Curiosity - Hard Drive Failure/Crash

[John Doe 57]

I've never experienced a HD crash before, but I've always been interested in finding out about it. Just wanted to know:

1. What causes it?
2. The chances of it happening?
3. Can the data be recovered, or at least some of it?
4. Are there any warning signs that could be pointing to a crash?

I'm asking these questions primarily focusing on a MacBook Pro. (read my signature) Are there different chances with my model of this Mac?

I do have 2 External HDs that I use. A Western Digital 120GB HD and a Maxtor 500GB HD with a 5 Year warranty.

 

[bartelby]

4. Are there any warning signs that could be pointing to a crash?

I've had 3 drives fail. I had the following symptoms:

Random freezes of the system for no apparent reason.
Loooooong boot times too.
Nasty clicking sounds and screechy whirrs.

 

[John Doe 57]

I've had 3 drives fail. I had the following symptoms:

Random freezes of the system for no apparent reason.
Loooooong boot times too.
Nasty clicking sounds and screechy whirrs.

Hmm ... I haven't had that happen to me yet, but thanks for the info.

 

[Objectivist-C]

1. What causes it?

-Drive electronics die
-Drive motor dies
-Bearings degrade
-Read heads hit platter

etc.

 

[John Doe 57]

-Drive electronics die
-Drive motor dies
-Bearings degrade
-Read heads hit platter

etc.

Oh my!