Your internal hard drive is, in essence, the brains of your computer. But if you store important data on an external hard drive, this component could be equally important. If you don’t have the right backups in place, an external hard drive failure could be catastrophic, meaning the loss of important data, family photos, your email list and more.

What can cause external hard drive failure, requiring external hard drive repair? There are a number of factors.

1. Overheating – Your computer gets hots — and so does your external hard drive. External hard drives may be even more susceptible to overheating because they may be stored near heating vents or in direct sunlight when they’re not being used. Store your external hard drive in a cool, dry place to avoid the need for external hard drive repair. When it’s on, make sure not to rest your external hard drive on soft, insulating materials such as a bed or couch.

2. Shock damage – You pick up your hard drive to connect it to your computer. It slips from your hands and falls. The delicate components inside can scratch or break. This sort of damage requires a physical recovery of your data — the hard drive itself may be beyond repair.

3. Power surges – Surges caused during lightning storms can damage your external hard drive if it’s not plugged into a surge protector. Be sure to use a surge protector for both your computer system and your external hard drive.

Even taking these precautions, external hard drives sometimes fail. At 24HourData, we have certified experts well-versed in external hard drive repair for drives from all major manufacturers. Call us to start an external hard drive data recovery today.