EC602-Computer System Diagnosis and Maintenance

End of Chapter 1-B

Name & Reg. No: LOH ZHI WEN 02DTK12F1091

Question / Problem statement

Common failures & preventive maintenance for memory storage devices for
1. Hard Disk Drive
2. Optical Disk
3. Removable Media
a. Thumb Drive
b. Memory Card SD, MMC,
Answer / Solution

1. Common failures & preventive maintenance for Hard Disk Drive

Hard Drive Failure

Working Of Hard Drives & Design
There can be n number of reasons why a hard drives fails much before its estimated life
span. The structure of hard disk is a delicate one even though it looks tough from outside.
Inside, it is a number of thin magnetic plates aligned in parallel to each other. For each
plate, there is minimum one head for reading from and writing to that plate. If the hard disk
drive (HDD) supports both side write, expect two heads for each plate. Again, these heads
are positioned in a way that they do not disturb the alignment of plates plus heads. The
following figure of Hard Disk Drive shows how the plates and heads are aligned inside the
tough jacket it wears for better protection.

If due to any reason, the alignment is spoiled one or more plates go unreadable. In some
cases, if the File Allocation Table is destroyed, entire HDD will be unreadable without usage
Hard disk recovery tools. The following figure shows you how an improper alignment can
create friction among two or more plates.

The most common reason for hard disk failure is improper alignment that makes one plate
touch the other thereby destroying data on the other or both plates. And the most
common reason for improper alignment is mishandling of the Hard Drive Disk. Do not go by
the tough jacket of HDD. It does protect from small shocks but the disks are still vulnerable
and a little disturbance can destroy entire hard disk.
Among other reasons why hard disk drives fail are improper venting. The disks inside the
HDD keep on spinning and the heads are constantly reading them. This creates a certain
amount of heat due to friction. If the vents of Hard Disk Drive are clogged or if the HDD is
used roughly without breaks over time, they may spoil the plates and/or the heads
leading to HDD crash!

How To Know If Hard Drive Is Failing?

In most cases, you can sense it. Like with driving a car, if you have to exert a little extra
power for gas, you know one of your tires needs air. Similarly, a failing hard disk can give
away warnings. Look for the following:

1 Sounds from the machine or the click of death anthem.

2. Heat just above and around the place where your HDD is seated.
3. Mechanical Failure
Mechanical damage normally arises as a result of impact or wear and tear.
Internal components, like the read-write head and motors, can become faulty without
prior warning. The much dreaded head crash could be a by-product of mechanical
failure.
-Symptoms:
a.

Clicking, grinding sounds

b.

Completely quiet due to " motor freeze"

c.

"music" tone as the disk is powered up

4. Logical Failure

Logical failure refers to any other non-physical failure types. It can be the
easiest or the most difficult recovery job depending on the circumstances that
leads to logical failure.

Some examples include: Accidental deletion, accidental format, file corruption,

software bugs, file system corruption, viruses and malware, and many, many
more.

5. Firmware Failure

Firmware is the software program normally only accessible by the disk

manufacturers. It is used to do low level disk testing and functions that are directly
responsible for the proper functions and healthy state of hard disk.

Without the firmware code, no communication will be possible between the PC

system and the hard disk.

Modern disks normally have their firmware codes located on data platters and also
the PCB board. If the firmware area of the platter is corrupted, the drive will appear
to have failed even all the electrical and mechanical components are still fully
functional.

-Symptoms:
a.

drive powers up, but is not recognised by the computer

b.

drive powers up, but is recognised wrongly, sometimes with nonsensical

characters

c.

drive freezes during booting up

a. Bad Platter Area

Hard Drive Maintenance Tips

Hard disks will fail eventually someday or the other. Every electronic device fails at some
point of time. The best method is to keep making backup copies. There are plenty of free
services such as Mozy, SkyDrive and Google Drive that allow you to back up to the cloud.
You may also back up to an external hard disk depending upon your budget and other
preferences.
Anyway, hard disk maintenance is not a tough task. A few simple tasks will make sure your
hard disk lives longer and works smoothly.
1. The first thing is HANDLE WITH CARE. This applies to all types of electronics.
Your hard disk drive may be rugged thereby reducing chances of damage upon
falling. But why take risk? Make sure you are carrying your laptops and tablets in
cases that are easy to hold on. Keep them out of reach of children and away from
heat and humidity.
2. Save on the number of rotations required to locate and retrieve data as well as to
write data. This can be achieved by regular defragmentation. As with most of us, we
often tend to forget important computer maintenance tasks. I would suggest either an
auto-defrag program such as SmartDefrag or better still, if you are using Windows
Vista and later add defrag c: /x /h to Task Scheduler without the quotes. I
recommend defragmentation at least once a month.
3. Using Power Options in Windows Operating System shut down the hard disk drives
if you are leaving the computer for a while. In my case, it is 20 minutes. If I am not
using the computer for 20 minutes, the hard disks are turned off automatically.
4. Keep eyes on HDD temperature using one of the freeware such as Acronis. If you
get an alert saying the HDD is hotter than it should be. Check to see if the vents are
open properly and fans etc. are working.
5. Check up Hard Disk Health natively in Windows 8 | 7 using WMIC or Windows
Management Instrumentation Command-line.
http://www.thewindowsclub.com/hard-drive-failure-recovery
http://www.adrc.com/hard_disk_failures.html

6. Common failures & preventive maintenance for Optical Disk

Common failures:
Drive is powered, but shows no sign of function
Clicking sound as the heads search or initialize
Unable to read disk

Preventive maintenance:
Always handle optical disks by the edges to avoid finger prints.
Optical disks can be wiped with a soft lint-free cloth or lens tissue.
Always wipe in a straight line from the inner hub to the outer rim.
http://www.repairfaq.org/sam/cdfaq.htm

1. Removable Media:
Common Failures:
a. Thumb Drive
FLASH DRIVES FAIL for all sorts of reasons, and we at FlashDrivePros LLC have certainly seen our share
of issues over the years. Here are the top three causes of flash drive failure that we come across on a regular
basis.

Broken Flash Drive Connectors

The most common type of flash drive damage is a broken USB connector. When a flash drive is sticking out of
the side of a laptop or the front of a PC tower, it's very easy to bump or kick it causing the connector to bend
or even break off completely. When this happens, it's very important to unplug the flash drive and not to plug it
back in. When a flash drive's connector is bent, sometimes the power lead will be torn loose from the circuit
board and short circuit across other components or data connections. Plugging it in in such a state could
cause serious damage and make recovery very difficult or even impossible.
Sometimes people with soldering iron experience will try to re-attach the broken leads themselves. However,
more often than not, the solder pads have been torn off the circuit board leaving nothing for the solder to
attach to. Is such cases, we will either rebuild the solder runs or solder pads. Or if the damage is too severe,
we will either remove and attach the memeory chip(s) to a new identical circuit board or use one of our
external NAND chip readers to access the raw data directly.

Failed Flash Drive Components

Sometimes one of a flash drive's components such as a micro-controller, oscillator, resistor or

capacitor will burn out and need to be replaced. Having a very large inventory of old flash drives
means we often have replacement parts on hand. If not, one options is to locate or purchase a flash
drive of the exact same model to use for parts.
From time to time a customer will ask us if they can use a flash drive after it has been repaired by the
FlashDrivePros. This is not advisable since the process of repairing a flash drive for the purpose of data
recovery is very different from the manufacturing process. Any flash drive that has been repaired by a
data recovery shop should not be used as it will likely stop working very soon.

Flash Drive File System Damage

Pulling a flash drive out while files are still transfering, power surges, viruses, and a host of other
things cause file system damage in flash drives. When file system damage occurs, we usually have to
use advanced command-line software tools to locate, repair and rebuild the data. This can be a very
difficult and time-consuming process. One way to protect against file system damage is to always use
the "safely remove hardware" feature in Windows.
http://www.flashdrivepros.com/_blog/USB_Flash_Drive_Data_Recovery_Blog/post/Three-MostCommon-Types-of-Flash-Drive-Failure/

b. Memory Card
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Memory Card Is Write Protected or Locked

o SD memory cards have a lock on them that prevents memory
from being stored on the card while the lock is on the "on"
position.

Memory Card Problems and How to Solve Them

Listed below are six common problems that can occur with memory cards.
Straightforward solutions are presented for each issue, so that users will not face the
problem of shooting photos with no way to store them for sharing later.
1. Memory Card Is Write Protected or Locked
SD memory cards have a lock on them that prevents memory from being stored on the
card while the lock is on the "on" position. If the memory card is in the locked position
and the user tries to record photos or videos, a message will appear, signifying that the
memory card is write-protected or locked.
The solution for this problem is simple. SD cards and their variants (SDHC and SDXC
cards) have a lock switch on the left side. If the lock is in the bottom position, slide it up
to unlock the card. If that still does not unlock the card, toggle the switch back and forth
three times and put it back into the locked position for thirty seconds. After half a minute,
slide the switch into unlocked position and try to shoot some photos again. If the camera
still gives a message indicating the card is locked or write-protected, format the card (see
section on formatting below).
2. Card Cannot Be Used Error Message
Sometimes the camera will display a message that the memory card cannot be used. In
this case, it is not clear what the problem is, only that the camera is not properly reading
the card. When a user receives this message, the first step is to turn the camera off and
back on, making sure not to do so while the cameras busy light is on. The user should
then be able to view photos and videos by pressing the cameras playback button. If this
still does not solve the problem, the user should try to back up the cards data on the
computer and format the memory card.
3. Missing or Unreadable Files
A memory card may be working just fine, recording all of the photos and videos that the
camera is capturing, but some of those photos and videos may appear to be missing or
unreadable. In this case, an external solution is required. The first step is to acquire data
recovery software and run the memory card through it. Good data recovery software
should be able to restore the seemingly lost photos and videos.
If software still does not work, the memory card can be taken to a computer or camera
repair center, or sent to a data recovery center. These service providers have top-notch
software and machinery that may be able to help where data recovery software could
not.
Whether either of these methods is successful in recovering photos and videos or not,
the memory card should always be formatted after recovery is attempted.
4. Memory Card Runs Slowly
At times, it might seem like a memory card is transferring data much more slowly than
usual. In cases such as this, it may not actually be a problem with the card. As previously
mentioned, every memory card has a speed rating that indicates how quickly photos and
videos can be transferred from the card to another storage device. If the card has a low
speed rating, transfer times will be longer.
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It is also possible that the memory card is performing sub-optimally. In this case,
formatting the card may solve the problem.
5. Damaged or Corrupted Card
Memory cards are sensitive devices that are prone to damage. Many different things,
such as immersion in water and being subjected to extreme heat or cold, can damage or
corrupt a memory card. In this case, the memory card is generally unusable. The best
that the owner of a damaged or corrupted memory card can hope for is to recover the
data on the card. It is therefore recommended, in this case, to employ data recovery
software or the services of a data recovery specialist.
6. Computer Will Not Read Card
Sometimes a computer will not read a memory card, even though the memory card works
just fine with the camera. This is problematic because it makes transferring photos and
videos to a practical storage device inconvenient. The issue here is likely with the
computer, rather than with the memory card, so computer-based solutions will likely solve
the problem.
The first thing that a user can do is try a different USB port. Failing that, the user can try
downloading drivers for their computers operating system. Some older computers with
older operating systems are not capable of reading memory cards larger than 2GB, but
updating the operating systems firmware generally solves the issue by making the
operating system compliant with larger memory cards.

http://www.ebay.com/gds/6-Memory-Card-Problems-andSolutions-/10000000177629371/g.html

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