Get data back from a failed hard drive

Can I get data back from a failed hard drive?

Get data back from failed hard drive?

Has your hard drive failed, crashed, died, or otherwise bit the dust? Are you concerned that you may never recover the valuable dat

a that it contained? Here’s some information that should ease your mind a little.

Most failed hard drives are recoverable! According to industry experts, between 88% and 95% of failed hard drives are recoverable.  However, almost all data recovery companies report their success rate out of “recoverable” drives, not all attempted recoveries.  Unfortunately there is no way to know if a company is reporting “unrecoverable” drives honestly. Some companies call almost everything they fail to recover “unrecoverable”.  At Data Recovery San Antonio, we have recovered drives declared “unrecoverable” by other companies.

What are the odds that your data can be saved? That depends.  Here are some factors affecting the odds of success.

1. The failure you are experiencing.

If you hear loud clicking, or scratching noises, your odds are lower than if your drive is just not recognized. In the event of any failure, you should power down the drive and seek professional help to minimize your risk of permanent data loss. This becomes increasingly important with any unusual noises being made by the hard drive.

2. What happens after the first sign of failure.

Attempts to recover the drive by anyone except qualified data recovery specialists can further damage the drive and risk making your files permanently lost!  If your data is very important to you, do not take it to PC repair shops, your friend who is “into computers”, and especially do not take it to consumer electronics stores. These people are not trained to the high standards required to have the best chance at recovering your lost data.

If your drive is failing, or has already failed, even powering the drive on can cause damage to the drive! The safest thing to do is to protect the drive with an anti-static bag or anti-static bubble wrap and bring it to a data recovery expert. Experts in data recovery have specialized tools that allow evaluation of a drive with the lowest possible risk of further damage.

If your drive is having problems, or even it’s not, you should handle it gently. Even a drop from an inch can cause the heads in a hard drive to crash into the platter. Here’s the bottom line, data can be recovered from a hard drive unless the platters themselves are damaged. The most common cause of damage to the platter is scratching due to head crash or misalignment.

That’s it. Those are two very important factors that will determine much of your odds of successful data recovery.