Diagnosing Hard Drive Problems

What exactly is a computer hard disk?

A computer hard disk lets you store data on your computer. Nowadays, the size of the internal hard disk ranges to as high as 1000 GB unlike external hard drives that can hover in the TB range. The more the hard drive space available on your computer the better the speed and the capacity to store more information on your computer.

How can one diagnose a computer hard disk problem?

A hard disk failure message

The only time diagnosing a hard drive problem is easy is when you get a Hard Disk Failure message on your computer. Aside from such messages, symptoms that are associated to a faulty computer hard disk may in fact be due to a different hardware problem and not the PC hard drive.

A disk failure message on your computer screen could be due to failing power supply. To resolve this, check your power connection. If the connection is good, then the problem may probably be coming from the power pack charger that you can easily replace by visiting the nearest computer store near you.

The next possible reason for a hard disk failure message could be due to a loosely connected interface cable. Check to see if the cable is well-connected to the hard disk.

Unusual Sound from the hard disk drive

A mild noise from the hard disk of your computer is normal. However, an unusual noise is due to a failing computer hard disk. The best thing at this stage is to backup all data on your system. Shut down the computer system and unplug it from power for a while. If you are using a laptop, remove the battery for some time.

"Cannot load Operating System" or the PC is on but the OS is not coming on

Let us start from the bad news. The boot sector may be faulty and needs reformatting. Note that reformatting will delete all data, so ensure that you back up your files before you do this. Before you do that, check to see if the power connection is okay. If you are comfortable with opening up computer systems, check for a loose connection.

Cannot Access Hard Disk after Booting from an External Disk or Storage Device

A virus infected external disk or storage device could temporarily deprive you access to the data on your hard drive. To resolve this problem, perform a complete system scan with an up-to-date antivirus and resolve any issues.

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-By Dominic

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