What causes damage to computers components?

Hardware Problems

If the loss of programs or data on your computer is going to make you upset, it is recommended that you take some precautions. Your computer may be protected against viruses and such, but 100% protection is never guaranteed.

  Factors That Can Damage your computer

In terms of its hardware and the data contained within the computer, threatening factors may include the following:


Hardware faults that may occur.

Computers produced for personal use have a certain lifespan. In particular the main piece where data is stored the "hard disk” has a rotating disc that contains a very sensitive device that does about a thousand cycles per min. Drives are like old records, spinning in a magnetic vacuum. They are very sensitive instruments, suffering sudden blows while moving will greatly damage them. And when the life span assigned to them is taken into account (which can be estimated by the warranty period) the possibility of losing data is a threat that cannot be ignored.


Electricity interruptions and failures.

 If you do not have a special protection, for your computer against electricity surges or sudden power failures, disruptions may occur causing massive data loss. Similarly, sudden and large changes in voltage in the computer can cause damage to data.


Grounding problems and static electricity can cause defects on chips inside the computer and to the computers electronics. In particular, this sensitivity increases even further when hardware is connected or disconnected to the computer. 


Overheating. 

Perhaps most importantly one of the factors that shorten the life of computers is the warm-up problem. Cheap and unconsciously selected computer cases, cooling elements that are not installed according to the rules and overloading of computers is associated with warming that may lead to temporary or permanent damage.

Attack by hackers. 

Any computer connected to an Internet network cannot be one hundred percent guaranteed to be protected. Hackers, real person or robot alike, can find an exposed computer and can prevent use or significantly damage it.  Your computer hardware might not be harmed but loss of data is imminent.

Viruses and other malicious programs.

Viruses are a nuisance, whether they damage or slow Internet connections or as a simple example ‘Spam’ can in fact cause irreparable damage to computers deleting data that cannot again be restored.


User errors. 

From time to time users can unconsciously cause damage to computer hardware and software. Wrong use of additional hardware or mistakes made when installing, the incorrect installation of software, mistakenly deleted / formatted files / disks, incorrectly installed device drivers, and many other errors are all examples of user behavior.


Errors in the software or the operating system installed. 

Some software packages (especially those of dubious origins) can damage the computer because of errors within their own ranks; they can even cause operating systems to become unusable, during initial installation, during use, while doing a specific combination of jobs, or if incompatible with other types of software working at the same time. As long as software errors do not accumulate they are unlikely to announce themselves.

Useful measures that can be taken.

In the light of the information above, computer users should do the following and take necessary measures as follows:


Make an effort to periodically backup your data.

Be sure to use an Over Current Protector (Surge Protector) and to have an UPS( Uninterruptable Power Supply).
With the BIOS settings make sure the computer does not turn on automatically after a power cut. Look at BIOS settings "what to do when there is a power cut " and change it from ("Power on failure") which returns it to the state it was in before the power cut to (last state) to "stay off” (off). This will help protect your computer against sequential, consecutively and frequent electricity outages and fluctuations that may occur, largely preventing damage to the computer.

Unplug the computer when installing new hardware, ground yourself.

While the Computer is running do not plug in or unplug mouse, serial port, parallel port, keypad, etc.. (Except for the USB and Ethernet).

Protect against computer viruses and attacks and follow the recommendations previously proposed .


If you are unsure of how exactly to do what you want on the computer, do not go to hardware and software changes.


If possible, install up to date software that comes with the computers motherboard, displaying information boards showing computer warm up and from time to time check the internal temperature status of the device.


Make sure your building and the room you are using has grounding.


Try not to touch computers, which install your body with a static electric charge.


Do not unnecessarily leave your computer switched on.


When turning off your computer be sure to do it according to the rules.


Never move your computer jolt the table it is on or shake it while it is turned on.

What causes damage to computer's components?

Overworked hardware with little or no downtime and smoke or fire damage can ruin a system. Physical damage to your computer system: Any type of physical force, such as bumping, jostling, or dropping your computer system may lead to physical damage to the hard disk.

What can destroy the parts of your computer?

A sledgehammer will be easy enough to wield and heavy enough to damage all of the complex components that make up your computer. Sledgehammers come in various sizes and weights.

What causes hardware damage?

Harsh environmental conditions such as extreme temperatures can damage hardware components. Unregulated power supply of any sort can damage hardware components. This includes power surges from the regular power line or from lightning.

What is the biggest cause of component failure in computer systems?

The sweeping majority (80.9 percent) of failures are caused by hard drive malfunction.