Winchester is an important component of the system. He works on the preservation of personal data and those produced by the OS. But in a system with any element there are problems. The hard drive was no exception. It is heated for various reasons, which we have to deal with.
Device task
Before you deal with problems that affect railway, you need to understand what tasks it performs.
The hard drive is responsible for storing data on the computer. The device works with magnetic recording. Helps the system store data for a long time, seamlessly read and write it.
The fact that the hard drive is warming affects its popularity. If before users had no alternative, now everyone can replace a noisy and problematic hard drive with a solid state drive.
Now not every user can afford an SSD; moreover, it is not rational to purchase this device in all systems. But it is still characterized by high speed, quiet and smooth operation. Therefore, now combined versions of devices are so popular.
Problem with heating
Why is the hard drive warming up? The fact is that the problem of overheating is often found in this device. Especially problems arise with models operating at a speed of 7200 rpm. On average, the hard drive temperature should not rise above 50 ° C, but sometimes there are indicators at 60-70 ° C.
Also undesirable is the low temperature of the device. All indicators must be monitored to prevent malfunctions.
Causes
If the hard drive on the computer is warming up, you need to find the reasons for this. Of course, there may be a large number of them, but there are five of the most common ones that most likely happened with your device.
Firstly, one of the reasons may be the proximity of the components to each other in the housing. Sometimes the user calculates the wrong place in the chassis, and an ill-conceived cooling system can aggravate the situation. Similar problems can occur in the microATX form factor housing. All components emit heat, and fans do not cope with timely cooling.
Secondly, the device may have expired. Typically, the hard drive serves about 5-6 years, so after this period, overheating and other railway problems are possible.
Thirdly, the hard drive is warming up due to poor ventilation in the case, as well as a dirty chassis. Dust and dirt are often the main problem in this matter. Many users forget that they need to clean their PCs every six months, and even more often if possible.
The fourth reason is the oxidation of contacts. This problem, most likely, could be attributed to the expired life, but, unfortunately, this can happen prematurely.
And finally, the fifth reason is problems with the loop. Perhaps the cable is damaged or poorly connected, so the electric current "jumps", and unstable operation leads to overheating.
Temperature determination
In order to make sure that the hard drive is very hot, you need to get data on this. To do this, you will have to measure the temperature. No thermometers or sensors are needed in this case. It will be enough to install the program and analyze the device.
There are a lot of specialized software for measuring temperature, but there are the most popular ones that help to properly conduct testing of a hard disk. The user can choose to install HDDlife Pro, HWMonitor, SpeedFan. These three utilities cope with the tasks and can provide the necessary information.
Each program collects data on other components. But we are interested in indicators opposite the HDD line or directly the name of the hard disk.
You can understand that the Winchester is warming up by listening carefully. Usually it is strange sounds that give out problems with the railway. But in this case, it is worthwhile to understand that the problems are already really serious, which means that it is urgent to transfer personal data to another medium until the hard drive has deleted it yourself.
What to expect after overheating?
If the hard drive is warming up on your computer, it will not lead to anything good. The problem will have to be resolved urgently until more serious consequences appear. If the utility shows a temperature above 60 ° C, you need to immediately protect your personal files from deletion, since the magnetic coating is already starting to become damaged, which means that the sectors block the data in them.
Of course, if this has already happened, specialists will help restore the files. But this can not always be done in full, it can not always work out to cope with the problem in principle.
In general, overheating can lead to a complete "destruction" of the hard drive, so it is better to immediately find the reasons and resume the operation of the device.
First thing to do
So, you have determined that the hard drive is warming up. What to do right away? You need to immediately reduce the load on the hard drive. To do this, turn off resource-intensive programs, and then defragment. To do this, go to "My Computer", select each drive in turn and right-click on it. In the "Properties" select the tab "Service" and find the start of defragmentation. You can immediately start checking the hard drive for errors.
By the way, defragmentation by many experts is considered prevention from various problems. Therefore, it is important to carry out it and check the railway for errors regularly, at least once every 3-6 months, depending on the workload of the system.
Close arrangement of elements in the housing
This is one of the first reasons that the hard drive can heat up. Here are a few solutions. Firstly, you can transfer all components from a small case to the standard ATX form factor, and secondly, you can set up powerful cooling, which just helps to maintain the system in normal temperature conditions.
Terms of operation
Of course, if the hard drive is more than 6 years old, then such problems should not be a surprise to the user. It is likely that the railway will live more than 10 years, but it all depends on the integrity of the manufacturer and its capabilities.
If you began to notice that the device increasingly crashes, overheats or destroys your data, then it is better to purchase a new one.
Poor ventilation and dust
This is perhaps the most common problem. It can also affect the performance of other components. The cleanliness of the case and proper cooling must be carefully monitored all the time, otherwise you can immediately lose the main parts of the system.
Even if you purchased or assembled a home PC that generally does not need a powerful cooling system, in addition to the fan on the processor, you still need at least one cooler in the case. If you plan to make a gaming device, then you need not be stingy and get 3-4 coolers in the case and install a powerful fan on the processor.
Cleaning the system is an important task for every PC user. He needs to pay attention at least 3-4 times a year. It’s easy to clean the system. To do this, open one of the side covers of the case and immediately get rid of large debris inside. This can be done with a dry cloth.
Next, you will have to purge the system unit with either a small vacuum cleaner or a special spray can with compressed air. You also need to remember the fan blades. They need to be removed, to use a spray can with alcohol wipes.
Oxidation and loop problems
If the hard drive is warming up for these reasons, it is best to consult a specialist. It will not be easy to get rid of oxidation or change the loop yourself. Although there is an instruction for this case.
In order to rid the board of oxides, you need to unscrew it from the case, inspect for plaque and other defects. Next, remove large pieces with a toothpick, and then wipe everything with an eraser. At the end, you can wipe the surface with alcohol wipes and let it dry. Now you can return the fee to the place.
If there is a problem with the loop, just buy a new one or check the existing one on another hard drive.
Problem with laptop
If the hard drive on the laptop is warming up, then you need to repeat all the previous recommendations for the computer's hard drive. First, check the disk and defragment it. After you must check the temperature.
Next, you can clean the laptop. But unfortunately, not every user will be able to do this on their own, you may have to resort to the help of specialists. If none of the above helped, you will have to attribute the hard drive to the masters, who will definitely be able to determine the correctness of its work.
Remember that you should do the above operations carefully. If you have no experience with this, it is best to contact a service center right away.