How Long Do Hard Drives Last?
According to NewEgg Insider, most hard drives are expected to live between three to five years. However, that varies significantly with usage and how the drive is kept. If you use your drive for hours every day and it’s reading and writing a lot of data, it will likely die sooner than one that’s lightly used. While you might expect five years of use, constant reading and writing will take its toll and might wear out much sooner, especially on HDDs. One way to hedge against hard drive failure is to look for a great warranty when shopping for a new drive. That way, you know at least you won’t have to bear the cost of a replacement when it dies. Just be sure to register your warranty and keep your documentation as required.
How Do I Know if My Hard Drive is Dying?
Though you may not get an error message or a red flag, signs that indicate a hard drive failure is approaching will probably appear. They can be subtle, so it’s important to look out for them and make a mental note when you see them.
Escalating Computer Problems
This is one of the hardest things to diagnose because it might just look like a memory leak or a slow internet connection at first, depending on how you use your computer. Some computer issues are warning signs that hard drive death is approaching. They might not feel very ominous when you first notice them, but they indicate trouble on the horizon.
Your computer is lagging more often when using programs it didn’t use to struggle with. Your computer is completely freezing or shutting down randomly.
These issues plagued a friend who noticed his computer was slowly acting worse than before. Games he’d played before weren’t running as smoothly. Other programs would lag or crash. He actually updated his graphics card and CPU because he thought the issues were signs of a bottleneck. The computer was still lagging and experiencing issues after the upgrade. Before he could troubleshoot further, the hard drive died. It was only a year old – much younger than the expected lifespan of a drive. When he put a new m.2 into the slot, the computer worked like new again. Even if your hard drive isn’t at the end of its life, you can be unlucky and have it die, with the only sign being the computer not working quite right. When your computer starts to perform poorly, don’t discount the hard drive reaching the end of its life as the cause.
Blue Screens
Blue screen error codes are great because they give you a place to start troubleshooting. However, they don’t always tell you the whole story and provide you with a specific and quick fix. This is usually the case with hard drive issues. When you see frequent blue screens with no other cause, run a scan to see whether Windows can detect problems with your hard drive.
Strange Sounds
Your computer isn’t a silent machine with the fans and mechanical parts working. While some newer drives operate silently, HDD drives do not. There’s usually a quiet hum emanating from them. Clicks, grinding metal sounds, or uneven groans are all unusual noises that signal a hard drive death might be inevitable. You should immediately back up your data when you notice these problems so that you don’t lose what’s important if the drive dies while you’re testing it.
Problems with Stored Files
Take note if your computer is lagging when opening files only from a specific drive. It might also occasionally say the file can’t be accessed. These problems can be explained by a failing hard drive that can’t pull its stored data promptly.
Certain Error Messages
Look for any error messages about bad sectors. When you see that, it’s time to use system utilities to check on the status of the hard drive and attempt to repair it. If it can’t be fixed, then the drive will probably not work at its best again.
The Disk Can’t Be Accessed
If you can’t access the disk, it might be failing. There could be other issues, too – problems with cabling or operating system malfunctions. However, inaccessible drives are a significant sign of failure. Some people restart their computer to find the drive is accessible again and figure that means everything is fine. It doesn’t work that way, though. The hard drive might have intermittent problems that don’t show up every second – but that is still a red flag for hard drive problems. Suppose your hard drive is your boot drive, and the computer refuses to boot to Windows. In that case, you can try the Windows Recovery Environment to troubleshoot your startup process, run Command Prompt scans, or even reinstall Windows. If these work, you can try to keep using the drive. If, however, the drive is inaccessible or refuses to let you install anything on it, it’s probably dead and needs replacement. Remember that not everything on the list is a guaranteed indicator of a dying hard drive. Instead, they’re signs that something might be wrong with the hard drive but can indicate other problems too. You shouldn’t replace a hard drive just because one of the signs exists. Rather, you should troubleshoot it a bit and keep your backups updated.
How to Check for a Dying Hard Drive?
If you’re comfortable using Command Prompt, you can check to see whether Windows detects a problem with your hard drive. You want both outputs to read OK. If they don’t, you need to troubleshoot your hard drive to try to fix errors on it. You should also immediately back up anything essential. Regularly checking your hard drive for problems can help you prevent catastrophic issues in the future.
Can I Fix My Hard Drive?
Usually, broken hard drives should be replaced. However, you can use the CHKDSK feature in Windows to try to detect and repair problems with the hard drive. When the scan is done, read the output. You should probably replace the disk if it found errors and couldn’t fix them. If it fixed the errors, keep an eye on it to see whether the problems you noticed reoccur, and always back up your files.
Why Do Hard Drives Fail?
Hard drives fail for a few different reasons. Those reasons depend on the type of drive and your specific situation.
Sometimes a hard drive fails because its physical parts are worn out or damaged. HDDs are most likely to suffer this kind of failure, often signaled by certain sounds from the drive itself. If the mechanical parts of your hard drive fail, you’ll have to get professional help recovering the files. Electrical failures are another common cause of hard drive problems. If the parts in the drive that let it communicate with the rest of your computer are glitching, then the drive itself may become inaccessible. The hard drive may also just wear out over time. No electrical component lasts forever, and that’s as true of hard drives as of anything else in your PC.
No matter what the reason, hard drive failures should be planned for in advance before they become an issue.
What Happens When My Hard Drive Fails?
When your hard drive fails, your computer can no longer access it. Anything on it is lost unless you use a data recovery program or service. If the hard drive that dies has your operating system, your computer will no longer turn on. If it is a storage drive, your computer will still work from the drive with the OS, but you will no longer be able to access the files on the storage drive. That’s why it’s so important to back things up even when you don’t think a drive failure is coming.
Can I Fix My Hard Drive After it Dies?
While some people fix their hard drives after they die, it isn’t the standard procedure. It’s more expensive and time-consuming than just buying another drive. If your concern is data recovery, some programs or businesses can help with that.
Is There a Difference Between HDD and SSD Failure?
Since SSDs don’t have moving parts in the way that HDDs do, the failure might look a bit different. You’re more likely to notice computer errors or file-access issues with SSDs. They usually won’t make a particular noise when they start to fail. If your computer is running slow or you’re having problems with programs freezing or crashing, it might signal an impending failure for an SSD, even if there are no auditory or visible signs.
How Do I Check the Health of My Hard Drive?
Performing a CHKDSK scan should give you information about how your hard drive is functioning. If there aren’t any problems with it, it should be fine.
What Causes a Hard Drive to Slow Down?
There are lots of reasons a hard drive might be operating more slowly than before. The system could be bottlenecked with another piece of hardware, the cables might be degraded and not transfer the information as well, the ports could be damaged, or your computer may have a virus. Problems with the hard disk itself can also lead to slower performance.
