The reasons for data loss can be several. They can arise from carelessness; they can be a result of ignorance; they can be caused by mechanical failure; or they can be the work of mischief. But, irrespective of the reason, the loss can be considerable.

The best way to protect yourself against a hard disk crash or disk malfunction is to understand the reasons for such a happening. This can then enable you to put into place measures that can protect you form unexpected crashes.

You must understand that hard drives are an extremely sensitive piece of machinery that can be damaged easily, despite technological advancements. They operate under extreme stress and can break down if they are not treated properly. This is what is known in computer parlance as physical failure.

These drives can also malfunction on account of logical failures. This means that there is nothing wrong with the disk physically; instead it is the information stored on the disk that is causing the problem. Cleaning the information in such cases can rectify the error.

Some of the common reasons for hard disk failure, and resultant data loss, are:

Firmware corruption: This software embedded in the physical hard drive is responsible for the working of the hard drive. When this software gets corrupted the computer is not able to access the data on the drive and therefore there is a virtual loss. This is an accessibility problem and can be easily rectified.

Electronic failure: Sometimes a sudden surge in power harms the controller board on the hard disk because of which it cannot be read by the BIOS. This makes data stored on the disk inaccessible till the problem is solved.

Mechanical failure: The heads of a drive usually are cushioned on a thin film of moving air that is trapped on the surface of the magnetic coated platter. When the read-write heads crash on to the rotating platter through the air cushion, a crash occurs. This damage is quite serious.

Circuit board malfunction: The circuit board controls the mechanical units. If exposed to fluctuating temperatures these can malfunction and cause interruptions and electric failure.

Human error: This not surprisingly is the biggest cause. Misuse, lack of maintenance and inadequate knowledge all contribute to data loss.

Virus damage: This happens when a destructive piece of code is inserted into the hard drive. This code can destroy valuable data before it is noticed. The best way to stop this from happening is to insulate your computers with the help of a firewall, and also use anti-virus software.

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