Avoiding hard drive failures is almost impossible. There are several reasons why a hard drive might crash. Some of the most common causes include:
- Human error
- Power surges
- Overheating
- Data corruption
- Water damage
- Virus attack
- Mechanical failure
Many things can damage the hard drive, but the good news is that sometimes you can recover your data. However, if something has already happened to a hard drive, no one can guarantee a full recovery. So to avoid these situations in the future, back up your data so that it is instantly recoverable no matter what.
What should you do when the hard drive crashes?
If you found your hard drive damaged, data recovery methods will depend on the crash cause.
1. If the hard drive is in the process of crashing.
If there are signs that your drive is damaged, get all the essential data as fast as possible. Try to boot data to a Windows installer disc or, if applicable, a live Linux system. Alternatively, you can transfer the most relevant files from your drive. Please remember that having your hard drive turned on can cause more severe damage.
2. If the hard drive is completely corrupted
- Connect to another computer
The first thing to do should be to disconnect the hard drive from the current machine and connecting it to another computer as a secondary drive.
- Manual copying
After connecting the hard drive to a different computer, check if you can see the drive's contents. If you can browse the contents, try to copy data from the drive manually. It probably won't work when you try to recover data from a dead drive, but there is always a chance that only the OS is corrupt while the user data can be retrievable.
- Install recovery software
If you can't recover the lost data manually, try downloading data recovery software. It scans your drive and locates all the recoverable data. Note: Never install the recovery software on the hard drive you are trying to recover. Most likely, you will overwrite hidden files that can still be restored.
3. Professional help
If you have essential data stored on the hard drive, you should get professional help straight away before it gets more expensive, severe or maybe even unrecoverable.
So, as you see, there is a process for recovering data from a damaged hard drive, but the best scenario is prevention. Store multiple copies of the crucial data in different destinations.