Hard Drive Data Recovery
Hard Drive Data Recovery
A hard drive stores information such as programs, documents, and music. Inside a hard drive is a platter which spins at 5,400 RPM (revolutions per minute) and a magnetic head which closely hovers above the platter to access information. If the computer is bumped or dropped the head can come in contact with the platter damaging the drive. If you think you have a bad hard drive, turn off the computer and call us. In most cases we can recover data if it’s brought in soon enough. Prolonged use causes further damage making it difficult for us to retrieve data.
Bad Hard Drive Symptoms
Symptoms of a bad hard drive include:
- Clicking, Cycling or grinding noises coming from the drive.
- Blue Screen crashes
- “Operating System Not Found”, “Error writing to page file” or "Registry Corrupt" Error Messages.
- Not booting to windows
- The computer is slow or unresponsive for long periods of time
Early Detection
Modern hard drives have sensors to detect component failure. Collectively the sensors are called S.M.A.R.T. ("Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology"), for more information on reading the S.M.A.R.T. sensors read our article on Detecting a Failing Hard Drive.
Data Retrieval
Hard Drives fail for different reasons such as servo or platter damage. Depending on the cause we can image the drive skipping over the few damaged sectors and recover the bulk of your data. Continuing to use your hard drive after it begins to fail will cause further damage. It’s important that your data is transferred before complete failure. Give us a call, we can evaluate the damage and transfer your data before the drive completely fails.
