Hard Drive Failure: Is Power Cut Risky?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the risks associated with power cuts while using a hard drive, particularly focusing on potential damage to the hard drive and the implications for data integrity. Participants explore the effects of sudden power loss on hard drives, including the possibility of data corruption and hardware failure.

Discussion Character

  • Debate/contested
  • Technical explanation
  • Exploratory

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants express concern that power cuts could lead to hard drive damage, particularly due to the heads not being properly parked when power is lost.
  • Others argue that while hard drive failure may not be guaranteed, the risk of data corruption is significant, especially if critical files like the boot.ini become inaccessible.
  • One participant describes their experience with a hard drive making unusual noises and failing to appear in BIOS, suggesting a hardware error may have led to software issues.
  • A suggestion is made for using an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) to mitigate risks associated with power cuts, allowing for a proper shutdown process.
  • Another participant shares a negative experience with a specific brand of hard drive, indicating that certain models may be more prone to failure than others.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally agree that power cuts pose risks to data integrity, particularly through data corruption. However, there is disagreement regarding the extent of potential damage to the hard drive itself, with some asserting that it could lead to hardware failure while others remain uncertain.

Contextual Notes

Participants reference specific experiences and anecdotal evidence regarding hard drive performance and reliability, but no consensus is reached on the definitive risks or solutions related to power cuts.

Who May Find This Useful

This discussion may be useful for individuals concerned about data integrity and hard drive reliability, particularly in environments prone to power interruptions.

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Sometimes my electricity cuts out completely when I am running win2k pro (pesky coin meter) do you think this could damage a harddrive attached to my system, I have had one master boot go down on me already?
 
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I don't know if it could lead to hard drive failure but certainly the risk of data corruption exists. When you talk about having a master boot go down I assume you mean the boot.ini file wasn't found upon rebooting of the computer? This would be an instance of data corruption rather than hard drive failure.
 
This could definitely damage a hard drive. A hard drive is a magnetic metal disk (usually several, I believe) that spins. It holds all your data with a system of on and off switches known as bits. There are pieces called "heads" inside your hard drive that read from the magnetic disk. They don't touch the disk, but come very close to touching it. When you cut power to your pc, these heads are left off the disk surface. Your hard drive can get damaged seriously if it is bumped hard in this condition. When you actually shut down your pc the proper way, the heads lock into grooves specifically made for them so that the hard drive can handle more abuse before failure. I don't know if everything in there is correct, but that's pretty close to correct.
 
Yeah sounds about right, I guess there can be no fail safe if the harddrive has no internal power supply. Wonder if there is some sort of cheap internal ups system you can link up in series with the hd's power supply.

I don't know if it could lead to hard drive failure but certainly the risk of data corruption exists. When you talk about having a master boot go down I assume you mean the boot.ini file wasn't found upon rebooting of the computer? This would be an instance of data corruption rather than hard drive failure.

I think the hardware error caused the software error so to speak. The drive was making all sorts of funny noises and did not show up in bios :/ lucky I keep a backup os on a spare disk. Eventually got it work again and using data recovery tools etc I got most of my important data of it before thowing it away. Good few days down the pooper and a lot of sweating though.

edit: Thanks for the above post will check out the links
 
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Seagate hardrive is lousy, bad sectors developed into multi-megabytes after a few months use.
MAxtor or WD is better.
 

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