Computer hard drive failure may seem like the end of the your digital world, but there is no need to panic. Data recovery professionals have the tools to copy all the essential data to a new drive. Unfortunately there are too many unreliable tutorials online that can actually lead to more damage of your hard drive data. Before breaking out your DIY skills, learn about 5 different ways you can actually cause more damage to the hard drive. These additional damages can cause a permanent loss to your data before the professionals even get a chance to see it.
Computer Resets
When a hard drive freezes or fails, it's only natural to try and reset the computer. While sometimes this can jump start a hard drive again, overkill can do more damage to the drive. Each the time the computer is restarted, the hard drive stops and starts spinning again. If the hard drive has a damaged partition, then the drive will continue to spin and attempt to read that partition.
After trying to reset the computer once, you should shut it down until a professional can look at it. Each new time you restart the computer, the damage can get worse, and you won't get any close to fixing the hard drive yourself.
Hard Drive Removal
The computer case and hard drive case are essential for protecting data. Dust and small debris are a hard drive's worst enemy. You may be curious and try to investigate the hard drive problem yourself, but this can often lead to improper exposure. If you are hiring a professional for data recovery, then it's important to leave the computer as intact as possible.
Once the computer is in the hands of a professional, all of the parts are examined in a clean and dust-free environment. Professional tools are used to examine the hard drive and ensure that no additional damage is done while the data is being recovered.
The Waiting Game
If a hard drive is damaged, it is damaged. There is no way for parts to heal themselves without the help of a professional. Waiting a few days or weeks isn't going to help matters, and it puts your data at risk for even longer. There are also external factors that can cause additional damage. Moving the computer too much, leaving it in a hot car, or letting it collect dust can all cause more problems.
Make an appointment as soon as possible, especially if you have pictures or videos that are not backed up on any other hard drives.
Third-Party Software
With just a few online searches, it's easy to come across all types of third-party software claiming to recover hard drive data. Not only do you use this software at your own risk, but it can cause a lot of additional problems for your computer. These software programs attempt to force a hard drive to work on the damaged areas. When this occurs, you are risking permanent damage to the hard drive. It could even cause the hard drive to crash completely.
A lot of these software programs are looking for donations, fees, or adware installations that will bog down your computer even more. Installing the software will take up additional space on the hard drive and potentially overwrite damaged data. This overwriting will cause your lost data to be gone forever.
Slave Drives
Another attempt at recovering data at home is by connecting a slave drive. This is a second hard drive used to store additional data without having an operating system installed. The slave drive can slow down your computer, cause transferring issues, and result in overworking your original hard drive. It takes a lot of effort to install a slave drive, so avoiding the situation all together will help protect your data until a professional can work with it.
Attempting to fix your own hard drive can often make problems worse. It's best to let the professionals recover your data for you. Once your new data is transferred, you can make copies onto an expandable hard drive, or consider another data solution like a digital cloud. For more information, contact local computer companies that have advertise these services with messages such as "we recover data." You can trust that these technicians will know what they're doing.
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