One of the most important internal hardware components of a computer is the hard drive which needs maximum protection in oder to prolong its lifespan.
Below are some tips to protect your computer’s hard drive from damage;
- Update operating system regularly. There is no computer with a hard drive that can function without any operating system like Microsoft windows, MacOS or Linux. This says a lot about how huge operating systems influence hard drives. Operating systems are programmed in a way to demand update periodically. So, in oder to avoid any kind of conflict between the hard drive and the operating system which could even cause the hard drive to stop responding, make sure it is updated in time.
- Defrag the hard drive. Defragging a hard drive is just like rearranging your scattered stuff in your room. Just imagine looking for a needle in a scattered room, oh yeah, that’s how hard your hard drive works to find files if you do not defragment it from time to time. That kind of work is always going to weaken the hard drive.
- Avoid virus attack. Ensure that you scan external hard drive, pendrive and any other storage device that is connected to your computer thoroughly before opening them. There are some computer viruses that can damage your hard drive if appropriate actions are not taken. Remember, many hard disk formatting also weakens it.( We usually format computer hard drive due to virus attack)
- Keep the environment clean. Keeping the environment of your laptop or desktop computer clean is a vital means of preventing dust from getting into the computer and go farther into the hard drive. Too much dust in the hard drive can cause damage to it. It also prevents overheating.
- Keep voltage stable. This one usually goes with desktop computers because laptop is mostly used after charging its battery, which means it would not be connected to a power source during usage. If you are using a desktop computer and the sound of the fan goes up and down, up and down, it is likely to be caused by unstable flow of electrical power which can also damage your hard drive. The best way to prevent that is to get Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) or any other current stabilizer to stabilize the flow of current.
- Properly turning on and off the computer. Do not be using the power button on the system unit to turn it off, it is there for turning on the computer not for turning it off. Only use it to turn off the computer when it freezes but other than that turn it off through the right procedure.
- Do not move the computer while in use. This mostly happens in the use of laptops. When the computer is in use, there is a magnetic piece spinning in the hard drive which could be scratched due to the irregular movement of the laptop by the user. This is really a hard drive damaging act, avoid it.
- Prevent laptop from falling. Avoid falling of the laptop by placing it on a strong and stable object with a large surface area.
- Do not overload the hard drive. When the hard drive has too much stuff to store with no space left, it finds it difficult to search and retrieve data quickly thereby slowing down the speed of the entire system. This situation makes the hard disk weak.
- Never temper with any of the cords connected to the hard drive when the system unit is turned on. If you do so, the hard drive would be damaged instantly.
