Hard Drive Recovery Tips
Preventing Hard Drive Damage and Downtime
The first and most firm rule of thumb for preventing a loss of your data is to do complete and regular hard drive backups! This is also the rule that most people do not bother to follow. Today, with a multitude of options for backing up your hard drive there really is no excuse for not doing so. Cheap and affordable USB hard drives can act as redundant storage for your computer, making copies of your entire hard disc drive with the push of a button. Online options exist as well. Companies such as DiskHero.com offer automatic backup of your most important files via the Internet for a small monthly fee. The company already offers free service for users of specially branded USB flash drives. A flash drive itself can be used as a backup medium for smaller amounts of personal files as well.
Anticipating The Need For Hard Drive Repairs
On a regular basis every computer owner should run the Scandisk utility that is included with your Windows installation. Right click on your hard drive’s icon, select Properties, select the Tools tab, and click on Error Checking. This utility scans your hard drive for areas that have corrupted information. Such sectors of bad data are often a prelude to a looming hard drive failure. If bad sectors are found you should immediately back up your data and consider replacing the drive in the future. Bad sectors do not necessarily mean the drive is going to fail, but an increasing number of them do signal serious problems with your hard disc drive.
The biggest, and most scary of precursors to a hard drive failure is a strange clicking sound, often coming immediately after turning on the computer for the first time of the day. This sound or the notice on your monitor that the hard drive cannot be found must be taken as very serious. When either of these things occur you have little if any time left before hard drive recovery is impossible.
Hard Drive Recovery and Repair
If your hard disc drive has shown the final warning signs of failure and will not allow your computer to boot you have very few options.
- If possible, backup your most important data immediately.
- Disregard your program files and other software as it can be reinstalled from your original discs.
- Save the data that cannot be replaced first.
If the computer has stopped working or refuses to boot up turn the computer off, unplug it, open it up, and carefully remove the hard disc drive from the case. Place the hard drive in a zippered freezer bag, seal it tightly while pressing out as much air as possible, and THROW IT IN THE FREEZER.
Leave the hard drive in the freezer for 24 hours. In the meantime, go to a working computer and download a shareware copy of Hard Drive Mechanic and install the software onto a blank floppy disk.
The next day, reinstall the hard drive as quickly as possible, boot the computer from the floppy disk you copied the Hard Drive Mechanic to, and start it up. With luck, the drive may continue to work long enough for you to backup your files, but the Hard Drive Mechanic software is there to help you should there be no other option left.
This software is the most economical option for true hard drive recovery. The only other alternative is to send the failed drive to a hard drive recovery company, often at a cost of hundreds or even thousands of dollars.
When it comes to hard drive repair and recovery there really is nothing, short of backing up your data prior to failure, that can be done. Always make hard drive backups. They are your only true defense against a catastrophic failure of your hard drive.
