Computers and modern gadgets

Here we will discuss the problem of hard drive overheating. In general, the most vulnerable part to overheating is the hard drive. Some areas of the computer can heat up to 80 degrees and this is the norm, but for disks it is already over 60 degrees. For discs, the optimum temperature is 40-50 degrees. If it is 60, then soon it will come to you and only specialists can extract information from it, and then 50 to 50. So why does the disk deteriorate from temperature?

  1. At high temperatures, the disc package suffers. Disc warping occurs. Soon "bad zones" may appear. That is, a disk fragment where information is not written or read. Then soon it will fail. It consists of ceramic, glass or aluminum coating.
  2. The disk head also suffers. At high temperatures, it quickly deteriorates.
  3. The windings of the stepper motor are damaged. That is, the varnish from the windings burns out, which can lead to damage to the engine, and subsequently to the disk itself.
  4. Damage to parts located on the board that is attached to the disk.

What are the causes of computer overheating?

For starters, these can be very significant programs, games. If the computer is not strong, then it is powerful. Same with viruses. Poor cooling and a lot of dust that does not dissipate heat. There may also be more serious problems. From old age, the engine driver began to cover itself. This is the most common. It heats the entire disk over 70 degrees. But when the temperature exceeds 70, then the computer is instantly cut down.

How to treat these problems?

First, put a couple of coolers that would be better cooling. Clean your computer from dust and dirt. Check your computer for viruses and clean out weighty unnecessary programs. Add giga 2 ram. If it does not help, then get the driver. Exactly the same! And solder. If not possible, take it to a repair point.

DO NOT PUT ANOTHER BOARD FROM ANOTHER DISK OR THE LEFT DRIVER TO THE HARD DISK!!!

By the way. You can download download a free program to increase the speed of coolers. For example Speedfan

How to find out the reason why the hard drive is heating up? Recommendations of experts on checking contacts and using programs for diagnosing a hard drive.

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Without a hard drive, the computer itself is of no value, since it is this medium that owns all the recorded information. This lightweight round metal or glass plate can cause a lot of inconvenience to a PC user if it breaks down.

The most likely reasons why a hard drive is heating up are:

Important: if you notice that the hard drive has begun to heat up, copy all important information to a flash drive.

What to do if the hard drive is heating up:

  1. by disabling bulky programs, you will reduce the load on the hard drive;
  2. open the system unit and blow the dust with a vacuum cleaner with a small nozzle;
  3. disconnect the system unit from the mains, dismantle the fans, gently wipe the cooler blades. If you have never disassembled the system unit, it is better to invite a specialist;
  4. clean the contacts as described above.

Do not forget about prevention, control the temperature. There are special temperature control programs on all parts of the PC. These programs allow you to track the temperature in dynamics and warn about the maximum possible temperature.

These programs are ineffective if your computer has old fans or coolers of low power. If you notice that the hard drive is heating up, then immediately turn off the computer and call the wizard! That way you at least save the information. These programs are intended to inform the user of a critical situation.

Important: if you still missed it, and the hard drive of your computer "ordered to live long", then do not try to recover the information yourself, only highly qualified professionals can do it.

Our experts will help you solve the problem of HDD overheating

Specialists of the service center "Expert" will help you understand the causes of overheating of the hard drive and eliminate this cause.

Good afternoon.

The hard drive is one of the most valuable pieces of hardware in any computer and laptop. The reliability of all files and folders directly depends on its reliability! The temperature to which it heats up during operation is of great importance for the life of the hard drive.

That is why it is necessary to control the temperature from time to time (especially in hot summers) and, if necessary, take measures to reduce it. By the way, many factors affect the temperature of the hard drive: the temperature in the room in which the PC or laptop is running; the presence of coolers (fans) in the case of the system unit; the amount of dust; the degree of load (for example, with an active torrent, the load on the disk increases), etc.

In this article, I want to talk about the most common questions (which I constantly answer ...) related to HDD temperature. So, let's begin…

1. How to check hard drive temperature

In general, there are many ways and programs to find out the temperature of a hard drive. Personally, I recommend using some of the best utilities in your sector - this is Everest Ultimate (although it is paid) and Speccy(free) .

Speccy

Great utility! First, it supports the Russian language. Secondly, on the manufacturer's website you can even find a portable version (a version that does not need to be installed). Thirdly, after starting, within 10-15 seconds, you will be presented with all the information about the computer or laptop: including the temperature of the processor and hard drive. Fourthly, even the free version of the program has more than enough features!

Everest Ultimate

Everest is a great utility that is highly desirable to have on every computer. In addition to temperature, you can find out information on almost any device, program. There is access to many sections that an ordinary ordinary user will never get into using the Windows OS itself.

And so, to measure the temperature, run the program and go to the "computer" section, then select the "sensor" tab.

EVEREST: you need to go to the "Sensor" section to determine the temperature of the components.

After a few seconds, you will see a plate with the temperature of the disk and processor, which will change in real time. Often this option is used by those who want to overclock the processor and are looking for a balance between frequency and temperature.

EVEREST - hard disk temperature 41 gr. Celsius, processor - 72 gr.

1.1. Continuous monitoring of HDD temperature

Even better, if a separate utility will monitor the temperature and the state of the hard drive as a whole. Those. not a one-time launch and check, as Everest or Speccy allow you to do this, but constant monitoring.

I talked about such utilities in a previous article:

For example, in my opinion, one of the best utilities of this kind is HDD LIFE.

HDD LIFE

Firstly, the utility controls not only the temperature, but also the readings of S.M.A.R.T. (you will be warned in time if the hard disk condition becomes bad and there is a risk of information loss). Secondly, the utility will notify you in time if the HDD temperature rises above the optimal values. Thirdly, if everything is fine, then the utility hangs in the tray next to the clock and does not distract users (and the PC practically does not load). Comfortable!

HDD Life - control over the "life" of the hard drive.

2. Normal and critical HDD temperatures

Before talking about lowering the temperature, it is necessary to say a few words about the normal and critical temperatures of hard drives.

The fact is that with an increase in temperature, materials expand, which in turn is very undesirable for such a high-precision device as a hard drive.

In general, different manufacturers indicate slightly different operating temperature ranges. In general, one can distinguish a range in 30-45 gr. Celsius - this is the most normal operating temperature of the hard drive.

Temperature at 45 - 52 gr. Celsius - undesirable. In general, there is no reason to panic, but it is already worth considering. Usually, if in winter the temperature of your hard drive is 40-45 degrees, then in the summer heat it can rise slightly, for example, up to 50 degrees. Of course, you should think about cooling, but you can get by with simpler options: just open the system unit and send a fan into it (when the heat subsides, put everything as it was). You can use a cooling pad for a laptop.

If the HDD temperature becomes more than 55 gr. Celsius - this is a reason to worry, the so-called critical temperature! The life of the hard disk is reduced by an order of magnitude at this temperature! Those. it will work 2-3 times less than at normal (optimal) temperature.

Temperature below 25 gr. Celsius - also undesirable for a hard drive (although many believe that the lower the better, but this is not so. When cooling, the material narrows, which is not good for the disk). Although, if you do not resort to powerful cooling systems and do not put the PC in unheated rooms, then the operating temperature of the HDD, as a rule, never drops below this bar.

3. How to lower the temperature of the hard drive

1) First of all, I recommend to look inside the system unit (or laptop) and clean it from dust. As a rule, in most cases, an increase in temperature is associated with poor ventilation: because. coolers and vents get clogged with thick layers of dust (laptops are often placed on the sofa, which also closes the vents and prevents hot air from escaping the device).

How to clean the system unit from dust:

How to clean a laptop from dust:

2) If you have 2 HDDs, I recommend putting them in the system unit away from each other! The fact is that one disk will heat the other if there is not enough distance between them. By the way, in the system unit, there are usually several compartments for mounting the HDD (see the screenshot below).

From experience I can say that if you space the disks away from each other (and before they were close) - the temperature of each will decrease by 5-10 degrees. Celsius (perhaps even an additional cooler is not needed).

System unit. Green arrows: dust; red - not a desirable place to install a second hard drive; blue - recommended place for another HDD.

3) By the way, different hard drives heat up differently. So, let's say, disks with a rotation speed of 5400 are practically not subject to overheating, as, say, those for which this figure is 7200 (and even more so 10,000). Therefore, if you are going to replace the disk, I recommend paying attention to this.

4) In the summer heat, when the temperature rises not only of the hard drive, you can do it easier: open the side cover of the system unit and put a regular fan in front of it. It helps a lot.

5) Installation of an additional cooler for blowing HDD. The method is effective and not very expensive.

6) For a laptop, you can buy a special cooling pad: although the temperature drops, but not by much (3-6 degrees Celsius on average). It is also important to pay attention to the fact that the laptop should work on a clean, hard, even and dry surface.

7) If the problem of heating the HDD has not yet been resolved, I recommend that you do not defragment at this time, do not actively use torrents and do not start other processes that heavily load the hard drive.

That's all for me, but how did you lower the HDD temperature?

All the best!

Winchester is an important component of the system. It works to preserve personal data and those produced by the OS. But in the system with any element there are problems. The hard drive is no exception. It is heated for various reasons, which will have to be dealt with.

Device task

Before dealing with problems that relate to the railway, it is necessary to understand what tasks it performs.

The hard drive is responsible for storing data on the computer. The magnetic recording device works. Helps the system to store data for a long time, freely read and write them.

The fact that the hard drive is heated affects its popularity. If earlier users had no alternative, now everyone can replace a noisy and problematic hard drive with a solid state drive.

Now not every user can afford an SSD, moreover, it is not rational to purchase this device in all systems. But it is still characterized by high speed, quiet and smooth operation. Therefore, combined device options are now so popular.

Heating problem

Why is the hard drive getting hot? The fact is that the problem of overheating is often found in this device. Especially problems arise with models operating at a speed of 7200 rpm. On average, the temperature of the hard drive should not rise above 50 ° C, but sometimes there are indicators of 60-70 ° C.

Also undesirable is the reduced temperature of the device. All indicators must be monitored in order to avoid malfunctions.

Causes

If the hard drive on the computer is heating up, you need to find the reasons for this. Of course, there can be a large number of them, but there are five of the most common ones that most likely happened to your device.

Firstly, one of the reasons may be the close location of the components to each other in the case. Sometimes the user calculates the wrong place in the chassis, and an ill-conceived cooling system can exacerbate the situation. Similar problems can occur in the case of the microATX form factor. All components generate heat, and the fans can not cope with the timely cooling.

Secondly, the device may have expired. Typically, a hard drive lasts about 5-6 years, so after this period, overheating and other hard drive problems are possible.

Thirdly, the hard drive heats up due to poor ventilation in the case, as well as a dirty chassis. Dust and dirt are often the main problem in this matter. Many users forget that the PC needs to be cleaned every six months, and if possible even more often.

The fourth reason is the oxidation of contacts. This problem could most likely be attributed to the expired service life, but, unfortunately, this can happen prematurely.

And finally, the fifth reason is problems with the cable. It is possible that the cable is damaged or poorly connected, so the electric current “jumps” and unstable operation leads to overheating.

Temperature detection

In order to make sure that the hard drive is very hot, you need to get data on this. To do this, you will need to measure the temperature. No thermometers or sensors are needed in this case. It will be enough to install the program and analyze the device.

There are many specialized software for measuring temperature, but there are the most popular ones that help to properly test the hard drive. The user can choose to install HDDlife Pro, HWMonitor, SpeedFan. These three utilities do the job and can provide the information you need.

Each program collects data on other components as well. But we are interested in indicators opposite the HDD line or directly the name of the hard drive.

You can understand that the hard drive is heating up by listening to it carefully. Usually it is strange sounds that give out problems with the hard drive. But in this case, it is worthwhile to understand that the problems are already really serious, which means that it is urgent to transfer personal data to another medium until the hard drive deletes them on its own.

What to expect after overheating?

If the hard drive is heated on the computer, it will not lead to anything good. The problem will have to be urgently addressed before more serious consequences appear. If the utility shows a temperature above 60 ° C, you need to immediately protect your personal files from deletion, since the magnetic coating is already starting to get damaged, which means that the sectors are blocking data in them.

Of course, if this has already happened, specialists will help restore the files. But it is not always possible to do this in full, it may not always be possible to cope with the problem in principle.

In general, overheating can lead to the complete "destruction" of the hard drive, so it's best to immediately find the causes and resume the operation of the device.

First thing to do

So, you have determined that the hard drive is heating up. What to do right away? You need to immediately reduce the load on the hard drive. To do this, disable resource-intensive programs, and then carry out defragmentation. To do this, go to "My Computer", select each disk in turn and right-click on it. In the "Properties" select the "Service" tab and find the start of defragmentation. Here you can start checking the hard drive for errors.

By the way, defragmentation is considered by many experts as prevention from various problems. Therefore, it is important to perform it and check the hard drive for errors regularly, at least once every 3-6 months, depending on the system load.

The close arrangement of elements in the body

This is one of the first reasons why the hard drive may heat up. There are several solutions here. Firstly, you can transfer all the components from a small case to a standard ATX form factor, and secondly, you can set up powerful cooling, which will help keep the system in normal temperature conditions.

Service life

Of course, if the hard drive is more than 6 years old, then such problems should not be a surprise to the user. There is a possibility that the railway will live for more than 10 years, but it all depends on the conscientiousness of the manufacturer and his capabilities.

If you have begun to notice that the device is increasingly crashing, overheating or destroying your data, then it is better to purchase a new one.

Poor ventilation and dust

This is perhaps the most common problem. It can also affect the performance of other components. The cleanliness of the case and proper cooling must be carefully monitored all the time, otherwise you can immediately lose the main parts of the system.

Even if you have purchased or built a home PC that generally does not need a powerful cooling system, in addition to the fan on the processor, you still need at least one cooler in the case. If you are planning to make a gaming device, then you should not be stingy and purchase 3-4 coolers in the case and install a powerful fan on the processor.

Cleaning the system unit is an important task for every PC user. He needs to pay attention at least 3-4 times a year. Cleaning the system is easy. To do this, you need to open one of the side covers of the case and immediately get rid of large debris inside. This can be done with a dry cloth.

Next, you will have to blow the system unit either with a small vacuum cleaner or with a special can of compressed air. You also need to remember about the fan blades. They need to be removed, for cleaning use a can of alcohol wipes.

Oxidation and plume problems

If the hard drive is heating up for these reasons, it is best to contact specialists. It will not be easy to get rid of oxidation or change the cable on your own. Although there are instructions for this as well.

In order to rid the board of oxides, you need to unscrew it from the case, inspect for raids and other defects. Next, remove large pieces with a toothpick, and then wipe everything with an eraser. At the end, you can wipe the surface with alcohol wipes and let it dry. Now you can return the board to the place.

If there is a problem with the cable, it is enough to purchase a new one or check the existing one on another hard drive.

Laptop problem

If the hard drive on the laptop is heating up, then you need to repeat all the previous recommendations for the computer's hard drive. First, check the disk and defragment. Be sure to check the temperature afterwards.

Next, you can clean the laptop. But unfortunately, not every user will be able to do this on their own, you may have to resort to the help of specialists. If none of the above helped, you will have to take the hard drive to the masters, who will definitely be able to determine the correctness of its work.

Remember that you should do the above operations yourself carefully. If you do not have experience in this, it is better to immediately contact the service center.

A hard disk or HDD is a magnetic storage medium on a personal computer. It is the most important device from which data is read when the PC is running.

Winchester - the so-called HDD in computer language - is a round plate of light metal or glass, coated with a layer of chromium dioxide.

Like everything else, the main memory carrier is characterized by malfunctions, the most common of which is braking from overheating. However, significant heating can completely disable it, which threatens to lose data and replace the entire node.

Let's try to figure out why the hard drive is heating up, how to eliminate the negative impact on the hard drive, and whether it is possible to control temperature changes in a timely manner.

Reasons for heating

Signs by which you can understand that the hard drive is overheating are program freezes, a complete shutdown, and a sudden reboot. From the "material" signs, one can distinguish a clicking in the system unit and even a slight smell of burning.

It's no secret that the fight against the consequences does not give any result. So, for example, it is completely pointless to carry out systematization if it literally bursts from the heat. It would be logical to eliminate the causes of the malfunction. Moreover, this must be done quickly, otherwise you can wait for a complete replacement of the HDD, and this is unlikely to be wanted by anyone.

Common causes:

  • long service life;
  • malfunctions in contacts: breaks or, most often, oxides;
  • poor cable connection;
  • poor ventilation due to broken cooler.

It is also worth considering the relative position of the hard drive with other elements in the system unit. So a hard drive that is closely adjacent to other drives, a processor or a video card, will have a greater risk of overheating due to additional heat dissipation by other components.

Disk age

There are several running varieties of HDD that are installed on a PC. They may differ in material, read head rotation speeds, or operating temperature range. But on average, the allowable life of a hard drive is about 6 years.

Of course, there are such “animals” that serve 10 years without problems, but this is rather an exception to the rule. At the end of its service life, it begins to noticeably hang and overheat. The only possible option to restore the normal operation of the computer will be a complete replacement with a copy of all the necessary information.

Video: Hard drive heating up to 102 degrees

Contact oxidation

One of the most common, but at the same time unknown reasons, especially for ordinary users. In the case of oxidation, it is pointless to install additional devices for cooling. It also makes no sense to limit the work at the computer: the problem from this will remain misunderstood.

HDD contact oxides are oxide deposits that form on the contact surface of the board. The hard drive board is located at the bottom side of the disk and is not covered by a casing. Humid air can oxidize it very quickly, as a result of which the hard drive heats up. This is partly why you should not install a computer in rooms with a high level of humidity.

Bad cable connection

The hard drive cable is a ribbon that connects it to the motherboard. Stable operation of the hard drive is ensured by its tight fit to the cable. A loose connection begins to cause destabilization: the current and voltage change, which in turn leads to overheating.

Problems with the cable can also not be detected immediately, however, the disk can overheat very much. You can't do without disassembling the system unit and inspecting it. Sometimes the cable itself can fail, and the reason can also be complex: a tape malfunction and a weak connection.

Insufficient ventilation

Deterioration of ventilation implies a decrease in the efficiency of the cooling system.

Devices that maintain a constant temperature inside the system unit are called coolers. The general increase in temperature can be caused by the following reasons:


When replacing a fan, it often happens that the system unit has poor ventilation due to a cooling device of inappropriate power. Since the problems with cooling the entire system unit and the hard drive in particular are quite serious, you should be more careful when choosing a new fan.

Determine the temperature

Current temperature control will help to avoid severe overheating of the hard drive. What does it give? At the very least, you can turn off the computer and thereby save all the information.

How to measure temperature? We won’t climb into the working system unit with a thermometer? Of course not. There are special programs that allow you to fix the degree of heating of all components of the computer and give commands to the fans to increase or decrease the speed.

There are a variety of such special programs on the network, you can download, for example, HDD Thermometer or SpeedFun.

The main tasks of the hard drive temperature control utilities are:

  • critical temperature warning;
  • dynamics of change. The optimal indicator is the absence of strong peaks in the diagram;
  • fixing the performance indicator of coolers;
  • change in the intensity of the fans.

On the last point, not everything is so clear. If the coolers are old, damaged or weak, then the utility will be powerless in this regard.

However, in general, such a program installed on a PC will be a very useful addition. It, of course, will not get rid of overheating, but at least the user will be aware of it. But you can resist it on your own, and we'll talk about this later.

What to do if the hard drive is heating up?

So, the program has fixed failures in the operation of the memory media. What to do in this case?

First of all, you can reduce the load on it:


But, as practice shows, this will not be effective.

During long-term operation, the system unit becomes clogged. The user may not be aware of this at all, and in the meantime, due to dust and litter, interruptions in the operation of the fans occur.

You can clean your computer in several ways:

  • remove the cover, shake off large debris and wipe the panels and PC parts with a dry cloth;
  • blow the disassembled system unit with a small vacuum cleaner using a small nozzle;
  • blowing dust from parts with a vacuum cleaner. Compared to the previous option, this method is more rational: the dust will not scatter to the sides and sit down again.

Cooler blades are cleaned with a vacuum cleaner, a soft cloth and alcohol wipes. Fans must be completely dry before installation.

Attention! Before cleaning, it is necessary to disconnect the system unit from the mains and other devices (monitor, keyboard, speakers). Details must be handled very carefully. Do not clean if the unit has never been disassembled. It is better to call a specialist at home.

If the problem is that the hard drive is heating up, not dusty, then you may need to clean the contacts from oxides.

To do this, do the following:

  • unscrew the board using a suitable key;
  • inspect the surface for plaque (oxidation of the contact surface);
  • remove coarse particles with a toothpick;
  • gently wipe the surface with an eraser;
  • finally clean the contacts from plaque with alcohol;
  • gently return the board to its place.

In conclusion, it should be noted that the system unit should be in a clean and dry place. Conditions of detention are of great importance in the durability of components and the computer as a whole.

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Computers and modern gadgets