Main Causes of Hard Disk Drive (HDD) Failures

    The main causes of hard drive failure are divided into mechanical, logical, electrical, and complex. The most common are:

    1. The appearance of bad blocks, sectors, scratches, as a result of mechanical damage to the surface when exposed to external vibrations.

    2. The appearance of bad blocks, sectors, during operation, as a result of the imperfect production process of hard drives.

    3. Failure of the operating system (OS) after installing updates to OS components, computer device drivers, or applications. OS malfunctions.

    4. Accidental or intentional attempt to destroy HDD data.

    5. Failure of engine control microcircuits as a result of thermal breakdown.

    6. Failure of NAND, Opti NAND, other types of memory used in HDD hybrid drives.

    7. Failure of printed circuit board elements as a result of exceeding the level of supply voltages, or using a low-quality power supply, or a power supply with large output ripples.

    8. Adhesion of the sliders of the system of the block of magnetic heads (BMG) to the surfaces of the disk as a result of the failure of the feedback of the positioning system, defects in mechanics, electronics, or unsafe removal of the device.

    9. Displacement, or wedge of the system of the block of magnetic disks (BMD), and / or mechanical damage to the MHD system, as a result of improper transportation, a factory defect in the shaft bearing, or violations of operating conditions.

    10. Failure of the algorithm of the internal firmware due to mechanical damage to the surface, the appearance of bad blocks, or a violation of the service data structure.

    11. Penetration of polluting and conductive substances, oxidizers, solvents, liquids on the printed circuit board of the hard drive, or inside the HDD.

    12. Exposure to external temperatures outside the operating range, large pressure drops, use of a hard drive under extreme climatic conditions not specified by the manufacturer in the operating conditions or in the passport data.

    13. Lack of access to data due to the loss of hardware or software encryption keys.

    14. Lack of access to data as a result of hacker attacks, virus infection, or file encryption by ransomware.