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Vent: My uncle swore by the 'percussive maintenance' method for old hard drives

He told me, 'Just give it a good whack on the side, it always works.' This was for a client's 2012 desktop that wouldn't boot, making a clicking sound. I was desperate, so I tried it. Gave the case a firm tap right where the drive was. For about ten seconds, it spun up and I thought he was a genius. Then it made a horrible grinding noise and died completely. Had to tell the client their family photos were likely gone. I felt so dumb for listening to that advice. Has anyone else had a 'fix it with violence' tip backfire spectacularly?
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3 Comments
casey268
casey2681mo ago
Percussive maintenance, more like permanent damage.
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dylanwells
dylanwells1mo ago
Honestly that "fix it with violence" mindset is everywhere. Tbh people try to force things to work way past when they should just stop.
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ninataylor
ninataylor1mo ago
Notice it even happens with ideas. People will beat a dead concept into the ground instead of just letting a bad plan die.
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