Lost Data
If you have ever lost data due to a hard drive problem, then you know that this is a stressful situation. If you have never had an issue with a hard drive before, then it is bound to happen sooner or later. Fortunately, some of these potential calamities can be averted with the help of some very useful software utilities. Not all hard drive failures are catastrophic, and actually involve rather simple repairs that can be done at home. Hard drives are notoriously unreliable, and have remained so throughout the years, despite ever increasing storage capacity and speeds.
The circumstances of a hard drive failure can usually tell you whether or not the lost data can be restored. In the case of an accidental formatting of the drive, meaning you installed a new OS over the old drive or hit the wrong button in FDISK, recovery is a possibility. If the operating system began to act strangely before the computer stopped booting, then it is possible that the drive suffered data corruption. In this case, lost data can still most likely be recovered. Even simpler are instances of accidental file or folder deletion, even from the recycling bin. Lost data is certainly recoverable under these circumstances.
More serious circumstances involve actual hardware failure. If you should hear an unpleasant scratching noise when the computer is booted up, immediately turn off the system. This is a strong symptom of read/write head burn out. A small motor drives the head of the hard drive, much like a record player, around the platter. When the motor burns out, the read/write head has a tendency to crash and drag along the platter. This dragging action destroys data in its path, and should be avoided.
Some hardware issues can be recovered from without any loss of data. A complex logic circuit controls reading and writing from the hard drive, and these circuits frequently stop working. When this happens, the hard drive will seem completely dead, making no sound at all. Replacing the malfunctioning logic board with a new one from an identical model commonly repairs the problem on the spot. This can be done at home with nothing more than a Torx screw driver.
With software problems, load up a free utility such as Undelete or File Recovery Wizard. At their most basic level, these utilities scan the hard drive for recently deleted files and display them in a list. The user can then choose files to restore. As for more advanced features, many utilities support the recreation of drive partitions. This is very useful when the drive has suffered data corruption, or if a partition was mistakenly deleted.
Even a reformatting of the data can be recovered from. Lost data can allow a utility to reconstruct partitions, giving the operating system the map it needs to rediscover these files.
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