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The following article was published in our article directory on August 2, 2010.
Learn more about SpinDistribute Article Distribution System.

Hard disk drive health check

Article Category: Advice

Author Name: Charles London

Your computers hard disk drive is a vital part of your computer system. When you turn on your computer the hard disk spins up to 7200 rpm and then starts feeding data to the computers at very high speeds.

That your hard disk works reliability and at great speed is the result of perfection of the design and manufacturing processes.

When you instruct your computer to load data from the hard disk drive usually by clicking an icon on your Desktop, for example your word processor program, the data is located on the hard disk drive and read into memory in small chunks.

After a slight delay your word processor program loads up and you can start creating your documents. The hard disk drive continues working while you are working on your word processor.

In the background the hard disk drive will be serving the operating systems needs and occasionally copying data in memory to swap files and temporary files on the disk drive, so if your computer suffered a power loss, you will only loose a few minutes worth of data.

The hard disk continues to fetch and save data all the time that the computer is operating. Day after day minute after minute reading, writing and sorting data.

The data is stored in a highly organized fashion, your data is actually stored on the hard disk on ferromagnetic and nonmagnetic materials, which retains their state even when the computer is switched off. This type of storage is called non-volatile memory.

The hard disk drives storage area is organized into :-

Platters - thin disks of metal alloy or glass. Each specially treated surface is called a platter.

Tracks – a number of concentric circles defined onto the platter.

Cylinders – the same track number across different platters.

Sectors – a division of a single platter, defined by a number of lines running from the centre of the platter to the edge, defining a number of wedge shapes.

Allocation table or index. - A map or index of where each bit of data is stored, where "empty" areas are and a record of bad sectors.

A modern hard disk drive contains thousands of these tracks, cylinders and sectors. The hard drive uses these area to organize the data stored on it.

A hard disk drive is mostly a mechanical device housed in a casing that provides protection and allows it to be securely mounted in your computers case.

Over time the constant writing and rewriting of data can cause problems with your hard disk drive.

One of the most common problems that can creep in is bad sectors. Bad sectors can be caused by physical damage or write errors. Physical damage and write errors can occur because of suddenly switching the computer off or sudden jolts.
This is because the component that reads and writes data to the hard disk, the read write head, is moved back and forth across the disks platters very rapidly.
While the computer is operating and the platters are spinning, the heads float on a thin cushion of air mere microns above the spinning platters.

When the {PC|computer or laptop} is shut down normally and the hard disk has finished writing data, the hard disk controller switches off the motor that spins the platters, the cushion of air that is generated by the spinning disk on which the heads fly, {disappears|vanishes} and the heads sink down to a fixed resting {position|location}.
Normally the heads are moved to a safe area called Park just before the motor is switched off. This is an area where the heads cannot touch the platters when they stop floating. If the computer is suddenly switched off, the heads have no time to move to the parked position and they {crash|fall} onto the platter surface. This {sudden|violent} contact with the platter often causes the data stored there to be lost if the thin surface coating on the platter is damaged by the head crash.

{Slightly||Somewhat} less dramatic but still very {damaging|destructive} is that the data can be lost if the hard disk drive has not had time to {complete|finish} a write operation. Then the next time the hard disk has to store data, the hard disk looks for a free space in the index to see where the data should go, the heads are moved to that position and the data is written, immediately after that the index in updated. If this {operation|procedure|process} is interrupted in anyway, you will have lost data, if the hard disk controller cannot confirm whether the data in a sector is complete or correctly recorded then the hard disk controller marks that sector as a bad sector. This means it will not be used to store data. These bad sectors can build up {over time|after a while} and their number can increase {dramatically|significantly}.

Usually these bad sectors are completely usable but because of the high {levels of performance required|risk of errors}, the hard disk drive controller errs on the side of safety and {writes them off|marks them bad} for future use.

Another common hard disk problem is that of fragmentation. Fragmentation can occur because the hard disk controller will try to be as efficient as possible when storing data, it will try to store {data|information} in {contiguous|abutting} sectors, this means that the read-write heads do not have to move about too much to find all of the data required to complete the request as they would if the data was scattered about on the {disk|hard disk} in an unordered fashion.
This seems straight forward enough except that if you later delete a file, the sector that contained that data is marked empty and available for use.

The next time a write operation is required that sector may be used for the first few chunks (normally around 512k each).
If that file is a document that gets bigger over time, then at some point the number of sectors required to store that file may cease to be adjacent to each other causing the read write heads to have to move to various areas of the disk to retrieve the same file. This slows down the rate at which information can be read into the computer memory.

About disk checking.

The hard disk drive controller performs many operations and with all the reading and writing of data, error checking and index updating and others, it is very busy and errors can creep in and affect performance which if left can lead to data loss.

The obvious precaution to take is to backup your data regularly. If you want to be more proactive you should check the health of your hard disk drive periodically. Many operating systems run hard disk integrity checks as the computer is starting up.
In Linux we use fsck - File System Check or reiserfsck - for the Reiser file system.
Windows Operating systems use chkdsk – check disk, to check the integrity of it's NTFS filesystem.

The operation of the hard disk is so important that most operating systems perform a disk check on 1 in 10 startups to ensure that they can trust the information they receive from the internal boot drive.

Third party hard disk drive checking utilities can give you advanced warning of potential hard disk {problems|issues} and many can recover bad sectors that are good but have been marked bad due to incorrect index entries.

Remembering that the density of the tracks and sectors in these "bad" sectors can easily number in the hundreds or thousands, these errors can lead to a huge loss of usable space or severe loss of performance. Manufacturers often tolerate a certain percentage of bad sectors during the hard disks quality assurance criteria.

Microsoft Windows operating systems come with the Windows Defragmentation utility for checking your hard disk drives health.

In Microsoft Windows Vista you will find the Windows Defragmentation utility in
Start / All programs / accessories / system tools /.

This program will search the disk to find groups of data that {should be contiguous|that would be better kept together}.

This utility works by reading all of the disk sectors in order to gather together all of the related data, that data is then saved to a temporary file then relocated on the first largest space on the disk that can contain all of that data in contiguous sectors.

{This operation|Relocating all of that data} can take a long time so you should ideally run this program over night and ideally when the computer is not going to perform any other operations such as a backup or download, also avoid using the computer during this procedure as this can help to speed up the defragmentation operation.

Advanced hard disk drive utilities such as Active Smart which uses S.M.A.R.T. technology (Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology), can constantly monitor your hard disk drives operations and prevents unnecessary defragmentation.

An advanced hard disc defragmentation {utility|program} is also included in Ezsoftare.co.uk's
WinUtilities Professional Edition . Win Utilities Professional Edition can perform various functions to keep you commuter running smoothly including on the fly de-fragmentation, registry clean-up and temporary file deletion.

When using Windows operating systems, it is prudent to use a third party {utility|program}to keep your hard disk drive in good health to prevent data loss, decreased performance and system crashes.

Ezsoftware.co.uk has hundreds of software titles that can help to keep your computer system and hard disk drives in good health and provide advance warning of any potential threats to your system.



Hard disk drive health check

Your computers hard disk drive is a vital part of your computer system. When you turn on your computer the hard disk spins up to 7200 rpm and then starts feeding data to the computers at very high speeds.

The reason your hard disk works reliability and at great speed is the result of perfection of the design and manufacturing processes.

When you instruct your computer to load data from the hard disk drive usually by clicking an icon on your Desktop, for example your word processor program, the data is located on the hard disk drive and read into memory in small chunks.

After a slight delay your word processor program loads up and you can start creating your documents. The hard disk drive continues working while you are working on your word processor.

In the background the hard disk drive will be serving the operating systems needs and periodically copying data in memory to swap files and temporary files on the disk drive, so if your computer suddenly lost power, you will only loose a few minutes worth of data.

The hard disk continues to retrieve and save data all the time that the computer is operating. Day after day minute after minute reading, writing and sorting data.

The data is stored in a highly organized fashion, your data is actually stored on the hard disk on ferromagnetic and nonmagnetic materials, which retains their state even when the computer is switched off. This type of storage is called non-volatile memory.

The hard disk drives storage area is organized into :-

Platters - thin disks of metal alloy or glass. Each specially treated surface is called a platter.

Tracks – a number of concentric circles defined onto the platter.

Cylinders – the same track number across different platters.

Sectors – a division of a single platter, defined by a number of lines running from the centre of the platter to the edge, defining a number of wedge shapes.

Allocation table or index. - A map or index of where each bit of data is stored, where "empty" areas are and a record of bad sectors.

A modern hard disk drive contains thousands of these tracks, cylinders and sectors. The hard drive uses these area to organize the data stored on it.

A hard disk drive is mostly a mechanical device housed in a casing that provides protection and allows it to be securely mounted in your computers case.

Over time the constant writing and rewriting of data can cause problems with your hard disk drive.

One of the most common problems that can creep in is bad sectors. Bad sectors can be caused by physical damage or write errors. Physical damage and write errors can occur because of suddenly switching the computer off or sudden jolts.
This is because the component that reads and writes data to the hard disk, the read write head, is moved back and forth across the disks platters very rapidly.
While the computer is operating and the platters are spinning, the heads float on a thin cushion of air mere microns above the spinning platters.

When the computer or laptop is shut down normally and the hard disk has finished writing data, the hard disk controller switches off the motor that spins the platters, the cushion of air that is generated by the spinning disk on which the heads fly, disappears and the heads sink down to a fixed resting location.
Normally the heads are moved to a safe area called Park just before the motor is switched off. This is an area where the heads cannot touch the platters when they stop floating. If the computer is suddenly switched off, the heads have no time to move to the parked position and they crash onto the platter surface. This violent contact with the platter often causes the data stored there to be lost if the thin surface coating on the platter is damaged by the head crash.

less dramatic but still very destructive is that the data can be lost if the hard disk drive has not had time to finish a write operation. Then the next time the hard disk has to store data, the hard disk looks for a free space in the index to see where the data should go, the heads are moved to that position and the data is written, immediately after that the index in updated. If this procedure is interrupted in anyway, you will have lost data, if the hard disk controller cannot confirm whether the data in a sector is complete or correctly recorded then the hard disk controller marks that sector as a bad sector. This means it will not be used to store data. These bad sectors can build up after a while and their number can increase significantly.

Usually these bad sectors are completely usable but because of the high levels of performance required, the hard disk drive controller errs on the side of safety and marks them bad for future use.

Another common hard disk problem is that of fragmentation. Fragmentation can occur because the hard disk controller will try to be as efficient as possible when storing data, it will try to store data in abutting sectors, this means that the read-write heads do not have to move about too much to find all of the data required to complete the request as they would if the data was scattered about on the disk in an unordered fashion.
This seems straight forward enough except that if you later delete a file, the sector that contained that data is marked empty and available for use.

The next time a write operation is required that sector may be used for the first few chunks (normally around 512k each).
If that file is a document that gets bigger over time, then at some point the number of sectors required to store that file may cease to be adjacent to each other causing the read write heads to have to move to various areas of the disk to retrieve the same file. This slows down the rate at which information can be read into the computer memory.

About disk checking.

The hard disk drive controller performs many operations and with all the reading and writing of data, error checking and index updating and others, it is very busy and errors can creep in and affect performance which if left can lead to data loss.

The obvious precaution to take is to backup your data regularly. If you want to be more proactive you should check the health of your hard disk drive periodically. Many operating systems run hard disk integrity checks as the computer is starting up.
In Linux we use fsck - File System Check or reiserfsck - for the Reiser file system.
Windows Operating systems use chkdsk – check disk, to check the integrity of it's NTFS filesystem.

The operation of the hard disk is so important that most operating systems perform a disk check on 1 in 10 startups to ensure that they can trust the information they receive from the internal boot drive.

Third party hard disk drive checking utilities can give you advanced warning of potential hard disk issues and many can recover bad sectors that are good but have been marked bad due to incorrect index entries.

Remembering that the density of the tracks and sectors in these "bad" sectors can easily number in the hundreds or thousands, these errors can lead to a huge loss of usable space or severe loss of performance. Manufacturers often tolerate a certain percentage of bad sectors during the hard disks quality assurance criteria.

Microsoft Windows operating systems come with the Windows Defragmentation utility for checking your hard disk drives health.

In Microsoft Windows Vista you will find the Windows Defragmentation utility in
Start / All programs / accessories / system tools /.

This program will search the disk to find groups of data that that would be better kept together.

This utility works by reading all of the disk sectors in order to gather together all of the related data, that data is then saved to a temporary file then relocated on the first largest space on the disk that can contain all of that data in contiguous sectors.

Relocating all of that data can take a long time so you should ideally run this program over night and ideally when the computer is not going to perform any other operations such as a backup or download, also avoid using the computer during this procedure as this can help to speed up the defragmentation operation.

Advanced hard disk drive utilities such as Active Smart which uses S.M.A.R.T. technology (Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology), can constantly monitor your hard disk drives operations and prevents unnecessary defragmentation.

An advanced hard disc defragmentation program is also included in Ezsoftare.co.uk's
WinUtilities Professional Edition . Win Utilities Professional Edition can perform various functions to keep you commuter running smoothly including on the fly de-fragmentation, registry clean-up and temporary file deletion.

When using Windows operating systems, it is prudent to use a third party programto keep your hard disk drive in good health to prevent data loss, decreased performance and system crashes.

Ezsoftware.co.uk has hundreds of software titles that can help to keep your computer system and hard disk drives in good health and provide advance warning of any potential threats to your system.

Keywords: hard drive crash symptoms,utility disk,hard disk drive test

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