Users' personal computers often store important information - documents, photos, videos, but data backup is usually not well-established.

A hard drive that stores valuable information can fail at any time, but data that becomes inaccessible can usually be saved. How to recover information from a hard drive that is invisible to the system?

If the hard drive does not load the operating system or displays a read error, you need to find out the cause:

• if the disk shows signs of physical malfunction, or it cannot be connected to the computer’s BIOS, this means a physical failure of the disk;
• If the drive is detected in the BIOS and shows no signs of physical failure, there is most likely a logical hard drive read error.

Reference! BIOS is a computer boot system that controls its internal devices.

Step 1. If the PC does not boot, look at its boot menu. If there is a message in the menu with the words “Disc Boot Failure...”, this indicates a system hard drive error.

Important! Troubleshooting system disk errors is discussed below. Errors in additional drives connected to the PC can be resolved using the same method.

Step 2. Check the disk for noise by bringing your ear close to the PC system unit. If you hear extraneous noise, clicking or buzzing sounds from the unit, this is a clear sign of a physical problem with the drive.

When diagnosing disk noise, it is necessary to distinguish it from the noise of PC coolers (fans), as well as from the quiet, rhythmic noise of the heads in some models of hard drives.

Reference! Booting a PC from a noisy hard drive can put serious stress on the drive and ultimately cause it to fail. In this case, it is better to remove the drive and place it in an external enclosure to copy the data.

If the hard drive does not make any extraneous noise, another reason for its malfunction may be the lack of spindle rotation associated with a disk drive problem or a simple loose power cable.

To check the rotation of the spindle you will need a Phillips screwdriver.

Step 3. Disconnect your computer from the network.

Step 4. Unscrew the fastening screws of the right side panel at the back of the PC system unit (viewed from the side of the connectors) or release the latch at the back of the panel. The screws may be able to be removed by hand.

Step 5. Remove the panel by pulling it along the case towards the back of the PC and then sliding it to the side, moving it out of the connectors.

Step 6. It has a rectangular shape and is placed in a special compartment of the computer. It is usually connected to the PC using two cables - power and data. Gently but forcefully press the cables into the hard drive connectors, eliminating possible lack of contact.

Step 7 Do the same steps on the other side of the cables on the PC motherboard side.

Step 8 Start the PC, and by touching the disk from the sides or top, check if there is a slight vibration on its case, indicating that the disk spindle is rotating.

Step 9 If the hard drive spindle does not rotate, disconnect the PC from the network, connect another power cable to the drive, and start the PC again to check.

Step 10 If the disk still does not start, check the computer documentation to see if the PC's power supply is delivering the power required to start.

Reference! If the listed parameters are in order, but the disk spindle does not rotate, you can try the external case.

Checking BIOS settings

If the hard drive spindle is spinning and the cables connecting to it are in order, you need to check the BIOS settings for connecting the drive.

Step 1. Write down the hard drive data indicated on its label.

Step 2. Restart the PC and repeatedly press the “Del” or “F2” key (“F1” in some laptop models, after holding down “Fn”).

Note! The button responsible for calling the BIOS can be found in the documentation for the PC motherboard.

Step 3. When the BIOS menu appears, press the left-right keyboard arrows to select “Main”. If there is no disk in “SATA1-4” with the data indicated on the label, use the up and down arrows to navigate to the “Not Detected” item and press “Enter” to identify it. If the disk is identified, select it with the arrows and press “Enter”.

Note! In other BIOS versions, the disk connection settings are similar; see the documentation for the PC motherboard.

Step 4. In the disc menu, you can leave the default settings and press the "Esc" key (top left on the keyboard) to exit.

Step 5. Go to the “Boot” menu item, then to the “Boot Device Priority” sub-item, press “Enter”.

Step 6. Scroll to “1st Boot Device” and press “Enter”. Select the desired drive using the arrows and press “Enter”.

Note! For a non-system (additionally connected) hard drive, you need to select it in the “2nd Boot Device” item.

Step 6. Go to the “Advanced” menu, select “SATA Operation” and set the mode to “ATA” or “IDE” (compatibility mode with “ATA” or “IDE” drives).

Step 7 Press “F10” and press “Enter” to exit the BIOS and save the settings.

If the hard drive is not detected, you can try to “hardware” reset the BIOS settings to their original state.

Step 1. Disconnect the PC from the network.

Step 2. Find the “Clear CMOS” switch on the motherboard and move the jumper from pins 1-2 to pins 2-3, wait 30 seconds and return the jumper to its original position.

Note! For more information on hard resetting BIOS settings, see the documentation for your PC motherboard.

Step 3. If the drive is not detected, turn off the PC and replace the hard drive data cable, repeating the steps for connecting it in the BIOS.

Reference! If the drive cannot be connected, you can place it in an external enclosure to read the data.

Hard drive logical error

A logical hard drive read error occurs when the drive is healthy, but it is impossible to boot the operating system from it (with a Windows failed... message) or read files.

This type of failure can be caused by viruses, system driver conflicts, software failure, etc.

The Windows operating system has built-in data recovery utilities. However, if your hard drive fails, you should not run the CHKDSK utility or reinstall Windows, because these measures can only worsen the situation.

In this case, it is best to externally connect the hard drive to extract information from it using data recovery software so as not to lose it.

External hard drive connection

In all cases of disk failure, you can place it in an external case or a special adapter, connect it to a working PC and try to copy data from it using regular copying or using special software.

An external drive enclosure (adapter) is fairly inexpensive and can be used with the drive as an external storage device by connecting the drive to a USB, FireWire, or eSATA port.

External drive enclosures are available in desktop (3.5-inch) or laptop (2.5-inch) sizes. It is also important to make sure that the correct internal interface for connecting the drive to the case is selected - IDE/ATA or SATA, depending on the type of hard drive used.

Reference! The drive enclosure may include an external power supply. It is advisable to choose this option to ensure that a faulty hard drive starts up.

After placing the disk in the case, you must:

Step 1. Connect it to your working PC like a regular external device. Once the drive is connected, Windows will automatically detect and install it.

Step 2. You will be prompted to access the drive from the folder. Click on the “Open folder to view...” option.

Click on the option “Open folder to view...”

Data recovery

After connecting the hard drive, you can view the data on it and copy it to another drive.

When copying, it is important to look at common data storage locations, such as the user's folder "C:" - "Users" and "C:" - "UsersPublic".

In addition, if there is unstructured information on the disk, it can be found at the address: “C:” / “Users” / “User_name” / “AppData” / “Roaming” / “Microsoft” / “Program_name”, copying its data to the appropriate catalog in a new location.

Note! Instead of “Username” in the address bar, you need to substitute the user name in the operating system.

Data recovery with Magic Partition Recovery

Damaged partitions, erased files and folders, incl. data from another file system can be done using the Magic Partition Recovery program.

Note! You can find the program installation file in the browser settings menu by going to its “Downloads”.

Step 2. Left-click to launch the installation file.

Step 4. After installing and launching the program, launch the “Wizard” in its upper left corner.

Step 6. Click on the physical disk to be restored and click “Next”.

Step 7 Leave the “Full analysis” checkbox and click “Next”.

Step 8 The program will find and restore all logical partitions of the disk. Mark files and folders for recovery and click the “Recover” button on the panel. The Save Wizard will open.

Step 9 Select a source for saving data and click “Next”.

Step 10 Select a working disk in the line, check the 3 recovery items and click “Restore”.

Reference! To save data, you will need to purchase a license for the program at: https://www.magicuneraser.com/ru/buy.php.

The data will be saved.

Reference! After extracting all the data from the hard drive, you need to format it.

It must be taken into account that if the disk is physically faulty (has extraneous noise), it cannot be used as a system disk and can only be used to store non-essential user information.

Video - Data recovery from a dead HDD Recoverry data

Video - The computer does not see the hard drive. What to do?

For some users, files from a non-working HDD are much more valuable than the device itself. Therefore, if the drive was accidentally formatted, it is damaged and there is no way to back up files in the usual way, you have to resort to using third-party applications to extract data.

What to do to avoid losing information on a faulty drive

If the hard drive is damaged, important information cannot be read from it, or important information has completely disappeared, there is no need to panic, try to reinstall the system, or mindlessly launch useful and not so useful programs. Remember the following rules that will help you at the first stage, at least not to aggravate the situation:

1. Minimize all access to the HDD - do not run any diagnostic programs, antiviruses, defragmenters, etc.
2. If possible, try to copy the remaining important data.

If you have another computer at home, then it will not be difficult for you to create an emergency flash drive or disk on it in order to boot from this drive for backup or connect the failed disk to it as an additional one. In any case, if your device contains unique data, it is useful to burn in advance, just in case, a bootable USB flash drive with utilities for resuscitating data from a damaged hard drive in case of unexpected failures.

If user data is corrupted

It is quite easy to recover files if the hard drive partition has been formatted and has not been written to since then. When it is possible to connect a faulty hard drive to another computer and the device is detected by the system, there should not be any serious problems.

To do this, you can use the Zero Assumption Recovery application (abbreviated ZAR), which is one of the best in its class.

It must be installed in a HDD partition different from the one from which the copy will be made.

Otherwise, the chances of “pulling out” important documents from a storage device that is covered are sharply reduced. Better yet, avoid using the hard drive at all by booting from another device or connecting it to another PC.

Working with Zero Assumption Recovery:

Disable your antivirus to avoid delays in the process. ZAR will inform you about this in the start window of the program, click Close.

In the main window, click the “Windows Data Recovery” button (photo and multimedia recovery is a separate mode that is activated by clicking the topmost button).

ZAR will detect every drive on your computer, including flash drives. If the drive is detected by the program, then you just need to select it and click “Next”.

The scanning process will start, after which the utility will show directories and files. This information can be recovered.

Select photos and everything you need to recover. Click “Save”, having previously specified the directory in which it should be placed.

Zero Assumption Recovery reliably recovers all data that can still be retrieved from the hard drive, completely preserving the previous directory structure, which distinguishes the program from similar applications.

When the system won't boot

If the hard drive has been completely formatted or it is simply completely covered and the computer does not boot, you will have to restore files in another way, by booting from a rescue disk or flash drive. To do this, create a boot drive in advance or at the first sign of incorrect HDD operation.

How to create a bootable USB flash drive or disk to recover lost files

One of the best solutions for creating bootable media is Hiren’s BootCD. This is a freely distributed ISO image containing a huge number of utilities that can be used to restore the system and files from disks. The distribution kit in the form of a zip archive can be picked up at the office. application website.

The image size is about 500 MB, so you can use CD, DVD optical media, as well as a flash drive or external hard drive to back up the information extracted from the damaged hard drive.

We will deploy the downloaded image on the media using the most popular UltraISO application. It is widely known for its ability to work with both optical media and any other storage devices, including flash drives, which is indispensable when working with netbooks and other laptops.

Create a bootable USB flash drive Hiren’s BootCD:

All you have to do is click on the button that allows recording and in a few minutes a bootable Hiren’s BootCD or flash drive will be created.

We rescue photos, videos and documents from a damaged HDD

Since the system is not able to boot on its own, we boot from the Hiren’s BootCD flash drive, having previously changed the BIOS settings or selected the appropriate boot option for the laptop. When reading data from a flash drive, you will be prompted to boot into DOS or graphical mode. The last option is more convenient for most users, so select the first line of Mini Windows XP.

If the system displays the error “Windows has detected a hard drive problem,” the reasons for this can be very different, as well as its consequences. The hard drive may be faulty (or defective if the computer is new), or the operating system files are damaged and will not load. If you encounter such a problem, I hasten to warn you - you can lose all your data: documents, videos, programs and images if the disk eventually becomes unusable, which will happen sooner or later.

What to do if you receive the message “Windows has detected a hard drive problem”

First, stay calm, don't panic. Pay attention to the bottom of the message, which shows which sections are having problems. This will save you time, given that the check takes a lot of time - you will know which sections to work with. We will perform the check using the CHKDSK command (from Check Disk), which checks the status of the hard drive and corrects any errors or problems, if possible.

And the warning “Windows has detected a hard drive problem,” as mentioned above, occurs due to hard drive problems - and sometimes it’s just sector damage, which can be cured using CHKDSK. So, we will perform the check through the command line, which can be opened by simultaneously pressing the Windows + R keys.

The Run dialog box opens. Type CMD and press Enter.

In the command prompt window, enter the letter of the problematic partition, or leave it as is if you need to check the default disk partition.

However, we see the message "ATTENTION! Parameter F is not specified. CHKDSK runs in read-only mode", plus some information. This is not enough. If we want to perform a full scan of the hard drive and allow Windows to automatically fix system file errors and bad sectors, we need to add the /F parameter to the CHKDSK command, i.e. so that it becomes CHKDSK /F.

Note: If you selected a disk containing an operating system to scan, you will be prompted to scan after rebooting.

If the CHKDSK command did not help

In such a situation, I recommend that you start creating backup copies of all important files and data. You can transfer them to safe partitions from partitions that have faults (remember, the problem partitions were indicated in the warning). Or to another medium, for example, a portable hard drive.

Once you have copied all your important data, you can check the hard drive to see if it is suitable for further use. Those. you can try to restore it to its functionality by full (not quick) right-clicking on the disk and selecting “Format” - the process may take quite a long time, depending on the size of the disk. Have patience.

All the above tips and instructions should help you in solving the “Windows has detected a hard drive problem” error related to hard drive problems. Also, in addition to all of the above, I would advise you to reinstall the operating system, because in most cases this helps in solving most problems. If all else fails, please give me feedback via the comment form below.

Imagine: you are busy working on your computer and need documents saved on your external hard drive. You connect it and are ready to start searching for data, but things don't happen as usual. The hard drive is not working. Before you panic, there are several methods that you can use yourself in this situation, and then call the specialists.

Data loss can be caused by a number of factors, but two are the most common.
First(which is easy to solve) refers to software. You may have accidentally deleted an important folder and emptied the Recycle Bin, or formatted the drive by mistake. How to recover information with the program, read.

Second and the most common cause of data loss is an error in the hard drive itself. Given the design complexity of modern drives, it is not surprising that something can go wrong somewhere. When the drive has some kind of malfunction that will not allow you to recover the data yourself, it is usually necessary to contact professional data recovery services. However, there are certain types of failures that you can try to fix on your own.

Data Recovery Using Software

When you're dealing with software data loss, the first and most important thing to remember is to stop all work on that drive. Every second that the drive is connected to a running system, you lose your chances of recovery. The operating system is constantly actively working with the disk, regardless of whether you are doing anything on the computer or not. When the system detects deleted data, it perceives these areas as “free space”; this place will simply be blocked by other information, reducing the chances of recovery.

• 1. Turn off the computer to which the disk is connected, containing accidentally deleted data that you will have to work with in the future. Now that your drive is "safe", you can make a clone of the drive and try to restore it from the clone. There are several ways to clone a disk, some of which are much easier and faster than others.
• 2. Check the contents of the clone using several recovery programs. There are many options here, with both free and paid packages available.

The Starus Partition Recovery tool will help you make an exact copy of the disk.

Starus Recovery software products implement the possibility of safe recovery - creating images of existing or found logical drives. Every byte of yours will be stored in a backup copy of the media, which will later protect your data from permanent deletion or overwriting. The function is available in the free version. If your device is detected by the operating system and appears in the list, your data will be successfully restored!

Data recovery using hardware

All data recovery options from the previous section are successful when everything goes as written. But what to do when the disk is not detected by the computer? Or is your computer able to see the drive but just freezes when you try to access it? What about the fact that the drive is completely “dead” and does not even begin to make operating sounds? Here it is necessary to briefly review the main components of the drive. Pay attention to the most endangered structural elements and what symptoms may appear with each error.

Pictured: the main components of the hard drive with the top cover and the printed circuit board removed.

Electronic Control Board (ECP): This is a circuit board (often green). It is attached to the bottom of your drive. This is where the main controller (equivalent to a computer's processor) is located, as well as many other electronic components. This is the interface that turns all the 0s and 1s from the disk into usable data that the computer can understand.

The disks themselves: Your disk contains one or more thin, round platters. They spin at 5900 to 7200 rpm in the user's drive and are the actual media that stores data. They are made from glass or various alloys coated with a magnetic layer. In total, up to 4 TB of data is stored here.

Magnetic head unit (MGU): Data is read from the disk platters using a series of read and write heads. During operation, they do not actually contact the surface of the platters, being at a distance of several nanometers above the surface of the disk, while reading and writing data. Typically a drive has 2 heads per platter, so a large capacity drive with, for example, three platters will have 6 heads, one on each side of the platter surface. If these heads are physically damaged, such as by an impact or dropping the drive, a "head break" occurs. In this case, the heads do not fly over the plates, but come into contact with the surface and destroy both the coating and the existing data, and at speeds of several thousand revolutions per minute.

Built-in software (firmware): upon startup, the drive launches its own mini-operating system to process all data, as well as perform operations to access it. Most of this firmware is stored on storage disks. A small part is stored on the printed circuit board; this is what is needed during the initial start of the drive. There may be glitches in the firmware that lead to a lack of access to data. Unfortunately, the hard drive firmware is not updated or flashed like the software on a mobile phone or tablet. Each drive has its own unique modules and complex technical parameters.

Now that we understand the purpose of the main components of a hard drive, we can look at some common errors and symptoms that may occur, as well as identify technical issues that cause problems.

If the disk does not spin up at all

This is a case where you have a relatively good chance of recovering your drive if you put in the time and effort. If nothing happens in the drive when you apply power to it (no noise at all), this is 99% a problem with the electronics board (PEC). For older models, sometimes you can find a suitable printed circuit board from another suitable drive, and when replacing everything works out successfully. However, both technology and architecture have changed with new drives. Each drive contains microcode unique to the drive associated with it. Simply replacing the PEU with the appropriate operating parameters does not give a chance of operability. Moreover, such actions may be unsafe for your data.

There are two main causes of failure to look out for here: either the TVS diode (like a fuse) is shorted due to overvoltage, or a vital component on the PCB is not firing. Hard drive PEDs often have two TVS diodes that act as fuses to protect your drive in case of overvoltage. Most likely, there will be two of them: one for 5v and the other for 12v. If you accidentally connect the wrong power adapter to your external drive or there is a power surge, the TVS diode acts as a victim. If it copes with its task, and the rest of the PEU components are in order, then simply removing the short-circuited TVS diode is enough to revive the disk.

You can check the result using a multimeter - if the diode reads zero ohms or its readings are close to this value, then this is indeed the reason. When short-circuited, these diodes often have a noticeable burning smell or traces of burning can be seen on their housing. Caution is required here; when you disconnect the TVS diode, the disk remains unprotected, so when connecting a power source, you need to be sure that the polarity and reliability of the power supply are observed.

In the photo: printed circuit board with dedicated TVS diodes

If there are no foreign odors from the TVS diodes and they show the correct values ​​when measured, then the problem lies in the printed circuit board itself. The PEU needs to be replaced, but everything is not just a simple replacement. Most PCBs have an 8-pin ROM chip that contains unique firmware information needed to run the drive. This information is transferred from the old PES to the new platform to ensure that the replacement matches all indicators. Some hard drives, especially Western Digital ones, do not have this 8-pin chip - the firmware is stored in the main controller, which is almost impossible to remove.

If you want to replace the PEU, you will need to not only select a suitable replacement, but also transfer the ROM chip. On the Internet you can find many advertisements in which you will be offered to buy a suitable printed circuit board. Some of them will even agree to resolder the ROM chip. If the PED is identified as the only damaged component, and the internal part of the drive is fine, then after replacing it and transferring the ROM, your drive should start working again. But there is one more point that you need to pay attention to when checking the PES, this is the state of the main contacts. Sometimes they oxidize over time, but this problem is easily remedied by cleaning with a rubber eraser.

In the photo: a type of dirty contacts on a printed circuit board that leads to problems.

If your drive spins up and makes clicking and knocking noises

This severe failure indicates the separation of one or more read heads. It could also mean that your drive has suffered internal damage. In any case, this is already a job for professionals. The drive must be opened in a clean room in a special laboratory where they will try to recover the data. If your drive is clicking, it's best to unplug it and leave it that way until you can send the drive to a recovery professional. Turning on the disk in this state may make it impossible to recover in any way in the future.

In the photo: a hard drive that suffered a deep scratch after the heads fell. This may make it impossible to recover further.

If the disk works and is detected by the computer, but freezes when you try to access it

This usually means that the magnetic coating on the surface of the disks is being destroyed. The disk stores information in certain sectors on its surface, the sectors are arranged in a strict order, but sometimes the ordered structure is disrupted, and so-called bad sectors appear. The disk tries to read them, and since it fails, it simply freezes. This is a common problem that occurs over time and can be corrected, but only with the use of professional data recovery equipment. If you pay attention to the values ​​of the disk's SMART indicators, you will notice a large number of reassigned sectors, confirming the occurrence of problems. If the data is truly important, professional help is needed.

If your drive beeps when you turn on power

The beeps that you hear are the signals of the engine that is trying to spin the disk and is not succeeding. This is caused by serious mechanical failures. The most common is the so-called “sticking”. The heads of the positioning unit (PMG) are located either in the center of the disk or in the outermost, unused area of ​​the disk, the parking area. We have already said that the heads do not come into contact with the data area on the platters, they float a little higher. Sometimes the head cannot stop properly in the right place, and the disks continue to rotate with the read heads stopped above the data area. Due to the extremely smooth surfaces of both the plates and heads, they literally stick to each other, hence the name. The drive must be opened in the laboratory, the magnetic head unit must be carefully removed and, most likely, completely replaced, which the average user will not do.

In the photo: the main unit drive (MMG) is disabled with a message about sticking on an undefined area of ​​the disk surface.

Another reason could be a jammed motor spindle. This is the spindle around which the disc plates rotate. It can be immobilized due to heavy impacts or falls of the hard drive itself. This problem is not particularly common, except for Seagate drives, since they have a particularly fragile spindle. There are two ways to solve this. The spindle can either be completely replaced, or the disk platters can be moved into a new hard drive housing, along with the printed circuit board and head assembly (HMU).

If your drive sounds consistent with its operating status, but the device is not detected or its capacity is detected incorrectly

This usually indicates problems with a specific part of the firmware. In any case, there is a fact of distortion of information that requires certain solutions. Several years ago there was an error with Seagate 7200.11 drives regarding their firmware version - SD15, called the “Seagate BSY error”. This is due to failures in the software firmware of this model. And although there were solutions for a specific problem, the average user can’t do anything with today’s disks. The only way out is to send your disk to professional support.

Based on all of the above, there are always options related to real opportunities to recover your personal data. If you accidentally delete information, you are most likely lucky. If the drive is completely “dead” and won’t even turn on, you can go your own way, working through trial and error. If your disk makes unusual sounds or exhibits strange behavior, it is better to give it to a data recovery professional, even if this requires certain costs in the form of a monetary reward. The main thing to remember is that any attempts to recover data are risky. The importance of recovered data requires the work of appropriate specialists.

In this article we will consider the possibilities of restoring a failed hard drive. You can read about how to recover data from a formatted hard drive. Many people are interested in the question: is it possible to restore a hard drive? Let’s answer this: restoring information from a damaged hard drive is possible if its working surface is not damaged. Well, now there are several effective disk recovery methods that will help you get back valuable information.

How to recover a damaged hard drive: basic information

First of all, you need to carefully inspect the case of your hard drive (this is what users often call hard drives) for possible damage. To do this, you must first turn off the computer and disconnect the hard drive, after which you can begin the inspection. If there is noticeable damage, you can take the disk to specialists, since you won’t be able to do anything on your own, but before doing this, it’s a good idea to perform the following several steps. First, you can try replacing the power and data wires with new ones and see if the drive will work after connecting, since sometimes the problem is a wiring fault.

The problem may also be that the drive is connected incorrectly, especially if it is a PATA type drive. Such hard drives may not work in “slave” mode, so you need to set the jumper on the drive to “master” mode so that the computer sees this drive as the master. This situation can also be solved by leaving only this “problem” hard drive connected. If your drive still doesn't work, you can try the following: plug another drive into the same slot instead. If it does not work, the problem is not in the disk, but in the motherboard or disk controller board. In the same way, you can connect the drive you are interested in to another computer - if the boot is positive, it will become clear that it is not the hard drive that needs to be inspected, but the motherboard or controller board.

How to recover a hard drive: use another drive

The second method is to replace some parts of the hard drive using a different hard drive. In particular, let's talk about the controller board, which is quite often the main cause of hard drive failure. But first you need to make sure that the board is removed without opening the hard drive case. After this, you need to find a completely similar hard drive, and you can start replacing.

Carefully unscrew and remove the controller board on the broken drive, then do the same with the working drive and screw the board from the working drive onto the broken one. Now we can check our hard drive by connecting it to the computer. However, it is worth noting that if it works, it is better to play it safe and copy important data somewhere else. If the disk does not work, screw the working board back to the “donor” disk, which should work as before.

Other options for recovering hard drive partitions

Until now, we have talked mainly about certain physical damage to hard drives. But it often happens that there is no physical damage, but the disk still does not work. The most common problem here is file system corruption. In this case, for example, using an operating system other than Windows may help. And the best option is Linux. In Linux, you can make an image of a hard drive that does not work under Windows, or load a Windows installation disk and type the command “chkdsk” (without quotes) into the console, which will allow you to start the process of checking and restoring a damaged file system.

However, these procedures should be used as a last resort, since Linux usually reads hard drives with a damaged Windows file system just fine. Do not forget that as soon as access to files on the disk is obtained, you should copy them to a more reliable, working disk in order to avoid problems with a hard drive with a damaged file system. And after copying is complete, you can start a full formatting of this disk.

We also note that today there are many useful utilities that can restore damaged information - with the exception of cases that we will discuss below.

Hard drive recovery utilities

To recover data from hard drives, you can use special programs - utilities. And one of these utilities is the Photorec program. It was originally used to recover graphic information, but today's versions allow you to recover files of any type. A certain inconvenience (of course, relative) of Photorec is that it assigns its own names to the recovered files, so after the recovery process is completed, you will have to try to find the necessary data. However, these are mere trifles compared to the fact that damaged or erased important files will be restored.

It will take a little time to learn how to use this program and similar utilities. By the way, to recover individual files from your hard drive, you can use the free Recuva program, which is easy to find on the Internet. It allows you to recover deleted files of any type, and in addition, you can search for deleted files in a special directory created by the system, and restore only those that you really need. But such programs, as a rule, restore only those files that were recently deleted, and here it is necessary to explain why not all the information on the hard drive can be recovered.

When it is impossible to recover information

We have already talked about one case in which data recovery is impossible (at least in full) - this is a damaged recording surface of a hard drive. In this case, in order to try to restore the information, you can contact a special company.

The second case is related to the restoration of information recorded on a disk long ago. And here the chances of recovery are less, the earlier certain files were deleted. The fact is that recording to a hard disk is done in such a way that new information is written over the old information, which was deleted. That is, the deleted information is actually still stored on the disk (unless it was deleted in a special way, using special programs), but is gradually overwritten by newer information. At the same time, even if little new information was written to the disk, the chance of restoring very old files is still small, because we must not forget about system files that are created by the operating system during operation.

Now you know almost everything about how to recover a hard drive. It remains to add that in some cases it is still worth entrusting the recovery of hard drives to specialists. This is advisable, firstly, when trying to recover very important data, in order to prevent final failure of the hard drive, which can be caused, for example, by careless handling of the hard drive.

And secondly, you can entrust the hard drive to the specialists even if it is covered by the manufacturer’s warranty. In this case, you can contact the service center free of charge. The only thing you should remember: if you want to repair the disk at a service center, you must not open the disk case, otherwise you will be denied warranty service.