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- Hard Drive Crash Disk Recovery
A hard drive crash is a computer user's nightmare, leading to anything from loss of work in progress to an inability to start the computer. The cost of professional hard drive recovery services is high, rising into the thousands of dollars with no guarantees of success. Before it comes to that, you can take a few steps that may succeed in recovering your hard drive safely and quickly.
Begin the recovery process by assessing the damage your hard drive may have undergone. Software damage is usually recoverable with the use of a working PC and a few software tools. Hardware problems, however, will require the aid of a professional in recovering your data. Your drive's hardware internals are kept in a dust-free environment and parts are carefully aligned. Attempting a hardware fix without training will disturb that environment and likely destroy the data.
You can tell the hardware itself is damaged by two main indicators. First is a lack of "spin-up" (the whirring sound) from your hard drive as it fails to start. You can test for power problems by switching the drive to a known working power source. If the drive still fails to start using the new power source, then it's a hardware malfunction, and you'll need the professionals to recover your drive.
The second indicator of a hardware cause for your crash can be discovered through listening to your drive as it runs. If your drive emits a clicking, scraping or grinding noise as it's operating, then the internal hardware is likely damaged. Turn your drive off immediately and go to a recovery specialist to see if the data can be saved. Your hard drive spins at up to 15,000rpm and internal damage to the mechanicals can quickly damage the drive's platters on which data is stored.
After determining the problem isn't hardware-related, you have a good chance of recovering your drive. The first step in doing so is to use your operating system's repair features. Computer manufacturers and OS makers often include recovery tools in their install discs. Start your system using the install disc and choose the recovery options available. They differ according to manufacturer, but generally can fix simple problems with your hard drive, from bad boot configurations to scrambled data.
If your manufacturer or OS recovery program was unsuccessful, you can use third-party recovery programs such as FindNTFS, which locates and recovers files kept on a drive that has been formatted with the NTFS format protocol, or Active@ Boot Disk, which is a bootable disk on CD, DVD or a USB flash drive that allows you to boot up your computer in order to recover data from your crashed hard drive.
When choosing software, find one that records changes you make and contains an undo feature. You may have to try several software actions to recover your drive, and the undo might prevent you from causing further damage.
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