Preempting Data Recovery: How To Protect Your Hard Disk Drive Against Electrostatic Shock
By:James Walsh
Electrostatic Shock: Get your Basics Right
Static or Electrostatic shock occurs when two objects that are differently charged come into contact with one another. When a contact is established between two objects, the electrons from one of them move to the other resulting in charged particles. The like charges repel and the unlike charges attract leading to the transfer of energy from one object to the other. This results in an electrostatic shock.
Electrostatic shocks are more common in insulators since the electrons can move from one insulator to the other when rubbed against each other. Also, electrostatic shocks occur mostly during winter when the humidity is very low. Otherwise, the humidity in the air does not support building up of huge static charge.
Consequences of Electrostatic Shocks
Electrostatic shocks produce heat that can damage electronic items in its proximity. While it cannot cause fatal accidents to humans, it is capable of destroying computer circuitry, the hard drive being the most common victim. If you have critical data stored on your hard drive, you stand a risk of losing all the information. It can melt the sensitive parts on the circuit board and damage it completely. While the damage might occur instantly, in some cases, it might take several days before you realise the damage and it might be too late for you to trace the problem or even rectify it.
Tips for Preventing Hard Drive Damage
Hard drive has become an important and integral part of our lives. Be it your client’s list or your personal information pertaining to your savings, you have all the information stored on your computer hard drive. People often lose data on the hard drive that eventually affects their business and personal lives. But the good news is that the damage due to electrostatic shock can be easily avoided. Here are a few tips that can help you avoid these unpleasant consequences of electrostatic shock and hard drive damage.
1. One of the major causes of electrostatic shock is you. Yes, when people are at their workstations, their hands rub across items present in the vicinity and can result in electrostatic discharges. When they come in contact with computer components, it might result in their damage. So use a grounding wrist strap that is available in the market that can avoid the problem.
2. While shipping your computer parts, make sure to pack them in ant-static bags that avoid building up of electrostatic field. However, placing the components just above these anti-static bags would not help.
3. While installing your computer components or opening your computer case, make sure to ground yourself, switch off the power supply, use screw drivers that would not cause electrostatic shock and, above all, discharge the static electricity from the components before installing them.
4. Flooring that dispels static electricity at workplace would also help to avoid electrostatic shock.
5. Avoid using materials that would cause static electricity such as plastic, polystyrene, etc.
6. Controlling the humidity at the workplace is also useful to avoid electrostatic shock.
7. Make sure the employees who work with sensitive computer parts are aware of electrostatic shocks and how to prevent them. Only trained personnel should be allowed to handle these parts.
8. Before plugging or unplugging the power or data cable to your computer drives, make sure the power to the drive is completely cut off.
In short, all these steps help you to avoid electrostatic buildup or assist in dissipating the static charge that is accumulated. In spite of all these precautionary measures, if you still have an accident that damages your hard drive, do not worry. There are a lot of data recovery companies in the market that help you to recover the data.
In addition to the hard drive, electrostatic shocks can also destroy the circuit board on your computer. Statistics show that businesses experiencing computer breakdown owing to electrostatic shocks constitute a higher percentage. To avoid any dire consequences, it is always a better idea that you play the game safe.
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James Walsh is a freelance writer and copy editor. For more information on Data Recovery see www.fields-data-recovery.co.uk
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