not all options are available for all partition type.Example: create partition primary size=1000 (Create a
primary partition with the size of 10GB.)
5. DiskPart allows user to create RAID (RAID-5) volume using three or more specified dynamic disks,
simple volume or striped volume using two or more specified dynamic disks. The syntax for the
command is:create volume [size=] disk=,,[,[,]] [align=] [noerr]Example: create volume raid
size=1000 disk=1,2,3 (Create a RAID-5 array volume with 1 GB (1000MB) using disk 1, 2 and 3.)
6. List all volumes in DiskPartUse the following command to list all volumes in order to check which
number is associated with the volume we want to work with:list volume
7. Select a volume to manage in DiskPartUse the following command to select a volume in order to
manage (shrink, extend, delete format) the volume:select volume The number for the volume is
retrieved from list volume command.
8. List all partitions in DiskPartUse the following command to list all partitions in order to check which
number is associated with the partition we want to work with:list partition
9. Select a partition to manage in DiskPartUse the following command to select a volume in order to
manage (shrink, extend, delete format) the partition:select partiton The number for the partiton is
retrieved from list partition command.
10. Shrink a volume (reduce size of partition) in DiskPart To reduce the size of the volume with focus by the
specified amount and makes free disk space available from unused space at the end of the volume, use following
command syntax:shrink [desired=] [minimum=] [nowait] [noerr]Example: shrink desired=500 minimum=250
(Shrink volume by 500 MB, with 250 MB as minimum size to be freed if not possible.)To check and determine how
much is the maximum number of bytes that a volume can be reduced by (the free space that is available on the
volume), use following command:shrink querymax [noerr]
2/3
11. Extends the volume or partition (increase size) in DiskPartTo extend the volume or partition with
focus and its file system into free (unallocated) space which can be used to store data on a disk, use
following command syntax:extend [size=] [disk=] [noerr]The above command works on when both
volume or partition is selected.Example: extend size=500 (Increase the size of current partition or
volume selected by 500MB.)
12. Delete partition or volume with DiskPartNote that system, boot or any volume/partition that contains
the active paging file or crash dump (memory dump) cannot be deleted. And users must select a
partition or volume before start deletion operation. Dynamic disks should be removed by using delete
volume command.delete partitiondelete volume
13. Format a volume or partition in DiskPart Simply select a partition or volume, and then type Format.
For Windows Server 2003, please refer another step by step tutorial how to extend partition with Diskpart for
Server 2003.
Disadvantages of Diskpart commands line
Though DiskPart is free and provides by Microsoft, it is not a good utility to extend or resize partition.
1. The system volume can only be extended by running Diskpart.exe from a command line by bootable CD.
2. Only when you delete a data partition and get some Unallocated space, you can extend the system C drive.
3. It works by command line and hard to use for many users.
4. Incorrect operations lead to data loss and the operations cannot be undone.
5. Stop the PC or Server running for a long time.
It is extremely easy to extend, resize partition with third party partition software. You just need to drag and move
on the disk map to resize and extend partition, all operations can be previewed and cancelled. You can even
extend system partition without reboot if it is NTFS.
Windows Vista/7 and Server 2008 provides more features under Disk Management that older versions. You
can shrink and extend partitions with the guide under Disk Management. For detailed steps, please refer how
to shrink and extend partition under Server 2008 (the same with Windows Vista/7).
To better resize, extend and manage your disk partition, youd better run third-party partition software.
For Windows XP/Vista/7 uers, please refer professional partition software.
For Windows Server 2000/2003/2008 users, please refer Partition Magic Server Edition.
Related Articles
How to use diskpart command line to extend server 2003/Windows XP

Extend Windows 7 Partition with Free Partition Manager.
Diskpart Server 2003 and 2008 to shrink and extend partition
Diskpart extend partition Windows Server 2003
Partition Magic Server for Windows Server 2008/2003/2000 32/64 bit.
Server Magic alternative Partition Assistant Server 3.0 launched
3/3
I have no free disk space left on my c drive
hdd-tool.com/disk-space-usage/i-have-no-free-space-in-c-drive.htm
No matter you are using a server, desktop, laptop, iphone or other cellphones, you'll find the bad truth that the free space
becomes less and less. In this article, I don't want to talk about cellphone or other devices, just the computer.
As we know, hard disk drive is the requisite component in a computer, which is used to store both operating system and
data files. For different purpose, people may connect only one or many hard disk drives to a computer, in addition, they may
divide a hard disk into one or many small partitions. Unfortunately, most of the people must face to the bad problem no
free disk left in a disk partition, both for system C: drive and data partition.
The system c drive is most likely running out of space, because the computer has a small c drive of factory
settings. Even if you build the computer DIY, you won't create a very large disk partition for operating system,
because it just consume several gigabytes. I have heard many many times the computer users complain that 'I
have no free disk space left on my C drive'.
It is annoying when there is no free space in c, because Windows pops up an alert 'You are running out of space'
endless. When you updating Windows for fatal threats, you get a message that the update failed due to no free
disk space, you cannot install applications, either. The worst, system crash or failure, in this situation, you may
lost the important personal or corporate data, lost connection with your clients, waste days to start from scratch,
oh, really bad.
How to find out the amout of free space?
For old Windows versions, such as Windows XP, Server 2003, open 'My Computer', right click C drive and
select 'Properties'.
1/3
For Windows 7 and Vista, you'll see remaining free space
after opening 'My Computer' (or press Windows icon & E
directly on keyboard).
If there is few free space left on C drive or any data

partitions, this drive will be marked as red.
To find out detailed info of every disk partitions, I suggest open disk mangement, right-click 'My
Computer' > 'Manage' > 'Storage' > 'Disk Management' (for all versions).
2/3
What to do?
When no space left on c drive, you may try to clean up with Windows built-in or 3rd party utilities. On different
computers, the result has huge difference, but in most cases, you cannot get more than 1 gigabyte free space,
that is to say, you'll try to resolve this problem shortly afterwards.
for Windows XP/2003

for Windows Vista/7 and Server 2008
After free up disk space in C drive, I suggest you extend the system c drive, otherwise, you'll face to the
same problem very soon.
Related Articles
Free up space in Windows Server 2003

Windows Server 2008 low disk space solution
How to resize SBS 2003 system partition fast, safely and easily?
How to extend system partition in Windows 2008 Server without losing data?
How to Solve C Drive Run Out of Space Problem with Ease?
How to merge partitions in Windows 2008 Server without losing data?
3/3
hdd-tool.com/hdd-basic/chs-cylinder-head-sector.htm
Many computer users dont know the hard drive components and how hard drive works. Do you know how files
are stored in your hard drive? How Windows know whether the files are? How to read files from and write into
hard drives? Today, Ill introduce these shortly. Firstly, let me introduce some technical terms.
CHS
Cylinder-head-sector, also known as CHS, is a method of giving addresses to data on a hard drive.
Heads
Every hard drive consists of platters and read-write heads. If a drive has four platters, it usually has eight read-write heads,
one on the top and bottom of each platter. The head value is the number of read-write heads in the drive.
Cylinders
Each platter is divided into tracks. The cylinder value is the number of tracks on one side of each platter. There
are the same number of cylinders on each side of each platter. The sector value is the number of sectors in
each cylinder (or track), each sector consisting of (normally) 512 bytes.
Older hard drives, such as MFM and RLL drives, divided each cylinder into an equal number of sectors and the
CHS values matched the physical makeup of the drive. A drive with a CHS value of 500 x 4 x 32 would have 500
tracks per side of each platter, two platters, and 32 sectors per cylinder, with a total of 32,768,000 bytes (about 31
megabytes). Most modern drives have a surplus space that doesnt make a cylinder boundary. Each partition
should always start and end at a cylinder boundary. Only some of the most modern operating systems may
disregard this rule, but this can cause some compatibility problems, especially if the user wants to boot more than
one OS on the same drive.
IDE drives have replaced the MFM and RLL drives, and are much more efficient at storing data. They use Zone
Bit Recording (ZBR), where the number of sectors in a cylinder varies with its location on the drive. Cylinders
nearer to the edge of the platter contain more sectors than cylinders near the spindle because there is more
space in a given track near the edge of the platter. The CHS addressing system does not work on these drives
because of the varying number of sectors per cylinder. An IDE drive can be configured in system BIOS with any
configuration of cylinders, heads, and sectors that does not exceed the capacity of the drive. The drive converts
the given CHS address into the actual address for the specific hardware configuration.
Lear more about HDD Basic
Lear more about HDD Tool
Related Articles

1/2
Cylinder-Head-Sector
2/2
hdd-tool.com/hdd-basic/repair-bad-sector.htm
What is disk sector?

In the context of computer hardware, a sector is a sub-division of a track of a magnetic hard disk or optical disc.
A sector stores a fixed amount of data. The typical formatting of sectors allows holding 512 bytes (e.g.
harddisks and diskettes) or 2048 bytes (e.g. optical discs) of data.
What is a bad sector?

A sector is a small area on the surface of a hard drive or a floppy disk.
Hard drives usually have several platters. The platters are the discs which are covered with magnetic material
which is used to hold data. Floppy disk drives contain only one platter.
Platters are divided into a set of concentric rings called tracks. A 1.44MB floppy disk has 160 tracks. Hard
drives have thousands of tracks.
Each of these tracks is divided into smaller storage areas called sectors. A sector is the smallest storage area
on a disk.
What is a Bad Sector?
Hard drives are contain millions of sectors. It is very normal for some of these sectors to be bad sectors, even
when the drive is first manufactured.
In addition, a small number of sectors will normally go bad during the lifespan of a drive.
When this happens, the data in those sectors may be lost, but the data on the rest of the disk will be unaffected
and the disk is still completely usable.
A bad sector cannot be repaired, but it can be marked as unusable. Once marked as unusable, the Operating
System will know not to attempt to store data in that bad sector. The storage capacity of the disk will be
decreased by the amount of storage space in the bad sector.
If your hard drive develops a bad sector, back the hard drive up immediately. If the bad sector was caused
by a faulty drive head, the problem can quickly spread to other sectors on the disk.
How to repair a bad sector?

1. Full format a partition
Right click My Computer > Manage > Storage > Disk Management, right click the partition and select
Format. Or open My Computer, right click the partition, and then select Format.
Note: the default format option in Windows XP is Full Format, but in Windows 7, it is Quick Format. After full
format in Windows 7, you cannot recover files.
2. CHKDSK command
Press Start > Run, input cmd, input chkdsk X: /r (X is the drive letter)
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3. Press the <Start> button.
Select .
Under Hard Disk Drives highlight the disk which you want to scan.
Open the menu and choose
Open the tab.
Click the button.
In earlier version of Microsoft Windows and DOS, this functionality was built into the scandisk and
chkdsk utilities.
Once the bad sector or sectors have been repaired, continue to back up your hard drive on a regular basis.
Hard drives are mechanical devices and all mechanical devices will eventually fail.
Youd better diagnose your hard drive regularly, you may refer HDD Diagnose software and HDD monitor
software for more info.
Related Articles

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hdd-tool.com/hdd-basic/what-is-partition-boot-sector.htm
Each partition (also sometimes called a logical DOS volume in the DOS/Windows world) has its own volume
boot sector. This is distinct from the master boot sector (or record) that controls the entire disk, but is similar in
concept. It is also sometimes called the volume boot record or partition boot sector. Each volume boot sector
contains the following:
Disk Parameter Block: Also sometimes called the media parameter block, this is a data table that contains
specific information about the volume, such as its specifications (size, number of sectors it contains, etc.), label
name, and number of sectors per cluster used on the partition.
Volume Boot Code: This is code that is specific to the operating system that is using this volume and is used to start the
load of the operating system. This code is called by the master boot code that is stored in the master boot record, but only
for the primary partition that is set as active. For other partitions, this code sits unused.
The volume boot sector is created when you do a high-level format of a hard disk partition. The boot sectors
code is executed directly when the disk is booted, making it a favorite target for virus writers. The information
contained in the disk parameter block is used by the operating system to determine where other internal
structures of the partition are located, such as the file allocation tables.
NTFS Partition Structure

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NTFS Architecture
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Partition Boot Sector
To fix boot sector, you may refer another article.
Lear more about HDD Basic
Lear more about HDD Tool
Related Articles

sector Hard Disk and Hard Drive Physical Components

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hdd-tool.com/hdd-basic/difference-between-fat-and-ntfs.htm
We have discussed what FAT file system is, today well introduce the difference between FAT and NTFS file
system. To choose right file system for a partition is very important.
NTFS vs FAT
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FAT-NTFS
Learn more about hard disk basic.

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Related Articles
What is FAT file system?


sector Hard Disk and Hard Drive Physical Components
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hdd-tool.com/hdd-repair/hdd-low-level-format.htm
We have discussed the difference between full format and quick format, today well talk about hdd low level format.
What is low level format?
Low-level formatting is the process of outlining the positions of the tracks and sectors on the hard disk, and
writing the control structures that define where the tracks and sectors are. This is often called a true formatting
operation, because it really creates the physical format that defines where the data is stored on the disk. The first
time that a low-level format (LLF) is performed on a hard disk, the disks platters start out empty. Thats the last
time the platters will be empty for the life of the drive. If an LLF is done on a disk with data on it already, the data
is permanently erased (save heroic data recovery measures which are sometimes possible).
More about low level format
User instigated low-level formatting (LLF) of hard disks was common in the 1980s. Typically this involved setting
up the MFM pattern on the disk, so that sectors of bytes could be successfully written to it. With the advent of
RLL encoding, low-level formatting grew increasingly uncommon, and most modern hard disks are embedded
systems, which are low-level formatted at the factory with the physical geometry dimensions and thus not
subject to user intervention.
Early hard disks were quite similar to floppies, but low-level formatting was generally done by the BIOS rather
than by the operating system. This process involved using the MS-DOS debug program to transfer control to a
routine hidden at different addresses in different BIOS.
Early hard disks often had imprecise head-movement mechanisms based on stepper motor technology which located
tracks by advancing the stepper a specific number of steps. Ideally, the correct track would then appear under the head.
But a drive formatted horizontally often would not function in a vertical orientation, due to the force of gravity pulling down
on the mechanism and moving the heads slightly out of alignment with tracks written in the horizontal position. It was
usually necessary to LLF a drive for the orientation it was meant to be used.
Early hard drives also tended to use a magnetic storage material with a low resistance to demagnetization
(coercivity). An MFM/RLL drive containing data that was rarely written would eventually develop data errors all by
itself due to the opposing magnetic domains that define data bits softening and neutralizing each other. Although
data would become unreadable, this was not due to a media defect. The low-level format process can wipe out
these mushy sectors and firm up new boundaries in the mud, allowing the drive to perform again as if it were
brand new for a while longer. Some older drive utilities such as Spinrite included a sector refreshing function that
read and rewrote all sectors to firm up the sector magnetic domains.
When low level format is required?
When most users today talk about low-level formatting a drive, what they are really talking about is doing a
zero-fill. That procedure will restore a functional drive (that is, one that does not have mechanical problems) to
the condition it was in when received from the factory. There are occasions when a modern hard disk can
become so badly corrupted that the operating system cannot recover it, and a zero-fill can help in this situation.
Stubborn boot sector viruses for example can be hard to eradicate without resorting to low-level intervention.
Since the zero-fill cleans all programs and data off the drive it will get rid of almost any data-related problem on
the drive, such as viruses, corrupted partitions and the like. Just remember that its a bit like burning down your
house to get rid of termites: you lose everything on the drive.
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This type of utility can also be used to hide bad sectors by telling the drive to remap them to its collection of spares. Just
remember that a drive that continues to grow bad sectors over time is one whose reliability is highly suspect.
Free HDD Low Level Format Tool
HDD low level format tool
Operating System: MS Windows 2000SP4/2003/XP
HDD Low Level Format Tool is a freeware utility for low-level hard disk drive formatting.
Supported interfaces: S-ATA (SATA), IDE (E-IDE), SCSI, USB, FIREWIRE. Big drives (LBA-48)
are supported.
Supported Manufacturers: Maxtor, Hitachi, Seagate, Samsung, Toshiba, Fujitsu, IBM, Quantum,
Western Digital.
The program also supports low-level formatting of FLASH cards using a card-reader.
This freeware Low Level Format utility will erase, Low-Level Format and re-certify a SATA, IDE or SCSI hard
disk drive with any size of up to 281 474 976 710 655 bytes. Will work with USB and FIREWIRE external drive
enclosures. Low-level formatting of Flash Cards is supported too. Low Level Format Tool will clear partitions,
MBR, and every bit of user data. The data cannot be recovered after using this utility. The program utilizes
Ultra-DMA transfers when possible.
WARNING: After running this free low level format tool, the whole disk surface will be fully
erased. Therefore, data recovery will be impossible after using this utility!
Learn more about HDD repair
Related Articles

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malfunction What is CHS (Cylinder/Head/Sector)?
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Hard Drive Failure
leoisaac.com/tec/main030.htm
What is the hard drive?

The hard drive or hard disk drive is a large component in your computer
that stores all your user software and all the files you create. There are
two sizes predominantly - the 3" size for desktop computers and the 2"
size for notebook computers. For the average user, a new hard drive is
expensive at around 10% of the total cost of the computer.
For more information see also "How a hard drive works".
Why do hard drives fail?

Unfortunately hard disk drives have a limited life span. Somewhere between 3-5
years is the normal life span of a hard drive, depending on how much work it does on a day to day basis.
Environmental conditions also play a significant part in determining the life duration of the hard drive.
Principal causes of failure of hard drives include:
Heat (a build up of excessive heat especially in notebook computers)

Bumps and vibration (particular in regard to notebook computers)
Wear and tear / metal fatigue / old age of components
Electrical storm / power surge
As a computer user you must take account of the fact that a hard drive has a limited life span. It is very likely that
one day your hard drive will stop working without warning. If this is due to mechanical or electronic failure of the
hard drive, you will lose all the information on it unless you have made a back-up.
Signs of hard drive failure

If you are lucky, you may get a warning. You may get a message from the computer saying that "hard disk
failure is imminent". If this happens , then you must take immediate steps to back up your user files and seek
technical assistance.
Other signs of possible hard drive failure include:
messages from the computer that files are corrupt or missing

the computer goes into error checking shortly after startup before booting into Windows
several computer crashes over a period of days or weeks
computer fails to boot up
computer reports that it has "recovered from a serious error"
What to do if signs of hard drive failure occur?

The very best thing you can do if you think there are signs of hard disk failure is to create a full image of your hard drive.
There are two ways of doing this but you will likely need an experienced computer fixer to carry out the
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following.
Method 1: You can install software such as Acronis True Image on the computer to create the full image of the
hard drive and then attach an external hard drive on which the image is stored.
Method 2: Take the hard drive out of the computer and attach it to another computer that has Acronis True
Image installed already by using a hard drive docking bay. Then use the image creation software to create and
store the image either on the second computer or an external hard drive atttached to it.
You need to create this full image while your operating system still boots up. If you can do this, you have
survived. You can purchase a new hard drive to which the image can then be transferred.
If your computer no longer boots up but the hard drive appears to be still working, then repairs to the operating
can be attempted before creating an image. If the repairs to the operating system are successful then create the
image as soon as you can.
If the hard drive appears to be working but repairs to the operating system fail, then the best strategy is to copy the user files
to a new location as quickly as possible before the hard drive stops working completely. When you purchase a new hard
drive you will need to start from scratch and reinstall the operating system and all the software you previously had on the old
hard disk. Then put back all your user files which you saved from old hard drive.
If the hard drive appears to be no longer working i.e. it makes clicks or other funny noises, then basically you have lost your
data. While it is possible to take the disks (platters) out an put them in another identical hard disk, this procedure requires a
dustless environment, special tools, lots of knowledge and a steady hand. In reality, this is not something that computer
fixers do, and the cost could be in the 1000's if you can find the appropriate experts.
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How to Tell When Your Hard Drive is Going to Fail
lifehack.org/articles/technology/how-to-tell-when-your-hard-drive-is-going-to-fail.html
Hard drives form the basis of our computing. The use of computers comes down to manipulating data, and the hard drive is,
of course, where we store all our data; family albums, music, work documents, email, the list goes on.
Most of the components in your computer are electronic devices. They dont fail with time like a mechanical
device such as a car. But your hard drive is one of the few mechanical devices used in modern computing, and
as such, its destined to die eventually.
Its important to learn to recognize the warning signs of an imminent hard drive failure, since you might not have
the budget for an extensive back-up system, so you can rescue all that data before its lostsometimes forever,
not retrievable at any cost.
Why do hard drives fail?
Logical Failures
Logical failures occur when the electronics of the hard drive failure or the software (firmware) has a problem. This kind of
failure is usually the cheapest and easiest to have fixed. Unfortunately, its also an uncommon failure.
Media Failures
If the hard drive has been handled roughly, or the magnetic platters are scratched, have read/write errors or
low-level formatting problems, this is a media failure. These are also relatively uncommon. Once the platters
are scratched, the data should be considered scrapped.
Head Failures
A head failure occurs when the read/write head crashes into the platters (the head crash), has an improper
flying height or the wiring between the logic board and the head is faultyamong other failures related to
malfunction of the read/write head. This is a common failure. The head crash is particularly nasty.
Mechanical Failures
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Mechanical failures probably make up the bulk of hard drive failures. The motor burns out, the drive overheats,
bearings get stuckthe kind of thing youd expect to find when a car fails. These can be nasty but if the failure
didnt affect the platters, you might have a chance of recovery, but at a cost.
How do I find out when its going to fail before it fails?

Thats not always possible, and sometimes a hard drive will just diebut its still important to keep an eye on the
symptoms of an imminent hard drive so you have the chance to back-up your data and get professional help.
Hard drives are incredibly sensitive bits of hardware, so dont try to crack it open and have a look inside unless
you know what youre doing. And most definitely ensure that if you do crack it open, the platters dont get
exposed to the open airhard drives can only be opened in Class 100 clean rooms or theyre pretty much
instantly destroyed by dust.
Its a lot easier to back-up than to get your data recovered. Once you detect any of the signs of failure you need
to ensure that you have a back-up and if not, make one. Then when the drive dies, you can claim your warranty
if you still have it, or buy a new drive, and be on your way.
Recovery can cost thousands and thousands of dollars; it sure is a ridiculous amount to pay, but theres not
much you can do but shop around and find the best price. The cost of transferring a back-up onto a brand new
drive is much cheaper than having a recovery specialist do the same for you.
Strange Noises
Sometimes hearing strange grinding and thrashing noises means your drive is beyond repairfor instance, if
youve had a head crash, it very often is. Or it could just be that the motor has failed or your hard drive is grinding
away because of noisy bearings. If youre hearing strange noises then act very, very quicklyyou probably dont
have much time.
Disappearing Data and Disk Errors
Computer wont let you save a document? Or youre sure that you had a file on your desktop yesterday thats
nowhere to be seen today? Programs that always worked suddenly stop working, asking where a file it depends
on is stored?
These are all potential signs that your hard drive is on its way out. Of course, it could be that your kids moved
your files for fun or a virus is eating through them, but disappearing data is never a good sign for your drive if you
can rule out those alternative causes.
Your computer stops recognizing your drive
This may seem obvious, but if your computer no longer recognizes your drive chances are theres a problem
with it, not the computer. Test it in a friends computer and see if your hard drive is recognized by it.
Often, this will be a logical failureunless you can hear strange noises that indicate a severe mechanical or
head problem.
Computer Crashes
Does your computer regularly blue-screen or suddenly reboot? Does it crash often, especially when booting
your operating system? If your computer is crashing, especially at times when the computers is accessing files
(such as during the boot sequence), it may indicate a problem with your drive.
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Really Slow Access Times
It shouldnt take half an hour to open a folder in Windows Explorer, or two hours to empty the trash. Ive come
across this problem plenty of times over the years, and its always followed by a failing hard drive within a month
or two.
If you have this symptom on your computer and your drive does not fail, please uninstall Vista from your 486.
Sound is a great indicator. As soon as the sound changes from the norm, or you get plenty of clicking and grinding from
your hard drive, you need to power it down immediately. Get to know the sound of your hard drive while its young and in
working order, because youll need to be able to hear the slightest differences when it gets older.
What next?
Dont try to be a hero. If theres time, get your data backed up. If theres notnasty noises, for exampleget it
out of the computer or enclosure, wrap it in anti-static plastic or aluminium foil and keep it safe until you can
send it to a professional. Hard drives are very sensitive, just like those kids who die their hair black and write
poems about suicide. Dont mess with them.
When you contact a recovery specialist, they will give you details on shipping the drive, though they tend to
prefer you hand-deliver it to prevent further damage.
When it comes to hard drives, just remember to keep an eye on it and act quickly. And, of course, keep
extensive back-ups, even if you have to skip groceries one week to do so.
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5 Signs Your Hard Drive Lifetime is Ending & What To Do
makeuseof.com/tag/5-signs-hard-drive-lifetime/
By Tina Sieber September 22, 2011
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Every one of us owns precious files like personal documents,

photos, videos, or audio files, and we typically store them on
hard drives. Few people realize that most electronic storage
devices, including hard drives, have a rather limited lifetime
when compared to the ancient ways of storing information,
such as stone, papyrus, paper, or old school records. The
average lifetime of a stationary hard drive today is around 5
10 years, depending on the type and manufacturer, and it
rapidly declines if the drive is subject to strong variations in
temperature, humidity, and motion as in not being stationary.
Since a majority of people today own laptops and external hard

drives, which get dragged around quite a bit, a realistic hard drive
lifetime is probably around 3 5 years. This is an extremely short
time to reliably store important data. In the best of cases, hard drives
fail gradually, giving you the chance to react, get a copy of your data,
and replace the storage device before facing a fatal failure. There
are a host of signs that hint to
a gradual failure of your hard drive. If you are unsure how much life is left on your hard drive, read this article to
find out what signs may reveal an approaching failure.
1. Slowing Down Computer, Frequent Freezes, Blue Screen Of Death

These are very unspecific signs that can be caused by a million different things. However, regardless of what the
issue behind these symptoms is, it is recommended that you immediately make a backup. If these problems
occur after a fresh installations or in Windows Safe Mode, it is almost certain that it is due to bad hardware, and
possibly a failing hard drive.
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2. Corrupted Data
If youre beginning to find files that fail to open and are corrupted even though they saved without errors or if files
suddenly disappear, you should get worried. While again this could be due to a multitude of issues, it is also a
typical sign for a gradual hard drive failure.
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3. Accumulation Of Bad Sectors

Bad sectors are areas of the hard drive that do not maintain data integrity. They are automatically masked by the
operating system and thus hard to identify, especially if large amounts of the disk are currently in use. If you
actually run into bad sectors, however, that certainly is a bad sign.
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You can run a manual disk check to identify errors that Windows has not spotted, yet. In Windows 7, go to > Start >
Computer and right-click on the disk or partition you wish to check. Select > Properties, in the window that opens switch to
the > Tools tab and click > Check now In the Checking Disk window place a checkmark next to >
Automatically fix file system errors and > Scan for an attempt recovery of bad sectors .
Windows will also check for bad sectors, when you perform a full format or chkdsk command. See this article
The Difference Between Windows Full Format & Quick Format [Technology Explained].
4. Strange Sounds
When you hear strange noises coming from your hard drive, it may be too late already. A repetitive sound also
known as the click of death is caused by the head as it is trying to write data and recovers from errors in doing
so. Grinding or screeching noises indicate that parts of the hardware, for example the bearings or spindle
motor, are failing.
5. S.M.A.R.T. Data
There are tools that aim to predict hard drive failure by reading the S.M.A.R.T. (Self-Monitoring, Analysis and
Reporting Technology) data that is recorded by the operating system. Unfortunately, like most other methods
listed above, S.M.A.R.T. is notoriously unreliable in predicting hard drive failure and the catastrophe will often
happen before the warning of S.M.A.R.T. kicks in. If you have a working hard drive, however, and would like to
have a look at its S.M.A.R.T. data, check out this article 4 Tools To Predict and Prevent Hard Drive Failure
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I Think My Hard Drive Is Failing, What Shall I Do?
So you are worried that a hard drive failure is just around the corner? The truth is, even if you are not worried, it is! The only
thing you can do is always keep backups of your data on a second hard drive. The likelihood that both drives will fail
simultaneously are very rare. An exception would be natural disasters like floods or fires. For these cases, I recommend to
keep a copy of your most important data in a different physical location, for example at work or with a friend, or possibly on
a remote server, for example by using an online backup solution.
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For more information how to back up data, read my PDF manual Stuff Happens: The Backup & Restore Guide.
Conclusion
Do not rely on signs or software to tell you whether you have a failing hard drive. It is more likely than not that it
will fail unexpectedly and without any warning signs whatsoever. Rather than trying to forecast something that is
even less predictable than the weather, you should rely on backups.
What is your worst hardware failure nightmare, did it ever happen to you, and did you actually lose any data?
Image credits: Anyka, malost, lucadp, Matthias Pahl
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How To Diagnose And Fix A Dead Hard Drive To Recover Data
makeuseof.com/tag/how-to-diagnose-and-fix-a-dead-hard-drive-to-recover-data/
By Tina Sieber July 24, 2013
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Several years ago, I experienced a hard drive failure. I was at work when my laptop suddenly started to act
particularly strange. First, I thought it was because I had too many windows open and the RAM was full, but
when the problems persisted after a reboot, I knew it was more than that. I immediately started to back up
recent files. About half an hour later, the hard drive failed audibly and the laptop wouldnt boot anymore.
Thank God I had backups! Except that I didnt have backups of everything. Just weeks earlier my backup drive
had reached capacity. To back up important work files, I had decided to delete my personal photos. The irony
was that I had already purchased a new external drive, but had not taken the time to back up my photos. Now
they were lost and I was devastated.
Over the next couple of weeks I researched ways to recover the data and considered doing everything under the sun
and did most of it to revive the old hard drive. I eventually did recover my data, but not in the way you
would expect. If your hard drive has failed physically, maybe this little guide can help you or at least give you
some hope. So roll up your sleeves and get to work.
External Hard Drive? Check Whether The IDE / SATA to USB Enclosure Is OK!
When your external hard drive fails, it can do so for all the same reasons an internal drive can fail.
Sometimes, however, its not the drive that stops working, but a connection within the enclosure! And in that
case, the drive is easy to revive.
Before you open up any hardware, be sure to discharge your bodys static electricity, i.e. ground yourself.
Remove the hard drive from its casing and use a IDE / SATA data cable and power connector to install the drive
internally on your desktop computer. Alternatively, you can get an IDE / SATA to USB adapter or a new USB
enclosure, so you can hook the drive up externally via USB.
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The image above shows a SATA connector (left) and an IDE connector (right).
Once you re-connected the external drive to your computer, given the enclosure was the culprit, Windows should
recognize it and assign a drive letter. If this doesnt happen, you can try to manually find your drive to further
narrow down the issue; the process is described further down.
Internal Hard Drive? Make Sure The Hard Drive Connections Are OK!
Sometimes, its not the drive that failed, but the physical connection of cables that connect the drive with the
computers motherboard. You can only wish that this is your problem! So before you hire an expensive
technician, make sure the data and power cables are firmly connected on both ends.
To prevent hazards to your health, its essential to turn off the computer and unplug the power cord. As
mentioned above, you also need to discharge your bodys static electricity, i.e. ground yourself before you get
working on your computers internals. Then open up the case and make sure all connections are OK. Our guide
on how to physically install an internal hard drive shows which connections to watch out for.
Once you have made sure the connections are OK, boot the computer again. If you have a desktop computer,
you can leave the case open, but stay clear of its interior.
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Whats That Sound?
As you are trying to get the hard drive to run, listen to the sound it is making. Is it completely dead? Or is it still
spinning? What exactly does it sound like? Compare your sound to the list of hard drive sounds provided by
Data Cent. This will help you diagnose the type of damage.
The damage can be either internal or external. A clicking sound, for example, is suggestive of a malfunctioning
head, i.e. internal damage. A completely dead drive, on the other hand, could be due to a faulty printed circuit
board (PCB), which would be external damage.
Is The Hard Drive Recognized?

Sometimes, you can hear your drive spinning, but it never pops up. Or maybe its completely dead. To pinpoint
the type of damage, try to manually check whether or not the drive is recognized by your computer.
You can do this via the BIOS in case its the primary hard drive and your computer no longer boots. After you turn
on the computer, enter the BIOS by pressing a trigger key, which could be [DEL], [ESC], [F2], or [F10], depending
on the manufacturer. Within the BIOS, navigate through the available menus to find where it lists which types of
drives are connected to the computer. Usually, this information is found under the Advanced menu, but you might
also find it indirectly under Boot settings.
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If you have hooked up the drive to another computer, you dont need to access the BIOS at all. In Windows, click
the key combination [Windows] + [R], which will launch the Run input window. Type cmd into the field and hit
[Enter]. This will open the Command Prompt. Here type diskpart and hit [Enter], to open the respective tool. In the
diskpart window, type list volume and hit [Enter] to show all drives connected to your computer.
If the drive is recognized and thus appears in the list above, but doesnt show up as an accessible drive, chances
are Windows only recognizes the PCB, but the drive itself is damaged (internal damage). In other words, if the
drive is recognized in any shape or form, the PCB is most likely working and replacing it will not fix the
hard drive!
Is The Printed Circuit Board Broken?

As mentioned previously, your drive can be damaged internally or externally. The external PCB, if damaged, is
relatively easy to replace. However, data recovery specialists warn that swapping the PCB can ruin the drive
and cause you to lose all data on it. So if you do care about your data, better err on the side of caution.
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Even if you can see that your PCB is damaged, there might still be internal damage. Moreover, as mentioned above,
replacing the circuit board yourself can damage your drive further, which reduces your chances of recovering your data. Now
that you have been warned extensively, here is a video that explains how to swap the PCB.
Note that many websites now sell PCBs and provide guides to find exactly the right circuit board for your drive. You can
easily find them on Google. So if you really cant or dont want to afford professional help and are certain that (only) the
PCB is damaged, those resources might save you a lot of money and your data if youre lucky. Or not.
Witchcraft & Wizardry

When my hard drive failed, the PCB was fine; the drive was still recognized and spinning, but it didnt show up
in Windows, meaning I could not access it, and no software recovery tool could help me, either. So I put my last
hope into some of those obscure tricks that youll find floating around the Internet, like shaking the drive, hitting
it onto a hard surface, exposing it to dry heat in the oven, or sticking it in the freezer overnight. If you have any
idea how a hard drive works, then any of these methods should give you the shivers!
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Well, I didnt dare to melt my drive, but my suspicion was that the head was stuck. So I did shake it, but to no
avail. Since I could follow the reasoning, I also wrapped my drive in an airtight Ziploc back and stuck it in the
freezer overnight. The idea is that the low temperatures cause metals to shrink and contract. So if the head was
stuck, the cold might get it unstuck. In practice, that didnt work either. And I probably caused condensation to
settle on the hard drive platter, which could have caused a lot more damage. I eventually gave up and stored
the drive for a future in which I was hoping to be able to afford professional data recovery.
Backup Strategy Advice

One last thought about the weird methods above: If they do work, they will only work temporarily! So be
prepared. Know exactly what you want to back up and how. Have the right software to quickly back up your data
and have enough storage space available. If you want to copy files manually, only copy one set of files at a time!
If you make the head jump back and forth between too many files by kicking off multiple copy and paste
processes, you will slow down the overall backup process and increase the likelihood of a fatal head crash.
Consult A Specialist For Professional Data Recovery

If you can afford professional help or simply cannot afford to wait for a miracle, do consult a specialist. My
recommendation is to go with a reputable company. They should work with professional technicians and tools,
be able to open your hard drive in clean rooms or under dust free conditions, follow industry standards, and
have solid credentials, as well as excellent recommendations. After all, you will trust them with your private data.
Kroll Ontrack, one of the more reputable companies in the market, has an extensive and well-designed
compendium of consumer myths in regards to data recovery, that will help you pick the right candidate. We have
also had a discussion on Answers, where several data recovery companies were recommended.
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Before you pick a company, be sure you understand the conditions! Most charge just for looking at the drive and
making a recommendation. They will charge extra for actually attempting to recover the data. Some will charge a
full recovery fee, even if they failed to recover the data.
Conclusion
Diagnosing and fixing a broken hard drive is serious business. Do take it seriously, but also try to exclude some
of the more simple to fix culprits before you fork out hundreds of dollars to a so-called specialist. The more
informed you are, the better. How far you go to diagnose and fix your hard drive will depend on how important
the data is for you.
You probably wonder what happened with my hard drive. Well, one fine day, when I was dissolving my
apartment, I decided to give it one last chance and then let go of it. More than two years after I had tried
everything I dared to get it to work, again and again for weeks, I just plugged it in and it simply worked. I
recovered all my data and the drive is working until this day, almost six years after it failed initially. Call me lucky!
Have you ever experienced such a miracle? What helped you revive a hard drive in the past? And how did
you recover the data?
Image credit: Hard Drive PCB via Shutterstock, Frozen Hard Drive via Shutterstock, Dead HDD via Flickr
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The Four Major Components of a Hard Drive
smallbusiness.chron.com/four-major-components-hard-drive-70821.html
About the Author An information technology journalist since 2002, David Nield writes about the Web,
technology, hardware and software. He is an experienced editor, proofreader and copywriter for online
publications such as CNET, TechRadar and Gizmodo. Nield holds a Bachelor of Arts in English literature and
lives in Manchester, England.
by David Nield, studioD
A hard drive is made up of several finely tuned components.
Related Articles
The hard drive, which typically provides storage for data and
applications within a computer, has four key components inside its
casing -- the platter (for storing data), the spindle (for spinning the
platters), the read/write arm (for reading and writing data) and the
actuator (for controlling the actions of the read/write arm). Only the
most technically proficient IT professionals should attempt to work
on the components inside a hard drive.
Platters
The platters are the circular discs inside the hard drive where the 1s and 0s that make up your files are stored.
Platters are made out of aluminum, glass or ceramic and have a magnetic surface in order to permanently store
data. On larger hard drives, several platters are used to increase the overall capacity of the drive. Data is stored
on the the platters in tracks, sectors and cylinders to keep it organized and easier to find.
The Spindle
The spindle keeps the platters in position and rotates them as required. The revolutions-per-minute rating
determines how fast data can be written to and read from the hard drive. A typical internal desktop drive runs at
7,200 RPM, though faster and slower speeds are available. The spindle keeps the platters at a fixed distance
apart from each other to enable the read/write arm to gain access. (ref 1+3)
Related Reading: Why Is My Hard Drive Spinning So Much?
The Read/Write Arm

The read/write arm controls the movement of the read/write heads, which do the actual reading and writing on
the disk platters by converting the magnetic surface into an electric current. The arm makes sure the heads are
in the right position based on the data that needs to be accessed or written; it's also known as the head arm or
actuator arm. There is typically one read/write head for every platter side, which floats 3 to 20 millionths of an
inch above the platter surface.
Actuator
The actuator or head actuator is a small motor that takes instructions from the drive's circuit board to control the
movement of the read/write arm and supervise the transfer of data to and from the platters. It's responsible for
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ensuring the read/write heads are in exactly the right place at all times.
Other Components
As well as the casing on the outside of the hard disk that holds all of the components together, the front-end
circuit board controls input and output signals in tandem with the ports at the end of the drive. No matter what the
type of drive, it has one port for a power supply and one port for transferring data and instructions to and from the
rest of the system.
References (7)
Resources (1)
Photo Credits
John Foxx/Stockbyte/Getty Images
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6 Worst Reasons of Hard Disk Failure and Data Recovery
Solutions
stellarinfo.com/blog/6-worst-reasons-of-hard-disk-failure/
Taking the backup of hard disks data is crucial as it may help you resurrect lost files and folders in case of
accidental deletion or hard disk formatting. The misery is; no one is careful enough to backup their data or
important files. The backup copy is a still a great and easiest way to recover data after external or internal hard
disk drive failure or corruption. Hard disk failure can happen anytime due to the bad power supply, virus attack,
damaged block and sectors, corrupted operating system files e.g., NTLDR, boot.ini, msdos.sys etc.
Quick Fix: Try Companys Solution to recover your hard drive data
Here is the list of top 6 reasons of hard disk failure with its solutions which will surely help the user to recover
data from the conditions easily and without affecting or modifying any data. If in any conditions, the solutions
mentioned below would unable to resolve the issue then switch to our hard disk drive recovery tool immediately
to avoid any further damages to the hard disk.
Top 6 Reasons of internal or external hard disk drive failure
Firmware or Manufacturer Faults
Symptoms:
The hard disk is undetectable or not recognized at all by the System.

The system fails to boot or hang in mid of the booting process.
Reason:
This problem could occur mainly with the brand new hard disk which prevents hard disk from working properly. It can
happen even just after few days of purchasing and the may have the high probability that manufacturers had delivered
the fault disk. These types of hard disks are delivered to the customer without testing.
Solution:
Users can contact hard disk manufacturer and ask for RA (Return Authorization) as the disk is still in warranty.
Therefore, this type of problems can be addressed without inquiring any further and paying any extra amount.
However, a user may lose important data that is stored on the hard disk in between before corruption actually
took place. the manufacturer wont offers any guarantee of the safety of your data and to recover them from the
problem hard disk, professional hard disk recovery software like Stellar Phoenix partition recovery is advised if
the problem is not severe and damages are logical.
Heat
Symptoms:
Fans are moving too slowly or not at all

Clicking sounds or noise is arising from the system hardware
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Desktop or Laptop gets heated soon after starting
Reasons:
This is the most common cause among all the hard drive failure causes and occurs too frequently. Due to
improper ventilation or faulty CPU fan, a system would heat to the peak point and leads to the sudden hard disk
crash or severe damage to the computer hardware which is irreversible. the environment also may have the
severe impact which can prevent the system to dispense heat properly sometimes.
Solutions:
Ensure that the CPU fans are working fine and double check that sufficient cooling is delivered to the processor
and their peripherals. You can use thermal paste and employ them between the heat sinks of CPU fan to make
them run smoothly for the upcoming time. Use Stellar SMART tool, it will notify the user about the hard disk
conditions and any future risks associated with the hardware. It also helps user about developing bad sectors on
the hard disk platter which can cause sudden system freeze or complete system breakdown.
Electronic Failure or Power Surges
Symptoms:
System BIOS will unable to detect the hard drive

Hard drive couldnt be able to spin up
Sudden startup failure
Reasons:
The UPS may not be able to deliver the required power supply, either too high or too low. It can also happen
due to the use of unreliable power source that delivers interrupted power supply.
Solution:
Make sure that the system hardware is getting only the required power supply. By using UPS of any well-known
brand could troubleshoot this. Also, consider making your system switched off when not in use or away from your
reach. If this happens to you and your hard disk drive has been inaccessible, download our software to recover
your data immediately.
Mechanical or Internal failure:
This error happens internally into the hard disk due to of bad sectors and blocks, spindle motor stops
functioning, PCB board itself is damaged and read/write head may become immovable.
Symptoms:
Clicking or grinding sounds from the hard drive

Files & Folders become invisible by the time. Files and folders can also become corrupt and prevents
you from accessing it.
Complete system freezes
Black screen after the booting screen which keeps resisting you from starting the system.
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Reasons:
The hard drive carries moving parts which may degrade over time and ultimately results in mechanically
damaged hard disk. A virus attack can erase hard disk data, alter hard disk operation or make the system files
corrupt etc. which ultimately contributes to mechanical failure. Many rootkits virus were introduced earlier which
becomes active as soon as you start the system and corrupt system functioning at BIOS level. Though, latest
Windows operating system such as Windows 8/ Windows 8.1 have the capability to detect that malware and
remove it using UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) technology.
Solutions:
Updating the system regularly or weekly, running latest copy of antivirus program, replacing the hard drive after 3-
4 years of use etc. are the common measures that can make your hard disk life little longer and gives you enough
time to copy or move data to another system.
Corrupted Files
Symptoms:
Important system files may become damaged or corrupt and prevent user to access their system.
Sudden system shutdown due to power failure or force restart can cause files to become corrupt and
make your hard disk inaccessible whatsoever.
Reasons:
Unethical way to shut down the PC, accidentally closing any running programs, use of malicious or faulty
applications, power surges etc. are the factors which contributes towards system file corruption and make the
hard disk unstable or stops functioning properly.
Solutions:
Always use the standard way to shut down your PC which can help your computer to close everything properly
and command kernel to stops powering remaining CPU equipment. It is also recommended to close any or all
the running programs before closing the system. Avoid installing malicious or faulty software into your PC will
also keep the hard disk going for longer.
Human Errors:
This error happens mainly due to of human mistakes and may cause serious damages to the system. For
ex, modifying the system registry settings, altering system files attribute and location, wrong installation of
OS etc. These types of errors were hard to repair and require the most powerful recovery software to scan
deeply and recover seriously damaged data.
Consider looking here if your hard drive becomes inaccessible due to access denied error .
Getting Your Data back from Inaccessible or Failed Hard Drive
The hard disk is destined to fail either sooner or later and you are required to have proper backup and
restoration plans handy. In case, the backup is missing or you backup plan fails, data recovery for Windows
software will give you one more chance of restoring files back from the inaccessible or failed hard drive.
Updated: 12 February 2016

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What if the hard disk is dead already?
In some situations, the hard disk may eventually become dead and without giving any grinding or screeching
sound. In worst situations, you may have missed the chance to backup your data to another device.
Warning: Read all the advises carefully and perform an operation with care. Any wrong action could make
your drive permanently irreparable and your data will be gone forever.
Prerequisite:
Avoid using the drive or the problem computer immediately after the issue occurred
Remove or unplug the drive from the CPU case and place it in the highly cleaned environment.
Ensure that the hard disk has any marks or hot spots on the external controller board.
You can also look and confirm yourself that not any drive parts are broken or damaged.
Steps #1. First of all, replace or change the SATA/USB cable as well as power adapter. Sometimes the
problems are very common and can be easily removed by just following the basic actions.
Step #2. If the hard drive is of your Laptop and youre trying to connect it externally when this problem
surfaces, consider buying a new hard disk case or swap the USB ports. You can also try connecting the
same to another computer and see if the system may able to detect it this time.
Step #3. If none of above seems helpful, now turn to check your drive controller board. Remember, any traditional
hard disk drive use to carry controller board mounted externally and need to be replaced carefully. It can damage
the hard drive platters and make the stored data beyond your reach.
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Make sure the controller board you are going to replace with older hard disk controller board is of same make and model.
You can also find a descriptive tutorial on how to replace or repair hard disk controller board over here.
Ensure youve enough equipment and professional hand (if needed) to successfully complete the operation.
Once youve changed everything, connect it to your computer and see if it working properly. Immediately copy
and move all the data to another hard drive.
Step #4. Sometimes, Windows itself may not be able to detect the drive because of file system corruption. However, Live CD
of any Linux Distros (Ubuntu works best) can still detect it and allows users to recover data exactly in the form it was before
deletion. Then go and grab an Ubuntu Live CD and boot the system using it. Once youre all set, navigate through the hard
disk partitions and safely restore all the data that you never wanted to lose.
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Various Signs of External Hard Drive Failure and their Causes
techweez.com/2014/09/25/signs-of-external-hard-drive-failure/
Alex Fintch September 25, 2014
News
By Alex Fintch -
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Hard disk is an integral part of any computer system. It is a hardware, which caters for the needs of various storage
requirements on a computer. Depending on the computer and the storage space there are various kinds of hard disk
available. However, a hard disk can crash unexpectedly causing some serious damage to the data. Such crashes make the
hard drive corrupt resulting in inaccessibility of the data. An external hard drive can also crash, making the data inaccessible.
However, you can recover data from an external hard drive or an internal hard drive.
Inaccessibility of data can also happen due to the crash of the operating system. However, it is very different
from hard disk failure. The operating system is a software that crashes due to logical failures, whereas the hard
disk is a hardware that crashes due to physical failure. Inaccessibility of data means denial of any access to
data; however, the data remains present in the hard disk. In such a situation, it becomes very important to
recover files from hard drive.
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In order to determine whether the failure is exactly logical or physical, you need to analyze the symptoms as well
as error messages if any. For example, in case the system is not booting and making any clicking or grinding
noise, this means that the crash has happened due to some physical failure.
There could be so many reasons for a hard drive failure. Some of the common reasons are mentioned below.
Manufacturing Defects
Some hard disk remains faulty since they are manufactured. Such hard disks can stop functioning or behave
abnormally after a few days of purchase. This happens mainly due to the improper testing and examining of the
hard drive at the time of manufacturing. Such a defect makes the hard disk inaccessible by the user resulting in a
boot failure.
High Temperature
Continuously using a computer system can result in overheating. Overheating can also be caused due to faulty
CPU fans or poor quality of the cabinet box. In case of a faulty CPU fan, the CPU fan either moves slowly or does
not move at all. This results in an unexpected clicking sound arising from the system.
Sudden Power Failure
An unexpected power failure can turn off the system in an abnormal manner if you are not using a UPS. In
addition, any fluctuation in the power supply can also cause some serious damage to the hard disk, making it
undetectable by the system BIOS.
Mechanical Failure
A hard drive is made up of various mechanical components. Failure of any mechanical component can make the
hard drive to act abnormally. You might experience a clicking sound due to bad sectors on the hard drive or
rotation failure of the spindle motors.
Data corruption
Data can get corrupt due to many reasons including virus attacks, sudden system shutdown, regular power
failure, etc. As a result, you cannot access any of the files and folders saved on your computer.
Human Induced Errors
Any kind of mishandling can also make the hard drive corrupt. Usually, mishandling is done unintentionally;
however, any intentional actions like modifying the registry files or altering the system files attribute can also
make the hard drive faulty.
However, there are various signs that make the hard drive failure predictable. Such symptoms can help from
unexpected data loss, by taking appropriate actions before the loss. Some of the common symptoms of a
possible drive failure are mentioned below.
Inaccessible Files
In the most common possibility of a hard drive failure, the files present on the computer become
inaccessible. In such a situation, you might see an icon for the file, but you would not be able to access it.
Drive not Detected
A computer stops recognizing the hard drive if it is about to fail. With an unrecognized hard drive, you would not be able to
boot the computer, if it is your primary boot drive. In addition, you would not be able to see the drive letter
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listed when you search for your drive.
File or Folder takes more time to Open
If accessing your file and folders is taking more time than usual, your drive is failing. Such an extended time to
open a file or folder can result in a possible Blue Screen of Death. In addition, a slow booting process is also an
indication of a failing drive.
Drive making Noises
A noise from the hard drive is a clear indication of some mechanical failure within the hard drive. It happens
usually when the hard drives head touches the platter. Such a noise occurs when you boot the machine,
indicating that the drive can fail any moment.
Bad Sectors on the Hard Drive
In case the Windows has detected any bad sectors on the hard drive, you need to backup your data immediately and
replace the hard drive. Windows has an integrated error-checking tool, which scan the drive for any error.
In addition to the above-mentioned signs, there are several other warning signs of hard drive failure. Some of
them are mentioned below.
Your hard disk crashes most of the times while booting up Windows
Error messages while moving files or performing any other crucial activities
Incorrect appearance of the file and folder names
Files and folders getting disappeared
Printing the file results in garbled output
Hard drive showing incorrect properties like available space
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Hard Drive Failure & Recovery
thewindowsclub.com/hard-drive-failure-recovery
By ArunKumar@TWC July 10, 2013
RECOMMENDED: Click here to fix Windows errors and improve system performance
The most basic and fastest storage system in any computer mobile or desktop is its internal storage. In computer
language, it is termed Hard Disk and comprises of a number of disks each with its own memory reader/writer head. As
with electronics, even Hard Drives have a limited life but sometimes they just crash. That is what we will talk about in this
article. We will cover how to recover data from a failed hard drive after discussing why a hard disk fails much earlier than its
estimated life span. We also discuss how to know if a hard drive is failing.
Hard Drive Failure
Working Of Hard Drives & Design
There can be n number of reasons why a hard drives fails much before its estimated life span. The structure of
hard disk is a delicate one even though it looks tough from outside. Inside, it is a number of thin magnetic plates
aligned in parallel to each other. For each plate, there is minimum one head for reading from and writing to that
plate. If the hard disk drive (HDD) supports both side write, expect two heads for each plate. Again, these heads
are positioned in a way that they do not disturb the alignment of plates plus heads. The following figure of Hard
Disk Drive shows how the plates and heads are aligned inside the tough jacket it wears for better protection.
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If due to any reason, the alignment is spoiled one or more plates go unreadable. In some cases, if the File
Allocation Table is destroyed, entire HDD will be unreadable without usage Hard disk recovery tools. The
following figure shows you how an improper alignment can create friction among two or more plates.
The most common reason for hard disk failure is improper alignment that makes one plate touch the other
thereby destroying data on the other or both plates. And the most common reason for improper alignment is
mishandling of the Hard Drive Disk. Do not go by the tough jacket of HDD. It does protect from small shocks but
the disks are still vulnerable and a little disturbance can destroy entire hard disk.
Among other reasons why hard disk drives fail are improper venting. The disks inside the HDD keep on spinning
and the heads are constantly reading them. This creates a certain amount of heat due to friction. If the vents of
Hard Disk Drive are clogged or if the HDD is used roughly without breaks over time, they may spoil the plates
and/or the heads leading to HDD crash!
How To Know If Hard Drive Is Failing?
In most cases, you can sense it. Like with driving a car, if you have to exert a little extra power for gas, you know
one of your tires needs air. Similarly, a failing hard disk can give away warnings. Look for the following:
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1. Sounds from the machine or the click of death anthem.
2. Heat just above and around the place where your HDD is seated
The above are just hints that need to be verified that your hard disk drive is failing. There are some free tools that help you
check the hard disk for possible problems. Some of them even offer solutions if they think you can yourself solve the issue
of hard disk failing. Read our article on freeware to monitor hard disk drive for details on the topic.
Hard Drive Recovery
If you can access parts of your hard disk, you can probably run CHKDSK to scan and recover corrupt
partitions. Read about using CHKDSK in Windows operating system.
There are some free and paid tools too. The free ones are good if your hard disk drive is not damaged much. If
it is heavily crushed, you might have to call a professional wholl analyze each plate of your hard disk using their
own methods. But that is recommended only after you tried on your own using software and not manually to
recover data from the damaged disk. For more details, read our article on freeware to recover data from
damaged hard disks.
Hard Drive Maintenance Tips
Hard disks will fail eventually someday or the other. Every electronic device fails at some point of time. The
best method is to keep making backup copies. There are plenty of free services such as Mozy, SkyDrive and
Google Drive that allow you to back up to the cloud. You may also back up to an external hard disk depending
upon your budget and other preferences.
Anyway, hard disk maintenance is not a tough task. A few simple tasks will make sure your hard disk lives
longer and works smoothly.
1. The first thing is HANDLE WITH CARE. This applies to all types of electronics. Your hard disk drive may
be rugged thereby reducing chances of damage upon falling. But why take risk? Make sure you are carrying
your laptops and tablets in cases that are easy to hold on. Keep them out of reach of children and away from
heat and humidity.
2. Save on the number of rotations required to locate and retrieve data as well as to write data. This can be
achieved by regular defragmentation. As with most of us, we often tend to forget important computer maintenance
tasks. I would suggest either an auto-defrag program such as SmartDefrag or better still, if you are using
Windows Vista and later add defrag c: /x /h to Task Scheduler without the quotes. I recommend
defragmentation at least once a month.
3. Using Power Options in Windows Operating System shut down the hard disk drives if you are leaving the
computer for a while. In my case, it is 20 minutes. If I am not using the computer for 20 minutes, the hard disks
are turned off automatically.
4. Keep eyes on HDD temperature using one of the freeware such as Acronis. If you get an alert saying the
HDD is hotter than it should be. Check to see if the vents are open properly and fans etc. are working.
5. Check up Hard Disk Health natively in Windows 8 | 7 using WMIC or Windows Management
Instrumentation Command-line.
This concludes why hard disks fail and how to recover data from damaged hard disk drives. If you have any
hard disk maintenance tips I did not cover here, please share with us.
RECOMMENDED: Click here to update all device drivers on your Windows PC

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Surge Suppressors - An Easy Way to Protect your Data
whatsabyte.com/P1/Surge_Suppressor.php
Backing up your system is crucial to maintaining the important data

you have on your personal computer or laptop. In addition to the
necessity of backing up your system there are a few things you should
do outside of your system to keep everything healthy on the inside so
the software can do what its supposed to do. In
addition to keeping your vents and fans free of dust to help the electronics run as cool as possible, you also need to make
sure that you provide a good AC voltage to your system. This is something that is often overlooked and in most cases is not
an issue, but as spring flies on toward summer, we have to deal with severe weather and that means thunderstorms.
Thunderstorms are accompanied with lightning, and that is where the trouble starts!
Lightning can cause problems with your line voltage even if the storm is not nearby. Lightning strikes on the
power lines can cause voltage spikes that will travel along the power distribution network into your home. In some
cases, if the spike is large enough, surge suppressors on the grid will kick in and you will see your power go off
for a few seconds as the surge is shunted to ground. The smaller spikes, those that dont trip the grid protection
system or a caused by a local strike, are the ones that make it into your home and can damage any electrical
devices that are plugged in at the time. Your PC, VoIP Phone, laptop, microwave and home entertainment
system, to name a few, are very susceptible to these damaging transient voltage spikes. You should realize that
lightning is not the only source of surges on the power lines. They can come from someone in your neighborhood
or home turning on things like a heavy-duty welder, compressor or motor.
Protect your Computer from Power Surges

Your first line of defense against the dreaded voltage spike is to use a surge suppressing power strip to protect
your computer equipment. These are typically rated by how many joules of energy they can suppress, with the
higher the rating the betterthat being ratings greater than 600 joules. You may also find a surge amp rating
instead of the joule rating and again, higher is better. And lastly, you may see a specification for the let-through
voltage. This is the how high the voltage can be that is passed by the surge protector. In this case, lower is better
with 330 volts being the limit established by Underwriter Laboratories. The power supplies that came with your
equipment will have some tolerance to these let-through voltages. Of course, higher joule ratings are going to
cost you more money, but consider what you are protecting and what it might cost to replace it!
You can unplug your equipment when it storms, which will work very nicely, but that tends to be more of a bother than most
people want to deal with. (And what if youre not home?) Note that if you have a direct lightning strike on, or next to your
house, all bets are offyour computer equipment is very likely going to be toast! (And, thats not lightly browned either!) The
large electric field that accompanies the lightning bolt can cause large currents to flow in the electronics causing the damage.
(Sorry, even if they are unplugged they are susceptible!) One more thing to consider about the surge protector you buy:
Make sure that it has a light that indicates that the protection device is still working properly. Some of these devices will give
their lives in the attempt to save your equipment. If that happens, you will no longer be protected when the next surge comes
in and you need to replace the power strip.
Lastly, I will just quickly mention uninterruptible power supplies (UPS). They can provide surge protection along
with the added benefits of switching over to batteries when the power fails or you experience a brownout or sag,
and they can clean up noisy AC voltage that may wreak havoc with your equipmentespecially computer and
audio equipment. (Something that a surge protector will not do.)
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So, if you are doing all the right things by backing your system up; keeping your registry clean and defragged;
optimizing your hard disks performance and PCs speed, then make sure that you are taking similar precautions
by protecting your system on the outside with proper surge protection and line filtering. Either way, do not forget
to backup your data!
Here are some Recommended Surge Suppressors from APC

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What is a Hard Drive Crash?
whatsabyte.com/P1/HDD_Crash.html
There is a difference between an operating system crash and a hard

drive crash. If your operating system crashes, whether you are using
Windows, Linux or Mac, that is a Logical Failure. If the hard drive
itself malfunctions, that is a Physical failure. Either way your data is
not readily accessible but it is still there. Of
course, you should have a backup plan and an image of your computer just in case but
if you do not; there is still hope for your precious Gigabytes of data you may have
stored on your computer through a data recovery solution.
The best way to prevent damage from a hard disk crash is to take a proactive approach
and back up the data stored on the drive. One of our favorite backup programs is the
Acronis True Image backup utility.
Determine what is Causing the Crash

The first thing you need to do is figure out if the crash is caused by a physical or logical failure. That is the tricky
part made easier by the Disk Doctors Drive Manager that monitors your hard drive and lets you know about
potential problems before they happen. If your computer crashes, it simply will not boot to the operating system.
You can get the same errors if the crash is caused by a physical or logical failure. If your computer will not boot
and you hear a grinding, clicking or whirring noise, that is a good sign that it is caused by a physical drive failure.
At this point you should stop trying to boot the computer and do not try to reload the operating system.
Physical Hard Drive Failure

If your hard drive crash is caused by a malfunction of the hard drive itself, there is still a very good possibility that
the data is still intact and accessible. You will know if it is a physical failure by the noise the drive will make. You
will hear a clicking, clunking, grinding or whirring sound coming from the hard drive. Do not mistake the sounds
for a malfunctioning cooling fan. Carefully open the case and listen close to the drive.
If it sounds something like this, it is more than likely a physical hard drive failure. This drive is still functioning but
by the way it sounds, its days are very limited. Notice the grinding, pinging, clicking and whirring sounds the drive
is making.
If you can still boot the computer but the drive is making a lot of noise, you could still get an image of the drive
or clone it to a new hard drive but that is risky. Do not try to start the computer and copy the files to an external
drive because that may be too much stress on the failing hardware. The best bet is to remove the hard drive
and put it into a different system to retrieve the important data from the drive with a Data Recovery Solution.
If you can retrieve the data, great problem solved right? Now all you have to do is buy a new hard drive and
reinstall your operating system and all of the applications. That is not a fun task. If you were able to retrieve the
data, you may still be able to take an image or clone of the drive and transfer the image to a new drive using
Acronis True Image 2016. It is worth a try unless you like reloading Windows.
It is true that todays hard drives are much more reliable than they were 25 years ago when the personal computers
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hit the market, hard drives are still one of the weakest components in your system.
If the physical hard drive crash is so bad that the computer will not boot or another system cannot see the hard
drive, then you may need to send the drive out to a data recovery solution like Disk Doctors or Stellar Data
Recovery. They both have an excellent reputation for retrieving data from a crashed hard drive. It is not cheap
but how much is your data worth?
Logical Hard Drive Failure

A logical failure occurs when the hard drive is healthy but you cannot boot into the operating system. This can be caused by
many different factors. A virus, system driver conflict, human error or a software malfunction can cause a logical hard drive
crash. When this type of failure happens, imaging or cloning the computer will do no good. Do not try to reinstall Windows or
run the useless operating system tools like CHKDSK because those tools can just make matters worse. You will need a
software data recovery solution from Stellar or Disk Doctor to retrieve your data.
Just because you cannot access your data on a crashed hard drive does not mean that it is not still present on the drive.
What you do from here depends on the importance of the data that is stored on your computer. If you are like most people in
this technological age, part of your life is stored on your computer and that data is important. I hope that if you have a hard
drive crash you can retrieve your precious data. Hard drives do crash and the best way to protect your data is with a
proactive approach that is to backup, image and backup some more.
Even if you did not have a good backup solution in place and you have a system crash, you can still recover
your data. Stellar Phoenix offers a wide range of data recovery solutions that can help you recover your files.
Stellar Phoenix offers data recovery solutions for Windows, Mac, Linux, Novell and Unix. They also offer file,
and email repair software so all of your data recovery needs are covered. Stellar has the tools to recover lost
data due to accidental format, virus problems, software malfunction and file/directory deletion. Check out the
Stellar data recovery products here.
Prices Vary
Hard drive failures happen more often than you might think. It could be caused by a
physical or hardware failure or a logical or software failure in the drive. Either way, the
Disk Doctors have a solution to recover all for your data in case of a hard drive crash. If, for some reason, your
hard drive has crashed and you did not have an image or a solid backup of your data, there is still hope. Disk
Doctors has all the tools you need to recover from a physical or logical hard drive failure. See the Disk Doctor
recovery solutions here.
Prices Vary
The Disk Doctors Hard Drive Manager allows you to not only backup, image and restore your
hard drive, it also monitors the hard drive health to let you know about problems
before they occur. Drive SOS is part of the package and lets you know about potential hard drive problems
thus allowing you to use the utility to clone the drive to a new one without losing your precious data. The utility
also comes with a Folder Manager that allows you to monitor hard drive space and track changes. See our
Review of the Disk Doctors Drive Manager
2/3
$49.00
Kernel Data Recovery offers data recovery software that recovers every aspect of data that
can possibly become corrupted or deleted. They also offer email recovery and
email migration software. Other services include; deleted file recovery, digital media recovery and recovery of
iPod files. Nucleus offers a demo version of their software so you can test it to see if it will recover the data that
you need before you buy the software. Read more about the Kernal Data Recovery Solution.
Prices Vary
Search and Recover is a data recovery utility that can recover files from your computer or
any other storage device connected to your PC. This utility allows you to recover
accidentally deleted files or files that have been lost due to a hard drive crash or accidental format. If you
accidentally deleted an email, no problem Search and Recover can retrieve the email from just all of the popular
email programs. Search and Recover's data recovery is instinctive and easy to use. Systematic wizards guide
you though most of the recovery tasks. Recovery features combined with bonus tools for system backup and
secure file destruction make Search and Recover a comprehensive program for managing your vital data. Read
More about the Search and Recover Data recovery Solution.
$29.95
3/3

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Factors that May Cause Hard Disk Failure

Why do hard disks fail?

Your computer is bumped or jostled while it is running;

Types of hard drive failure

Signs of hard drive failure

Clicking or grinding noises while running;

Can data be restored from a failed hard drive?

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Physical Failure : Contact Us

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How long does a hard drive last?

Why hard drives die

In conclusion back up your data!

Now read: How a hard drive works

Call now for expert help:

Contact us here for a free hard drive evaluation.

The Specific Causes Of Hard Drive Failure

Some other key causes include:

Contact us here for a free hard drive evaluation.

The Specific Causes Of External Hard Drive Failure

Believe us, weve seen it all.

How S.M.A.R.T. Helps Warn You

diskdrive get status

If there are no SMART errors, you should see this:

Warning Signs That Suggest Failure Is Imminent

If you havent had the opportunity to check your SMART

Computer Crashes Or Blue Screen Of Death A classic

Macbook Hard Drive Failure Signs

What Happens Next If Your Drive Has Failed?

Free Hard Drive Failure Consultations

Many people panic and mistake logical drive failures

Each day, HDRA technicians help customers troubleshoot

In doubt? Find out for yourself by calling the toll

Thankfully, hard drive failure typically doesnt look like this.

Contact us here for a free hard drive failure evaluation.

By Katie Nielsen November 12, 2012

By Ryan Goodrich June 4, 2013

Hard Disk Drive

What is a hard disk?

What is disk formatting?

Understanding the file systems

Understanding how a computer boots

Managing your partitions

Access the Same Files from Multiple Operating Systems

Make Efficient Use of Disk Space

Simplify File Access and Enhance File Security

Understanding drive letters

Understanding the BIOS 1024 cylinder limit

Changing the BIOS LBA mode setting

Get what you need about hdd tool, pc utilities

What is Partition Boot Sector?

What is the difference between FAT and NTFS?

Hard drive interface introduction and comparison

Primary Partition Type

Extended Partition Type

Why change partition type

Change partition type without data loss

How to convert logical partition to primary?

How to convert primary partition to logical?

How to convert NTFS to FAT32 without data losing?

How to resize RAID 1 partition without reformatting

Why you need to format partitions?