Hard drive failures are numbered among some of the most common issues users of computers encounter from time to time. Once your hard drive refuses to respond to your commands, you could, with good reasons, say it has died. In such circumstances, you might be able to hear audible noises including clicks or even vibrations when you try to boot your system. On the other hand, the booting process might crash and make your hard drive and the data you stored in it inaccessible.
Generally speaking, all this can be frustrating, more so if you did not take the precaution of backing up the information you stored in your faulty storage device. Nevertheless, unless the data you lost was corrupted, in most cases than not, you will still be able to recover the files you lost. In some given situations, you might be able to recover all the data intact. Before we can delve into the various options you could take to effectively recover lost data from a dead hard drive, let us first briefly review what causes hard drive failures.
What triggers hard drive failure?
In the first place, most sorts of hard drive failures are usually attributable to mechanical failures. A hard drive happens to be a mechanical device and works through a spindle and platter system. Whenever any of the mechanical components within it are damaged, it will in the long run fail and make the data stored in it inaccessible. Alternatively, electronic failure and even power surges are yet other causes of dead hard drives. Power surges, in particular, take place when your UPS fails to deliver the required power supply to your PC. In such conditions, the power supplied might either prove to be too high or too low. This problem can also occur when you make use of a fluctuating power source or even when there is a persistent interruption of the electricity flowing through your system.
On the flipside, overheating is as well a very common cause of storage device failure. Overheating can be attributable to a malfunctioning CPU fan, high voltage power supply, high temperatures, wrong ventilation, the development of bad sectors or virus infections. In all these circumstances, your computer will heat up and ultimately trigger a sudden hard drive failure. Conversely, the corruption of the files you store in your hard drive is also a common cause of failure in storage devices.
This problem may crop up when you utilize malicious or malfunctioning applications, unintentional closure of running computer programs, and wrong methods of shutting down computers. All these factors are some of the major reasons which trigger system file corruption that culminates in making the data in your hard drive inaccessible. Also, when you fail to make sure your PC undergoes regular maintenance, its key components including the hard drive will eventually fail. So, it is always very important to run a disk defragmentation program on your system at least once per month.
Lastly, human errors may as well come into play to cause storage device failures. This can include the modification of system registry settings, improper operating system installation, and altering system file attributes. Yet another common human error is the unintentional deletion of files or directories. At this point, it is important to note that these kinds of errors tend to be extremely difficult to resolve, even by skilled and seasoned IT, specialists. Human errors do not simply trigger extensive damage to hard drives, but in some situations, can result in permanent data loss. Well, with that fully understood, let us now take a closer look at the various options which will be laid out for you if you want to recover data from a dead hard drive.
Data recovery software
Now more than ever, there is a wide variety of data recovery applications that you can use to successfully extract lost data from a dead hard drive. Many of this software is very user-friendly, and you can go through the recovery process by following the simple instructions and guidelines included in their packages. A large majority of data recovery applications are first offered as a free trial that lets them determine whether the data you want to access can be salvaged. Once these programs ascertain this, you will then be charged for the recovery.
Data recovery software set to work by making use of scanning along with searching algorithms to extract data from damaged hard drives. Many of them also provide different options when it comes to how they sift through the data stored in your storage device. For instance, you might be able to search for inaccessible data by file type, file path, modified date, and so on. Some of the most advanced software solutions will as well flag any recently deleted files and alert you if such kinds of data may be recovered. However, it is essential to note that the exact outcomes you can obtain from data recovery tools are not guaranteed.
Professional data recovery solutions
If everything else fails you in your quest to recover data from your dead hard drive, your very last hope will be to enlist the services of a professional data recovery company. As such, many technical support service providers like IT-Support-West-Palm-Beach offer these types of services. These IT firms have the necessary professional-grade data recovery applications and highly specialized equipment to extract data from dead hard drives. More importantly, they have in their pay highly trained and experienced technicians who are well versed with the data recovery process. They have also invested in sterile facilities where these technicians can safely disassemble and reassemble all components of your failed hard drive.
Nevertheless, it is noteworthy to mention that professional data recovery solutions do not come on the cheap. Therefore, you should be prepared to spend some good money to retrieve your lost data. On a parting shot, it is always prudent to have the foresight to make it a point to back up your important computer files on a regular basis. Doing this will go a long way in ensuring you aren’t caught with your pants down and the moon out when your storage device experiences a catastrophic failure.
