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Have you been wondering how to extend the life of your hard drive? It’s a common misconception that your computer’s hard drive will last as long as the computer itself. Although this is true for SSDs, it is not true for mechanical hard drives (HDDs). These often have an average lifespan of 3 to 5 years depending on usage and file management. However, if you handle your HDD with care, you can significantly extend its lifespan. The lifespan of mechanical hard drives depends on several factors, including workload, environmental conditions, and hardware maintenance.
Mentioned below are tips on how to extend the life of your mechanical hard drive and how to avoid common mistakes. Are you struggling with technical glitches? TickTockTech experts are technically skilled to facilitate you with the solutions. And if you are not satisfied with the PC repair in Mississauga in areas like L5H, L4W, L4Z, L5R, L5S, L4X, and L5M, you can cancel within the first 30 minutes of the scheduled services.
Here are 4 ways to extend the life of your hard drive.
1. Always buy quality hard drives
The most important factor in increasing the life of a hard drive is its quality. Cheap discs fail more often than expensive ones because they are manufactured to a lower standard and because they are often made from lower-quality materials.
Hard drive manufacturers also use non-standardized techniques to test the strength of their products. As a result, one company’s 1TB drive may be rated for a certain number of hours before it fails – but another company’s 1TB drive may last much longer. The only way to know if a particular hard drive will last is to look at the manufacturer’s warranty and return policy.
You can also read several hard drive reviews, be sure to read reviews from average consumers and tech writers – who can dig deeper into the intricacies of the hardware. This will give you a great overview of the quality of the hard drive you are about to buy.
2. Handle hard drives with care
Hard drives are extremely sensitive to sudden shocks. You should never drop them and it’s best not to move them too much. Keep them on a clean, flat surface where they will not be exposed to vibrations or temperature fluctuations.
Although they are designed to resist damage from dust and water, do not leave them in high humidity areas or where they may be splashed with water or liquid. Most desktop hard drives don’t tend to move around very often, but some older laptops will be equipped with a mechanical drive. Laptops and portable hard drives are moved more often, so take extra care when transporting them. If you must carry a laptop or portable hard drive, always use a padded bag, case, or dedicated container. Make sure that the device fits well in the carrier so that it does not move too much during transport.
3. Keep hard drives in a healthy operating environment
Hard drives don’t like being anywhere near water, moisture, or humidity. They also don’t like to work if the ambient temperature is too high. Most computer components generate excessive heat, including hard drives. However, if you actively take steps to keep your hard drive cool, you will extend its life. There are steps you can take to prevent your hard drive from overheating, including:
- Improve airflow in and around your computer in general
- Reduce the ambient temperature of the room where your hard drive is stored
- Turn off the hard drive when not in use
- Regularly remove all dust from the outside of the hard drive cover, but never open it to clean the inside!
4. Manage hard disk space properly
Delete files you no longer use and keep only the data you need on your computer’s main hard drive. You don’t have to store everything in the same place; keep some files on external drives or cloud storage. Modern operating systems have built-in hard disk defragmentation. Fragmentation occurs when large files are split into smaller parts (fragmented). These small pieces are not always stored on the same physical segment or even on the same physical disk inside the hard disk enclosure. This results in slow loading.
You only need to defragment your drive when necessary – so use your operating system’s built-in tool to scan your drive and check for fragmented files regularly. TickTockTech provides you with the best online services to fix your tech needs. We value authenticity and transparency with guaranteed results, and our customers have reviewed us better than geek squad Mississauga.
Conclusion
As we have seen, many factors determine the lifespan of a hard drive. But the good news is that these factors are not that difficult to manage. Sure, there’s not much you can do about age and normal wear and tear, but everything else is under your control. By making a few simple changes to your storage habits, you can extend the life of your hard drive by an order of magnitude or more.
While no hard drive is immune to failure, there are several things you can do to extend the life of your hard drive.
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