There are many reasons a hard drive may fail, but none of that really matters when a computer won’t boot, or the files and documents on the hard drive can’t be found. As panic sets in, the computer user asks, what do I do now? Can I find my files?
The quick answer to the latter question is yes. However, the reality is that there are many factors that determine whether the data is still accessible or not. Generally, if there is any internal damage to the drive, such as the platters rubbing, then the drive would need clean-room work. The data does still have a good chance of recovery at that point, just not as good as what we would call a “non-mechanical” failure. If the drive is clicking at all, that means it does need a clean-room. If that is the case, we highly recommend not trying any self-recovery at all, because the data is already in a very critical state and can easily become completely corrupt. For everything else, such as the drive just quite working, the operating system can not be found, or the drive was formatted, data recovery has a very high success rate to get data back from those situations.
However, our best recommendation as always, is if a person wants to get their data back to never experiment on the drive themselves, or even allow a computer repair shop to work on it. We have seen too many drives come into us that were really messed up because Microsoft told the user to try something.
If a drive does fail, here are our recommended steps to take:
1. Immediately turn of the computer
2. Disconnect the drive from the computer, package it in anti-static material, and store in a safe place.
3. When data is valuable, do not any computer repair techs from a computer shop, Microsoft, or Best Buy try to get the data back.
4. Research data recovery companies to see what they can do for you.
-Several reputable companies we recommend besides ourselves would be:
a. www.ontrack.com
b. www.drivesavers.com
c. www.computerdatarecoveryservices.com – This company specializes in low-end recoveries for home users, the only drawback is that data can’t be time sensitive.
d. And of course…www.adrdatarecovery.com
