Are you seeking a computer repair service in Las Vegas? The most difficult part is choosing which component is causing all the trouble. HDD or SSD?
Hard disk drives and Solid-state drives are essential parts of our computers and, by extension, our lives. Despite SSDs, hard drives are still relevant and commonly used storage devices. Both storage devices are very similar—almost like identical siblings—but are different.
Storage devices are among the most frequently failing devices in computers. Knowing the difference between both devices helps in making smart choices. If your computer is acting weird and you know which component is causing the issue, it saves you money and time.
What Is HDD And How Does It Work?
Hard Disk Drive or HDD plays a vital role in today’s modern world. The world is flooded with data and we need something to store it. Hard drives come to the rescue in such situations!
What Is A Hard Drive?
Computers cannot operate without operating systems. And we needed a storage device to install the operating system.
IBM introduced the hard drive in 1956, and it has undergone an elaborate process of evolution since then. When it was introduced, the storage capacity was fairly small and it was too expensive. The drive platters of a hard disk were thicker and stored only 3.75 megabytes of data. Today, HDD storage capacity has increased 10 million times more than the first HDD, approaching 30 terabytes.
Function of Hard Drives
HDD reads and writes data, making it the non-substitutable computer component. Most important, hard disks are spinning disks placed near the computer’s motherboard. A hard drive stores all the data your computer asks it to keep. For example, your images, documents, music, videos, downloaded files, in short everything.
So how do hard drives work?
You understand hard drives store data and information, but how? The process has gotten fairly simple. Your computer sends data to the hard drive where the disk controller interprets it. The disk controller tells the HDD what to do and how to move the components. And this is how your information gets saved on the hard drive magnetically.
What Causes Hard Drives to Fail?
Hard drives are a marvel, but all electronics have an expiry date. Hard drives fail due to many reasons and you may need hard drive repair in Las Vegas to fix issues, such as::
- physical damage
- overheating
- liquid spillage
- current fluctuations
- head crash.
All these are tangible problems causing the hard drive to fail. However, there are many examples where logical failure causes HDD failure. These logical errors include:
- virus and malware
- bugs or corrupt files
- user errors like improper shutting down habits
What Happens When Hard Disks Fail?
If out of a sudden your computer has started behaving abnormally, there is a possibility that your hardware component is failing. Let’s have a look at the symptoms which directly point to a hard disk failure.
Frequent Crashes
Cleared your computer’s storage yet performing simple tasks or starting up the computer takes ages? Failing hard drives could be behind the poor performance of your computer. So, if you are facing frequent crashes, you know what’s causing it.
Blue error message
A blue screen of death or BSOD appears after your operating system crashes. It means your operating system has encountered a fatal malfunction. It mostly occurs when your hard drive is overheated or outdated.
Corrupt Files
Random error messages while opening an app freaks everyone out. The error message mostly conveys the message that a certain file or folder contains corrupt data. Most of them if the unstable hard drive causes this mysterious disappearance of files and corrupts some perfectly fine websites.
Weird Noises
If your computer is making weird noises, it is because of the hard disk failure. While other symptoms could indicate the malfunction of some other component, you must know that these grinding and whirring noises are solely associated with hard drive failure.
How To Check HDD’s Health?
If you are experiencing any of the aforementioned symptoms, there are chances a drive failure will occur soon. To save data loss and system malfunctions, you can conduct a SMART analysis to determine whether the symptoms are associated with hard disk failure. Or you can just seek assistance from hard drive repair in Las Vegas.
Self-monitoring and reporting technology (SMART) analysis with these simple steps:
- Check drive issues by hitting Windows + R, type cmd, and click OK.
- After then a small command prompt appears, type wmic diskdrive get status, and press enter.
- If it says under the status OK, great.
- But, if it says Pred, Bad, Fail, Unknown, Caution, or anything else, it indicates a hard drive issue.
What Is an SSD And How Does It Function?
Today we have so much data to handle that one hard disk drive is not enough. Over a half-century ago, the SSD appeared in the computing world and transformed it completely.
What Is A Solid-State Drive?
SSD is relatively new and more sophisticated. It does not have any mechanical parts. While a hard disk drive stores data, SSD moves it. You can consider SSDs faster and smaller hard drives with no movable parts. SSD uses flash memory to store data.
It was introduced by Toshiba in the mainstream market in the 1980s. Since the 1950s, flash memory has been used in mainframes and large microcomputers. They were large and required a large amount of battery backup to preserve memory content when the machine was not on. The evolution SSDs have undergone is remarkable. It has gotten faster and smaller. It also no longer requires a battery backup to function. They are not as expensive as they were once.
Functions of Solid-State Drive
SSDs are non-volatile storage devices, which means they do not require power to run. They are used in high-performance technology areas where solid-state drives store persistent data in flash memory.
SSDs improve speed and increase the capacity of the computer. SSDs are dependable data storage with a failure rate of just 2.5%. SSDs are great for business, gaming, mobile devices, and servers.
Causes of Solid-State Drive Failure
Although this device is state-of-the-art, there are many causes behind the failure of a solid-state drive. It is a very versatile device, so let’s see what are the problems which cause SSD failure.
Physical Malfunctions
The biggest strength and weakness is non-volatile components. Since the components of a solid-state drive are not movable, it can be prone to spoilage.
Corrupt Data Files
Virus and malware harm solid-state drives more than any other internal problems. Corrupt data files affect the components of SSD and result in data loss.
Water Damage
The SSDs are not hydrophiles. When the drive gets exposed to water or heavy blow, it starts to fail.
Firmware Upgrade Failure
Solid-state drives require regular updates to enhance their performance. It starts to fail if the upgrading process gets interrupted or fails for any reason.
Other problems which may cause the SSD to fail could be due to using SSD for a program it is not designed for
What Happens When Solid-State Drives Fail?
The signs of your SSD failing are subtle until a major problem arrives. You will probably require a computer repair service in Las Vegas if you see these problems in your computer:
- excruciatingly slow laptop
- the sudden disappearance of data
- operating system loading failure
- drive not appearing on BIOS or operating system connecting to another system frequently
- blue screen of death, read/write errors
How To Check If Your SSD Has Failed?
If all the symptoms are there and you want to be sure that your failing component is not a hard drive but a solid-state drive, you will have to run a few tests. Or you can get in touch with an expert computer repair service in Las Vegas. Let’s see what you can do to check the status:
- Download apps like CrystalDiskInfo or AIDA64
- There is a taskbar, click the search button there, and type CMD, and then WMIC
- Now type diskdrive get status and hit the enter button
- If OK appears, all is good.
- If pred fail or something else appears, you need to backup your data asap.
Deciding Between HDD and SSD for Your Las Vegas Repair
Diagnosing the failure of a singular component requires expertise and ample knowledge. You can only make a better decision when it comes to deciding whether the SSD or HDD is at fault. Choosing an expert for the diagnosis. You need a reliable computer repair service in Las Vegas to run the tests and discover the problem. It will save your time as well as money because if you don’t, you might end up spending money on both HDD and SSD.
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