The hard drive in the laptop and desktop computers is the lifeblood of the data storage system. Here, in a hard drive, all the programs and data are processed.
People rely on internal and external hard drives due to their many advantages, such as high capacity, fast speed, and durability. The structure and technology used in the hard drives are complicated, making these devices more reliable. However, collapse is always a possibility and can happen with any data storage device.
Once a hard drive fails, it isn’t easy to bring it to its original condition. The dead hard drive is a typical consequence of the collapse, irrespective of the brand and model of the device. This article offers insight into dead hard drive situations and what to do when facing them.
What is “Dead” Hard Drive?
A hard drive is considered to be dead when it does not respond correctly, gets inoperable, and does not give any noise when you try to boot the operating system from it. When noticing any of these symptoms, the worst scenario is that all the data stored on it becomes inaccessible.
Failure Types of Dead Hard Drive
Physical Damage
Exposure to shock, water, and heat can lead to severe hard drive failure. Moisture and heat physically damage electronic parts of the drive. Also, dropping the laptop or dropping anything heavy on the desktop by mistake can damage its internal components, resulting in a dead hard drive.
Mechanical Damage
The mechanical parts of hard drives are susceptible to wear and tear. With regular use, the internal elements of the device can become defective. If your hard drive's read/write heads become weak or completely crash over time, it will no longer process or store data correctly.
Logical Damage
Logical damage to the hard drive is caused due to software-related errors. These errors result from many factors, such as corrupted files, virus attacks, file directory damage, and human errors. If a logical failure occurs, your hard drive may not boot its OS, and data will become unreadable.
In the case of a dead hard drive, the primary purpose is to recover the data by any means. However, any attempt to restore lost data without knowing the failure complications can cost you thousands of files. Therefore, it is essential to understand what to do not to cause more damage to your files and increase chances for successful recovery.
What to Do When Facing Dead Hard Drive
Hard drive collapse is a complicated and stressful event, which often leads to critical consequences. Complete data loss and files inaccessibility are considered the most severe issues caused by failure.
Hence, when a malfunction occurs, people try to prevent these complications and solve the dead hard drive problem themselves. However, this approach does not suit the situation when the device stores hundreds of gigabytes of valuable data.
So, there are several steps you should go through and actions you should avoid doing when dealing with a “dead” hard drive.
- When facing any signs of hard drive failure, the first thing to do is power it down. You can prevent the device from being completely inaccessible by noticing the collapse at early stages. Strange noises, slow performance, and frequent error messages are common indications of failure, and if you see one of them, turning the device off will be a good step forward to your essential files.
- If you catch any malfunction symptoms and notice missing or deleted files, do not try to use any data recovery software on your drive. There are many unverified recovery programs on the Internet, but they do not guarantee restoration of the files. In addition, downloading and installing these tools on the device can insert viruses and make the situation much worse.
- If the hard drive does not show any signs of operating, it means that it is “dead,” and it is important to leave things the way they are. Removing the hard drive and repairing it will not fix the device and start running it again. At least, not for a long time, and not correctly. But by trying to fix the drive, you can damage surface platters or motherboard, which contains your essential files, and will make them unrecoverable.
So instead of restoring your data yourself, entrust this process to professionals. Specialists with years of experience in the data recovery field can deal with any complication and difficult situation, and dead hard drives are one of them. However, you should understand that various conditions require different recovery strategies based on the level of damage.
Chances of Dead Hard Drive Recovery
Hard drive data recovery suggests restoring files inaccessible due to mechanical, physical, or logical issues. On the other hand, dead hard drive recovery represents restoration when the device becomes unusable.
Recovering data from the dead device using drive recovery software is impossible.
Of course, a solution to the problem will be found with professional data recovery services, considering the files remain unaffected. So, there is a high chance of successful data recovery unless file corruption occurs.
PITS Global Data Recovery Services engineers have thousands of successful cases on their accounts. We faced various data loss scenarios and handled them with the highest success rates. To get assistance from our professionals, contact us by filling out our form or calling at (888) 611-0737, and our customer service will be ready to help you restore lost files from the dead hard drive.