Hard Drive Failure: Recovering Your Lost Data
All hard drives, because of the fact that they are mechanical pieces of equipment, will fail eventually. You’ll never know when they will fail, though some may give you warning, and some may fail without it. While the best thing you can do is always have your data backed up so you’ll have it if and when your drive crashes, it is sometimes possible to recover data. Professional data recovery services can get quite pricey, and don’t always come with a guarantee you’ll have the files you’ll need, so here are some things you can try on your own.
Watch for Signs of Hard Drive Failure
Listen to the sounds your computer makes when starting up. If nothing sounds out of the ordinary, you’re okay, but if you start hearing strange noises, such as grinding, that you’ve never heard before, it could be a sign that failure is on its way.
Watch your computer’s performance. If you notice an increase in freezes and crashes, be aware that this could be issues with any number of areas on your computer, specifically your memory. If you’re concerned about your hard drive itself, pay attention to how long it takes a file to save, and how long it takes to move files. If you notice this taking longer than it used to, start backing up files now, just in case.
Troubleshooting Your Drive
If you’re running a Windows based system, boot your computer into the BIOS. How you’ll do this depends on your computer, but usually it’s a command, like F2, while the computer boots. If you don’t see the hard drive listed in the BIOS, it could be trouble with the connections to the motherboard, so you will want to check those connections and try again.
If the drive shows up, you can run a few more diagnostic tests. Create a bootable CD, and boot the computer from it, rather than the hard drive. You’ll be able to see what issues you’re having and then choose the appropriate course of action.
Mechanical vs. Non-Mechanical Failure
If you’ve got a mechanical failure on your hands, it’s time to reach out to a professional recovery team. Chances are you’re not qualified enough to handle any physical repairs to the drive, and making these types of repairs on your own could make the problem even worse.
If you have a non-mechanical failure, you may be able to use a disk recovery utility to pull files from the hard drive. However, depending on the condition of the drive, and what your computer allows you to do, it may not be possible to run the program right away. Each restart of your computer will decrease the likelihood of file recovery.
Remember, if you must reformat the drive to get it to working condition again, it will erase all files, even your operating system. If you run on a new partition, you still will not be able to access files on the old partition, but starting on a new partition may make it possible for you to run the file recovery program on the old partition to get what you need.
