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How to Recover Data From a Dead Hard Drive?
In this article, we're going to tackle ways on how to recover data from a dead hard drive. So buckle up and let's start!
Recover Your Hard Drive Data in Three Simple Steps.
Stop Freaking Out
With the right assistance, the vast majority of hard drive data losses can indeed be corrected. If, however, you base your actions on panicked decision making, you’ll increase the likelihood that your loss will become permanent.
Take a deep breath, and resist the urge to try every half-baked idea you can think of. To solve the problem, you must first diagnose what went wrong. If your not up to the task then now is the best time to call a professional data recovery HDD expert.
1. Identify Your Failure Mode
There are many ways to kill a Hard Drive. Most failures, however, fall into one of a few categories. The most important factor in classifying yours is determining whether it was logical, physical or firmware-related.
Logical Hard Drive Failure
Logical failures involve problems where the hardware is still functional, but software mistakes, improper writing, bad formatting or other errors have messed up the information. The data is still there unless you take further actions that erase or overwrite it, so it’s important to choose a smart recovery option.
Physical Hard Drive Failure
If logical failures are like having a fully functional car and just forgetting how to turn the key in the ignition, physical failures are like totaling the vehicle. Most involve hardware problems that prevent the disks from spinning, stop control circuits from working and cause a host of other mechanical issues.
Firmware Hard Drive Failure
These failures are usually due to issues with the low-level firmware, or control software, that’s housed in the drive’s memory. Properly functioning firmware controls factors like where read-write heads move and how fast disks rotate. In other words, it’s essential to getting the data out of the drive and into your computer’s memory where you can actually use it.
2. What Kind of Failure Am I Experiencing?
How do you determine which failure mode you’ve sustained so that you can begin the hard drive data recovery process? Unfortunately, many failures are hard to positively identify without professional help. You can, however, look for the following key symptoms:
- Abnormal grinding noises, clicks, hums and other sounds are usually signs of Hard Drive Failure
- Error messages from your operating system about corrupted data or missing files commonly indicate logical failures
- The inability to boot from or mount a drive that seems to be properly connected and powered on is usually due to firmware issues.
Remember that these rules aren’t universal. Each of the three failure modes can present a wide array of symptoms to the end user, and sometimes they overlap.
Related Article: What Is SATA Hard Drive
While you may want your data back as soon as possible, always proceed with caution. If you make the wrong moves now, you might end up waiting even longer for recovery.
3. Pick Your Weapon of Choice
So you think you’ve figured out what kind of failure your drive experienced? Good, now you can decide which data recovery method is best. You have two main options:
DIY Software
In a few logical failure situations, it’s possible to recover some hard drive data with software tools. The only problem is that any mistakes you make can instantly erase everything or transform your once-useful hardware into little more than an interesting-looking paperweight.
Related Article: SSD VS HDD
Be wary of software that promises amazing results even if it ships with your OS. No matter how capable these tools are, their success still relies on you selecting the correct actions and recovery procedures for your problem. If you have no other option than DIY recovery, stick to tools that clone the drive so that you can work on the data elsewhere, and send the original to the experts.
Professional Data Recovery
This is usually the recommended option, and unless you have a cleanroom and years of circuit experience, it’s generally the only choice for firmware-related and physical failures. Software tools can’t handle situations like flooding, fires or natural disasters. Many even fail to solve relatively simple partitioning and software errors.
Professional hard drive data recovery is always the most effective route. In many cases, it’s also the most economical because it avoids mistakes and errors that would make the loss irrecoverable.
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