Computer Technical Support

by Russ Bellew · phone 954 873-4695
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A computer's hard drive is both its most fragile and its most important component. Drive reliability has improved together with storage density, but a computer's hard drive is still the most likely component to fail. In most computers, all "permanent" data is stored on its hard drive, so when it fails, you've lost all of its data. 
 
I've installed, replaced, and rehabilitated thousands of hard drives and don't recall any particular name brands as "bad". Occasionally, one model may prove to have problems, but I think that the competition in the hard drive arena is so fierce that it pushes inferior products out. Usually by the time a particular model proves to be troublesome it's obsolete and out of production anyway.
 
Can't tolerate downtime? Read about RAID    
 
 
Construction
  • Desktop: Approximately 3.5 inch platter diameter
  • Laptop: Approximately 2.5 inch inch platter diameter
 
Drive interfaces

   

Fast delivery of new low cost hard drives

 
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Major components in a hard drive, excluding the printed circuit board. 
 
The platter spins at 4200, 5400, 7200, 10,000, or 15,000 rpm.
 
 
 
 
drawing: Surachit  
 

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Six hard disk drives with cases opened showing platters and heads; 8, 5.25, 3.5, 2.5, 1.8, and 1 inch disk diameters are represented.
 
 
 
photo: Paul R. Potts