A Noisy Hard Drive Usually Means A Failing Hard Drive

A Failing Hard Drive

The hard drive is an essential component of any system. It contains all of the relevant operating system files and settings as well as personal files and programs. Because of the complexity of the hardware itself it is not uncommon for an aging hard drive to begin to show signs of failing. A failing hard drive can sometimes be diagnosed by clicking or other noises. When this does begin to happen you should attempt to remedy the problem as soon as possible in order to preempt the complete failure of your system. There are steps you should take in order to prevent this data loss from occurring or, at the very least, to minimize the impact it will undoubtedly have.

Listening To Your Hard Drive

A hard drive is typically a silent component of your computer. When running properly and effectively you should not be able to hear that it is running. However, when it is physically failing or when it is being put under an unusually large amount of pressure it will commonly begin to make a noise or intermittently make noises during its use. Neither of these are a good sign and they are usually indicative of a problem that is bigger than a noisy hard drive.

How To Remedy A Failing Drive

Damaged hard drives can be difficult to repair if it is at all possible, and considering the price of a new hard drive it is usually cost prohibitive to have one fixed unless it is absolutely necessary. This means that your best option is to act before the drive fails completely. There are two ways to preempt a failing hard drive – make a backup of the image of the disk or transpose the entire content of the disk to another disk that is not failing. Both are surprisingly simple solutions and equally effective in the fight against hard drive data loss.

Act Now

If you have any reason to believe your hard drive is beginning to fail then you should act immediately. Either create an image of the disk or backup all the files and programs that you wish to keep. Ensure that you have an operating system restore or installation disk created as well, and then replace the hard drive. Perhaps the simplest and most effective solution is to clone the failing hard drive onto a stable hard drive.

Introduction To Drive Cloning

Cloning a drive literally means coying everything from one drive to another using the exact setup currently on your hard drive. All files, programs, and settings are retained during the transfer and are copied to the new hard drive in exactly the same format. This means that you can begin working on the new hard drive as though nothing has changed. This option is often the best choice because of the seamless and faultless transition from one drive to another. If you believe that your existing drive is failing then this is typically the best route to take.

Third Party Imaging Software

Using third party disk imaging software you will need to create an image of your existing hard drive. Exactly how this is done will depend on the software you use but most are simple to follow with a wizard type interface that guides you through the process in a simple, step by step manner. Once you have created the image you should add the new hard drive as the slave drive and leave the failing drive as the master drive. Again, how to do this will depend on the drives in question. Your new drive should contain a map that shows how the jumpers and leads should be arranged in order to attain the correct set up.

Cloning The Drive

Once both drives are installed correctly switch on your PC and run the software you are using. Choose the “copy drive” or “clone drive” option and, again, follow the on screen instructions. This option will usually take some time to complete but will ensure that all system files, partitions, and other settings are copied across exactly from one drive to the other.

Replacing Your Hard Drive

Once the cloning has completed switch off your PC, disconnect the old master drive and reconnect the new drive (which now contains all your files and programs) as the master drive. Reboot your PC and you should find that your computer will run exactly the same as before but with a silent and healthy hard drive fitted.

Why Replace A Failing Hard Drive

Replacing a failing hard drive is relatively inexpensive. New high capacity drives of 100GB or more can be purchased for well under $100 at most online retail stores. This is certainly less expensive than the potential loss of all the data on your failing drive. Cloning the drive contents from your old drive to the new drive can be completed quickly and easily using hard drive imaging software – the option that is highly recommended for the majority of users in most circumstances. If you fail to fix the situation immediately it may be too late when you do decide to act.

Backup and Recover your data immediately with RecoverMyFiles