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This article takes a look at some of the more common laptop hard drive fixes you can try for yourself if the disk develops a problem.

Start your hardware checks with the externals of the laptop hard drive. Check the vents underneath the laptop are unblocked and not sitting flush against a surface (e.g. an uneven desk surface). If there is a lot of dust and fluff then open up the laptop, remove the disk and use a can of compressed air the clean the vents, filters and fans.

The tell-tale sign of mechanical issues is often strange noises emanating from the disk. The worst noise to hear is a grinding noise which can mean the head/bearings are seized. You should shut down the PC to avoid more damage to disk surfaces and seek professional help to recover data and fix the seized components.

The noise of rattling components may just mean a part has come loose. You could try opening up the laptop hard drive and checking for these parts yourself (be sure to wear an anti static wristband to avoid shorting out the electronics).

Additional internal laptop checks should be done on any of the connector pins to the hard drive to ensure no pins are damaged/bent. Also check the BIOS as Windows boots to ensure the drive is being picked up in the first place (adding new hardware may cause drives to stop being detected so remove the new hardware to test this).

If you feel the problem is related to the registry then get the best computer maintenance software you can find to analyze the BIOS, registry and file system for faults. If you have an error code, then troubleshoot this directly online.

Fixing a laptop hard drive is a non-trivial task, but given the right care and attention you may just be able to remedy a simple problem and save yourself the cost of a PC repair shop.