If you’re here, it probably signifies that you’re staring at a file icon with a question mark. Another possibility is that your Windows came across a hard disk problem or you may have accidentally deleted something you now need. Didn’t you create back up your files to a hard drive, or a cloud storage system? Don’t worry! We all have been there. No doubt, a hard drive is a great option for storing photos, videos, and other media that you don’t want on your PC’s main disk. Unfortunately, the hard drives aren’t immune to data loss and you may end up with several issues that can cause you data loss. Of these, one is the dead hard drive issue where your hard drive stops responding. At times, you may hear pulsating sounds while you attempt to boot the computer and thus, fail to access the drive. To avoid that, you need to fix the dead hard drive at the earliest. You may do so either by following the manual solutions or by availing data recovery services.
Difference Between Physical & Logical Disk Damage
The hard drives are susceptible to both physical and logical damage that, in turn, results in data loss. Depending on the type of damage, the methods to recover the lost files vary.
- With native operating system features, it becomes a bit easier to recover lost data from a dead hard drive if occurred due to logical damage to an external hard drive.
Note: To recover data from a damaged logical disk, the device must be recognized by your operating system.
- On the other hand, when compared to physical damage, data recovery is considered tricky. That’s because the operating system fails to access a physically damaged drive. Trying manual recovery methods may also lead to data loss. To avoid this, you can anytime choose a professional data recovery service to make your lost files accessible again.
Different Types Of Damage Caused By Common Hard Drive Issues
Below we have listed some of the common hard drive issues and the damage they cause. This can help you decide if you can fix the issue by your own or if you need to engage a recovery service.
Note: No matter, what data loss situation you’re in, stop using the device on which you have lost the files to avoid overwriting.
Accidental file deletion: Such logical damage is not going to result in a dead hard drive. Therefore, you can easily recover lost or deleted data with operating system features.
Formatted or reformatted drives:If you by fault formatted the hard drive, it can cause logical damage to the files stored in it. However, you can undo this damage and get back the data from the formatted drive or partition with the help of data recovery software.
Corrupted files systems: You may not be able to access your hard drive or it may fail to function due to a corrupted filesystem. It may also lead to a crashed drive that does not allow you to boot your computer. As a result, you may come across an unknown RAW filesystem that needs recovery. Data recovery software can fix such forms of logical damage.
Mechanical damage:Either because of mishandling or due to the effects of wear and tear, the mechanical components of a hard drive can get damaged. However, before your drive fails, you may hear some strange clicking sounds that signifies platter damage. Such damage makes it a bit difficult for your system to recognize the device. In such a situation, you must look for a reliable recovery service to restore your data.
- Environmental issues: Leaving your hard drive at a wrong place is one of the reasons behind dead hard drive. Besides, exposing the drive to excessive heat or moisture can result in data loss. In such a scenario, you have to send your drive to a data recovery service where the technicians will attempt to restore the drive’s contents.
Methods To Recover Data From A Dead Hard Drive
There are several methods by implementing whichyou can recover from dead hard drive that has come across some form of logical damage. Before you get into the detailed troubleshooting, the foremost thing you need to do is get the drive recognized by your operating system. Once done, you can proceed with the below listed methods:
Method 1: Replace Printed Circuit Board (PCB)
If your hard drive has failed working either due to internal or external PCB damage, then, you may try replacing it with a new one. You may find PCB on several e-commerce websites, online stores and on-site stores. Apart from that, they’ll alsohelp you understand how to find the correct PCB for your device and the right replacement process. This method works great, if you identified the damage in PCB or when you don’t want to get into the professional data recovery.
Note: If you aren’t sure about how this works then, try some other way. Else, it will cause further damage to your hard drive and minimize the chance of complete hard drive data recovery.
Method 2: Use the command prompt
At times, a command prompt can also help you recover files from a dead hard drive.Follow the below-given steps to try using this command:
- Open a Command Prompt on your Windows computer and type chkdsk ‘drive letter’: /f in the text field and press the Enter key.
- Further, press Y until the command line reappears.
- When it does, type the drive letter and press the Enter key.
- On the Windows that appears on your screen, type in the command: drive letter: attrib –h –r –s /s /d *.*.
IMPORTANT: Sometimes, the data damage is such that it becomes a task to recover data on your own. In such a scenario, we would suggest you to go for reliable and professional hard disk data recovery services as offered by Stellar.
Backups to the Rescue!
No matter, what data loss situation you’re in, having a backup of the hard drive data can help you recover the lost data without any hassle. To avoid this, we suggest you to create a backup of your data on a regular basis. It’s the only way apart from data recoveryservice, which can get your data back if your OS can’t see the drive.
Summing It Up!
This blog points out all the possible instances that leads to dead hard drive. Along with that, we have also listed all the possible troubleshooting solutions by following which you’ll be able to recover data from dead hard drive. If none of these works, you can go for hard disk data recovery services by Stellar. Their experts will assist you with the advanced ways of data recovery.
