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A client's offhand comment saved me from a massive data loss headache
They mentioned their external drive was making a 'ticking' sound, and my old boss always said that meant stop using it immediately. I pulled the drive and imaged it with ddrescue, finding three bad sectors right away. Anyone else have a go-to warning sign they always listen to?
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hannah_fox7mo ago
That ticking sound is such a classic... what other weird noises should make us all stop and listen? Like a weird grinding from a laptop fan, maybe?
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shanejackson7mo ago
Oh man, @hannah_fox, my laptop fan has made that exact death rattle. That specific grinding noise means it's basically eating its own bearings. I just start backing up my files right then and there.
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val_fox6mo ago
Actually, that grinding laptop fan noise is more of a final warning than a death sentence. You can often save it with a good cleaning before the bearings fully go. The real "stop everything" sound is a faint, high-pitched whine from a hard drive. That's the read arm scraping the platter, and your data is seconds from being gone.
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