The hard drive makes clicking, screeching or scraping
noises.
The hard drive is not "seen" by the computer
when connected. It does not show up in "System Devices" in
Windows or "System Profiler" on a Mac.
The actual hard drive device is "seen" by
the computer but the files are not accessible.
Slow, sluggish or erratic
operation.
The "hour glass" in Windows or “spinning
beach ball” on a Mac frequently appears during operation and the computer
seems "sluggish" or does not respond for periods of time.
The computer will
not boot or hangs during boot.
High levels of read retries or remapped
sectors appear in SMART status tools.
Common Causes
This is a fairly common problem.
Head issues can be caused by head crash
when the heads contact the spinning platters or by contamination inside
the hard drive.
