Manufacturers of hard disk drives claim Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF) of millions of hours, which means the hard drives should work for more 100 hundred years. Practically, hard drives fail after a few years or even earlier if they are not handled properly or due to manufacturing defects.http://www.trcb.com/en-Us60Sat, 26 May 2012 04:10:51 ESTCopyright 2012 Thomas Karanja, TRCB.com All Right Reservedhttp://www.trcb.com/computers-and-technology/data-recovery/how-to-prevent-hard-disk-flash-disk-drive-problems-failure-17287.htm<p>Manufacturers of&nbsp; hard diskdrives claim Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF) of&nbsp; millions of hours,which means the hard drives should work for more 100 hundred years.</p><p>Practically, hard drives fail after a few years or even earlier if&nbsp; theyare not handled properly or due to manufacturing defects. Since data recoveryfrom a failed Internal,flash disk or external hard disk drive (HDD)&nbsp; is expensive,&nbsp; it is advisableto take a few precautions to prevent hard drive failures or problems&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>How to prevent having to fix it</strong></p> <p>1. Hard drives are mechanicaldevices, so dropping a hard drive from a height or dropping any object on thedrive could damage it. The hard drive should always be handled carefully</p> <p>2. Use a good quality uninterruptedpower supply (UPS), so that there are no fluctuations and spikes in the powersupply to the hard drive electronics. Power spikes could burn the electroniccomponents of the hard drive.</p> <p>3. Close all programs and shut downwindows or any other Operating system on your computer , before you switch offthe power supply to your computer.</p> <p>4.&nbsp; Ensure that you have sufficientmemory (RAM), else the computer will use virtual memory from the hard disk formany operations. This will increase the wear and tear of your hard drive andreduce its life.</p> <p>5. Do not touch the exposedcomponents (circuit board) on the hard drive, you could damage them. If the hard drive is to bemoved from one place to another, place it in an antistatic bag or antistaticsurface like a wooden table.</p> <p>6. Dust and high humidity increasethe corrosion of&nbsp; the drive, so use silica gel bags</p> <p>7. Defragment&nbsp; the hard driveand run check disk often, to fix any logical errors.</p> <p>8. Since electronic data is storedon the magnetic surface of a hard drive, strong magnetic fields caused bypowerful magnets will affect the data on your hard drive. Ensure that no oneuses large magnets or magnetic toys in the vicinity of&nbsp; your hard drive.</p> <p>9. Due to wear and tear, it isadvisable to get a new hard disk after 2 years.</p><p>10.Safely remove Flash disk from your computer by using taskbar safely remove hardware option</p>Mon, 19 Oct 2009 10:37:40 ESThttp://www.trcb.com/computers-and-technology/data-recovery/how-to-prevent-hard-disk-flash-disk-drive-problems-failure-17287.htmTRCB.comComputers and Technology / Data Recovery