PHYSICAL REASONS FOR HARD DRIVE FAILURE

The failure of a hard drive can be caused many things that indicate a physical failure.  A new drive can be just as prone
to failure as an older drive.  This type of failure can be caused by simple wear & tear or mishandling by the user.  The
section below details the physical causes of failure.

SCORED OR SCRATCHED PLATTERS
The circular shaped platters inside the hard disk that contains all of the data on the drive are susceptible to scratching or
scoring caused by debris, dust, fingerprints, or contact with other internal parts of the disk. 

ELECTROSTATIC DISCHARGE
The circuitry on the drive is vulnerable to electrostatic discharge.  This is why you will find that hard disks are shipped in
an anti-static bag or shell.  The user should always ground themselves before handling a hard drive in order to prevent
such discharge.

FRICTION OF INTERNAL PARTS
There can be friction of the internal parts of a hard disk.  This can cause scoring of the platters or cause other parts to be
misaligned. 

READ/WRITE ARM FAILURE
A failure in the read/write arm of the hard disk can cause a "clicking" noise.  It is caused by the read/write heads on the
arm trying to find the information needed.  If the information is not found, the heads can crash onto the surface of the
platter causing data loss at that location and a need for a read/write arm replacement at the very minimum.

HARD DISK MOTOR FAILURE
Sometimes the motor can fail in a hard drive.  It causes the drive to give out- the platters stop spinning and the drive shuts
down. 

PARTS DETERIORATION
Any of the physical components inside the hard disk can deteriorate causing hard disk failure.

TEMPERATURE CHANGES
A drive is at risk for sudden temperature changes including overheating and condensation.  A sudden change in temperature
that causes condensation inside the hard drive can cause the material on the platter to evaporate which causes the read/
write heads to stick to the platter and stop it from rotating.  Overheating can also be an issue.  Overheating can cause the
platters to expand- which makes the read/write heads travel farther in order to read the data.  The expansion of platters can
cause friction which can lead to a head crash.

POWER SURGE
A power surge can at the minimum burn the circuitry on a hard drive and at the maximum could destroy all of the data on a
hard drive.  To protect against power surges, connect your computer using a high quality power strip or UPS (uninterrupted power supply).  Of course to receive maximum protection against lightning strikes you should unplug your system during
such storms.

HEAD CRASH
A head crash is when the read/write heads crash onto the surface of the platters instead of the parking zone.  A head crash can damage the surface of the platters causing data loss.

WATER DAMAGED HARD DRIVE
A hard drive can suffer water damage as a result of flooding from storm surge or water leaks.  Never apply power to a water
damaged pc.  If you are able to remove a water damaged hard drive from a system, do NOT power up the drive or attempt
to dry the drive with a hairdryer.  Doing this will cause the debris inside the drive to stick to the surface of the platters or
scratch the platters destroying the data.  If the data on the drive is important, the drive should be placed in a container to keep it damp while a data recovery company is contacted.

FIRE DAMAGED HARD DRIVE
Sometimes the intense heat from a fire can melt the platters which will destroy all the data residing on the platters. In most cases however, fire damage to a drive causes the electronic circuitry of the drive to be destroyed.  In this case, the circuitry
will need to be replaced in a clean room before the data can be retrieved.