A free service rounding up the week's news, articles, tips and reviews. Internet News Internet Investing Internet Technology Windows Internet Tech. Quantum Fireball Plus LM Review Harddisk Basics Cont. The platter's surface is organized so the harddisk can easily find data. The concentric tracks are divided into units called sectors.
Information is recorded on the outermost track of all platters first.
Once the outside track is filled, the heads move inward and begin writing on the next free track. Despite the high spindle speed and tolerances involved, the heads never touch the surface of the platters while the disk is spinning. As mentioned, if contamination or severe shock cause the heads to touch the surface, or crash, the heads or data surface can be damaged, data lost, and, in the most extreme cases, the drive can even be rendered inoperable. In today's harddisks, however, crashes are rare because disks are tightly sealed at the factory to keep out contaminants and built to withstand shocks in the range of 70 to 100 times the force of gravity. 1 Introduction 2 Harddisk Basics 3 Harddisk Basics Cont.