Tips For Resolving Hard Drive Failure

By: Stewart Wrighter

After a computer failure, hard drive recovery is still a possibility. When it happens, it is typically completely unexpected and unwanted. A buzzing or ticking sound which indicates that the hard drive is failing may be the only thing to indicate what has just happened, and that all of the data on a hard drive has been lost completely. Because most of us keep quite a bit of important information on our computers, data hard drive recovery has become an important industry. The recovery process is an essential task performed by quite a few technicians in computer shops.



There are two ways it can become damaged: internally or externally. Physical failure or external damage can occur as the result of fluctuations in power or heavy impact on the unit. Internal damage is most often caused when software is corrupted, when bad file structure exists or when the hard drive has been attacked by a virus. Internal damage is also called logical failure. Both logical failure and physical failure can be rectified by a technician who knows his stuff; in many cases, data can be successfully recovered.



When a problem occurs, the nature of it must be deciphered before the recovery process can begin. Scandisk can be run to see what is going on with the hard drive; it will scan the hard drive and look for damaged parts. Some programs can even determine whether there has been physical damage to the unit. Data can usually be drawn out by such programs, with the data from the damaged sectors being copied to an undamaged locale. There are many types of data recovery software programs available, with some being much more high-end than others. They can help computer owners recover any lost data without ever having to take the hard drive to a computer technician.



Physical damage can be a complicated matter to resolve – even those software recovery programs which detect it will not be able to completely settle the matter. It is best to seek expert advice when this sort of damage occurs. A professional will be able to go over the damaged hard drive and determine how much of the data can be recovered. The kind of technology necessary to recover data from a damaged physical hard drive is not the sort that many will have at home so taking a hard drive in to a computer facility will be your best bet for recovery. For example, technicians may use magnetometers to extract fragments of damage and attempt to rebuild the data that had previously existed on the drive.



Because many of us depend upon computers to earn an income, this type of failure can be particularly daunting. But as previously mentioned, both types of failures can be remedied, though to what extent depends upon the damage done. In order to ensure the best possible outcome, take it in to see a professional at the first opportunity. You do not want to make the problem worse before it can be made better.