Head crash

A head crash is a physical defect with a disk drive that causes the read/write heads to stop working. Head crashes may occur when the drive is jarred, material (e.g., dust) blocks the read/write head from the platter, or a defect with the read/write head or actuator. When a head crash occurs, the hard drive cannot read/write data, and the hard drive should be replaced.

Hard drive terms, Head