Damaged hard drive

One of the main reasons for a computer to fail, though not the only one, is when you have a damaged hard drive, and this can occur for a number of different reasons:

• The electric motor that drives the platters could have failed
• The read/write heads could have been knocked out of alignment by a blow to the computer casing
• The circuit board could have a failed component because of a power surge
• The disc could have suffered from corruption if it was in the process of writing when there was a power surge or dip
• The disc could have become physically damaged by heat or water during a fire, flood, etc.

Whatever the cause of a damaged hard drive, in most cases it can be repaired, though it will almost always involve removing the disc from the computer and getting it to experts such as ourselves who have a clean room and all the necessary equipment at their disposal.

One way of telling whether you may have a damaged hard drive is to recall any of the warning signs that may have occurred in the days leading up to failure or pending failure. For example, you may have been getting obscure warning messages when booting up (switching on) the machine. You may have noticed strange sounds coming from the computer – funny whirring noises or groans or clicks for example. These are all potential signs of an imminent damaged hard drive, and they all tell you to save your work, do a backup if you have time, and shut down your machine. Make a note of the warning signs you have seen so that you can tell one of our experts when you call us for help.