How Long Do Hard Drives Last? Lifespan And Signs Of Failure

How long will the hard drives last? This crucial question must be asked of every business and any individual who holds valuable information. Many people are unaware that their hard drive is likely to be destroyed if they wait long enough. In the words of Chuck Palahniuk’s novel, Fight Club, “On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everything drops to zero.” This means that given enough time, each hard drive will eventually fail.

The lifespan of a drive is contingent on a variety of factors such as the manufacturer size, the type and the environment. The most reputable brands that make solid equipment will last for longer. If you write or read more data to your disk the drive will deteriorate more quickly. In addition, hard drives react to the conditions of the environment So be aware of dust and electrical problems. Also, as we say Prosoft Engineering, if you want to keep your hard drive safe Prosoft Engineering, make sure to keep a backup up-to-date for your computer’s hard disk.

A Hard Drive’s Life Span

In general, you can count the hard disk for anywhere from three to five years, on average. An impressive study that proves this is from the backup service online Backblaze which analyzed the rate of failures for 25,000 hard drives. They discovered that 90 percent of drives can last for three years, and 88% over the course of four years. However, this percentage varied among brands. Western Digital and Hitachi second hand racks were more durable than Seagate’s according to Backblaze’s study.

Here’s an infographic that is basing on the information from Backblaze’s study

The data show that hard drives fall into three segments of failure. The first segment is linked to the first year , and the second segment is a quarter in which 5% of hard drives fail each year. The high failure rate at the beginning could be attributed to manufacturing flaws. Each lot of drives will come with some lemons.

The lengths of warranties, then appear to be accurate and enterprise-grade hard drives typically come with warranties of five years or more.

Hard Disk Drives vs Solid-State Drives

The two most commonly used kinds of hard drives come with different lifespans. My colleague wrote a comprehensive blog that explained the differences in HDDs as well as SSDs, which can provide you with comprehensive details. However, here I’ll discuss the time span each type of device will last.

Hard Disk Drives write code to the platter inside the drive. Because HDDs have tiny moving components inside they are more prone to physical malfunctions than SSDs. There are HDDs on the majority of laptops and desktop computers.

Solid-State drives use flash technology to store the data. Solid-state drives cost more, however they’re also more reliable than traditional hard disk drives. There’s no moving platter on the SSD and therefore they’re not vulnerable to the more typical hard drives failing. However it is true that an SSD still has an electric power supply and a capacitor that can fail.

Methods to stop Your Hard Drive from Failing

You can guard yourself against failing hard drives by taking a few steps. It is the first thing to create backups. With a complete and current backup, you are able to protect yourself from losing data. For tips regarding how to manage your backup properly go through the complete guide on backup of data for both homeowners and professionals.

It is the next thing to do: protect the surrounding area around your hard drive from any threats. A variety of things can disrupt the integrity of a second hand hard disk. This includes weather, heat, dust and electrical surges, theft and other dangers to travel.

Finally, you should change your hard drive after three to five years. When you transfer your data to the latest hard drive you can create redundant data and allow you more time to store your data.

Signs of A Failing Hard Drive

There are a myriad of signs that a hard disk may be failing. Be aware if your PC becomes slow, regularly is unable to function, or shows warnings about corrupted files or bad sectors. Unintentional shutdowns and malware could affect your hard drive, too.

However, if you experience unusual grinding or clicking sounds emanating from your hard disk then you may be experiencing physical problems. It is important to turn off the hard drive in order to prevent any further harm. For more information about physical failure of your hard drive check out our latest hard drive recovery pages.

How to navigate Data Recovery with macOS Catalina

Upgrades to macOS Catalina could lead to problems with data recovery. If this is something you’ve experienced or you’re unable to locate the file you want on your Mac There are many methods to solve this issue. In the first place, you must be sure that the file was not accidentally put in the trash. To check this, simply click on your Trash , and a window should open that will allow users to look for the file. Enter your file’s name in the search box and then search for it.

If none of these options are working, then you should seek out an expert data recovery specialist to determine how to get the macOS Catalina files without any anxiety or unneeded costs.

If Your Hard Drive Has Failed

There are basically two reasons for drives failing both physically and logically. In the case of logical failures it is possible to use programs for recovering data like Data Rescue to find your files. Data Rescue is a data recovery program that is designed for drives that were damaged, erased, or crashed.