| If your hard drive is having any of these seven | | | | freezes or hang ups |
| symptoms then you must take immediate action | | | | You are working along just fine, and then |
| to backup your files... | | | | suddenly everything comes to a halt. The |
| "I do not fear computers. I fear the lack of | | | | program freezes up on you. Your mouse and |
| them." ~ Isaac Asimov | | | | keyboard seem to stop responding. The only |
| Like the late, great Mr. Asimov said, we shouldn't | | | | solution is to reboot. |
| worry about computers taking over but be more | | | | Sign 5 - Error message: hard drive is not |
| concerned when they fail us and take all our | | | | formatted |
| important files with them. A computer's hard drive | | | | This a fun message that you will get when you |
| is the central storage within the system and its | | | | start up your machine. You maybe able to restart |
| failure will bring all practical functions to a complete | | | | and get it to boot into Windows a few more |
| halt. | | | | times but this error is "fur-sure" sign that you |
| If your PC is experiencing any of the following | | | | drive is very close to death. And by the way |
| signs of impeding doom then you must run (not | | | | don't try to format the drive! You will lose all your |
| walk) and grab CDs to burn backups of all your | | | | data. |
| essential data. | | | | Sign 6 - Error message: boot drive or device not |
| Sign 1 - You hear high-pitched whining, loud clicking | | | | found or drive cannot be accessed |
| or grinding noises coming from the drive | | | | This is another favorite of mine. You can check |
| A normally operating drive will make a smooth | | | | the CD/DVD trays or the floppy drive to make |
| "whirling" sound as is spins up or down. But if a | | | | sure no stray disks are stuck inside. You can also |
| drive has a grinding or clicking sounds (the Read | | | | check the BIOS to make sure the system is |
| Write heads scraping too close to the magnetic | | | | booting from the hard drive first. If all these tests |
| platters), then your drive is sick and is on the | | | | are no-good, then the drive is a goner. |
| way out. | | | | Sign 7 - Errors: Operating system not found or |
| Sign 2 - You see the infamous "Blue Screen of | | | | Missing Operating System |
| Death", repeatedly | | | | This is a bad one. Even the Microsoft technical |
| BSODs (Blue Screens of Death) are actually called | | | | support knowledgebase has only got a few |
| "Stop" errors and they only appear when your | | | | causes for this error message. Basically your PC |
| Windows system is experiencing severe software | | | | can no longer detect the hard drive or the drive is |
| or hardware issues. Often BSODs can cured with | | | | too severely damaged to read (DOA). |
| a careful "Repair Install" of the Windows operating | | | | What to do if your drive has any of these |
| system or by removal of a bad device driver. But | | | | symptoms: |
| if these software fast fixes don't seem stick, | | | | 1) First, listen up, if possible, BACKUP YOUR FILES |
| then your hard drive is usually on its last legs | | | | NOW! |
| Sign 3 - Your computer keeps re-booting on its | | | | 2) Create a boot disk and run Windows Scandisk |
| own | | | | and set it to automatically fix errors. If it finds |
| I admit, I have only seen this problem a few | | | | more than a few bad sectors then see the point |
| times in my 18+ year career and in all instances it | | | | above |
| was due to hardware issues. Once it was a dust | | | | 3) If possible download and use a hard drive |
| covered motherboard, and another time an | | | | diagnostic program. All the major hard drive |
| overheating processor. But all the other times it | | | | manufacturers have free utilities on their websites. |
| was due to bad drives. | | | | Repair what you can and see point 1. |
| Sign 4 - Your system keeps having frequent | | | | |