An Introduction to Hard Disk Drives

The word ?drive? is usually associated with a device that is used to play the disc ? just like the floppy drive is used for floppy discs, or CD/DVD drives for those discs. In fact, looking at the history of Hard Disks, one would note that it too started out as removable media like these. All HDDs are sealed within their protective metal casing. It all changed in 1980 when Seagate came up with the new version of the smaller HDD.

The Manufacturers

In 1980, Seagate Tech made ST 506, the first 5.25 inches Hard Disk. Its capacity was 5 megabytes. Till date, making Hard Disks remain an arduous task requiring huge technical resources, a high degree of precision, and special atmospherically controlled manufacturing units. As a result, 98% of the world?s Hard Disk production is still monopolised by a few big companies ?Seagate, Samsung, Western Digital, and Hitachi, which has taken over the disc manufacturing section of IBM. Fujitsu is another company that makes hard drives, but not for desktops. Toshiba makes 2.5 inch and 1.8 inch notebook discs, specifically with laptops in mind. Between 1985 and 1999, a lot of smaller companies came into the market and went away too, as they could not sustain production. So, it can safely be said that Seagate is the market leader in hard drive manufacturing, followed by Samsung, and then Hitachi and Western Digital.

Types of Hard Disks

Hard Disks can be divided into two groups, according to where they are used, and according to the interface used by them.

A. According to where they are Used:

1. Internal Hard Drives: Most of the hard drives used today are internal drives, i.e., the ones found inside a computer ? from a home pc to a powerful office workstation. Most computers now use a minimum of two Hard Disks within themselves ? one of which is usually kept aside to house all programme files, while the other disk is used for storage and other work. Most hard drives are more or less fast, reliable and offer almost 100% of their space for storage.
2. External Hard Disk Drives: These come with an additional protective casing. Therefore, these can be used by customers who have to travel a lot, or work from multiple computers.
3. Laptop Hard Drives: They are made much in the same way as a pc internal hard drive, but they are more compact in design. Like the ones used in a home computer, laptop hard drives are also of two types ? in-built, and ones that can be quickly installed and removed. It must be mentioned here that many laptop hard drives are designed for a specific model only, and installing them on a different model will fail.

B. HDD s according to Interface:

1. EIDE (Enhanced Integrated Drive Electronics) or ATA drives: These are the most common interfaces used in the market.
2. SATA (Serial Advanced Technical Attachment): This format is gaining popularity fast, since it has several advantages over EIDE. The two greatest benefits of SATA are ? they are much faster ? and have much smaller cables, thus allowing more ?breathing space? inside the computer. The less cluttered the inside of a CPU is, the more chances it has of maintaining an air flow, and not getting overheated.

Data Recovery and the Hard Drive

We store data in the hard drive, precisely because it is supposed to be safer than the other media devices. But, sometimes, data stored in a hard drive that is securely installed in a computer can also be negatively affected. Broadly speaking, there are two ways in which a Hard Disk drive may lose or damage data:

1. Physical Data Loss: The HDD may be physically damaged due to water, humidity, fire, accident, water, or the impact of a fall. It can also be caused by the malfunctioning of other components, like a jammed read or write head, or a motor failure.
2. Logical Data Loss: Here the HDD itself remains unaffected, but the data is lost or corrupt. This happens due to accidental or malicious formatting of a logical partition or the entire disc, overwriting, fragmentation, virus infection and sudden power surge or spike.

To recover data, one may simply install and run a data recovery software available from the net, or approach a professional data recovery firm ? depending on the extent of damage done, and the volume and preciousness of the data.

What NOT to do When Your Hard Drive Crashes

With the amount of use most of us put on our computers these days, a hard drive crash can mean quite a panic. Not only are more people using their computers for their small businesses (both home based and otherwise) than ever before, but many people now have almost all personal information stored on their hard drives as well. This information can include obvious personal documentation such as digital pictures, videos, important documents, and calendars with date reminders, as well as information that is not so obvious, such as passwords to various banking services and other online businesses. Your hard drive may also maintain a record of web sites and services that you have used, which for many people is a deeply private matter.

When your hard drive containing all of this information does crash, many people will make hasty decisions on how to rectify the problem as their immediate concern is restoring the information and getting their lives back on track. Hasty action is often the wrong thing to do, however, especially where your personal information is concerned; one of the things to avoid when it comes to a hard drive crash is jumping on the first opportunity that comes along to get your information restored.

Most people will immediately look through the Yellow Pages to get the problem fixed, but this may lead you to a computer store or the computer department of a big box store. Retail stores are generally not the way to go when it comes to data recovery. The process can take a long time and in the end your information is not as important to them as fixing the problem with your computer; many times they will simply install new components or operating systems with no regard to the lost information. Not to mention, there is always the issue of privacy guarantees when it comes to these options or even using a close friend.

What, then, are the options when it comes to recovering your hard drive information? Well, just as you would go to a service store that specialized in tires when getting winters, you should go to a data recovery center for restoring your hard drive. These companies make their businesses solely from restoring your information, not from selling you a new hard drive. This specialized service is in itself a guarantee of the work involved. Their skill and their reputation for keeping private information private are necessary in order to stay in business.

Never use the services of a friend or generic computer shop when it comes to hard drive recovery. It simply is not worth the risk either to your hard drive, your information, or your peace of mind. These options are acceptable when it comes to computer repairs, but information is a specialty that should only be handled by experts.