Unless you've recently upgraded to a Solid State Drive you probably are still using a Hard Disk Drive. The Hard Disk Drive or HDD is the only physically moving piece within your entire computer aside from a fan.
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(pictured here is a broken read/write head)
A HDD contains a spinning disks and movable read/write heads that often break. A disk failure on a HDD can occur during normal operation, an external factor such as exposure to fire or water, or sharp impact. Since HDD’s are mechanical devices, they will eventually fail. This is almost always noticeable if you hear a clicking coming from the computer.
HDD’s with defects present will fail within a short amount of time, if there is a defect present from manufacturing.
Long story short: if you have been using your computer regularly for a year, chances are it won’t fail from a manufacturing defect.
How to prevent Hard Drive Failure:
1. Back up your data!
2. Take advantage of power save options on your computer, by default Windows 7 power saver option will turn off your HDD after 20 minutes of inactivity.
3. Defragment your drive (with in the control panel you can set this up to run weekly)
4. Be careful about the surrounding environment: Computer is kept ventilated (desktop away from cabinets & laptops off beds)
5. Upgrade to a Solid state drive which is flashed based storage and has no moving mechanical components, compared to HDD (Hard Disk Drives)
