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Have you lost your data due to hard drive’s damage? Well, fortunately you have an option to let recovery services do the task of recovery for you, remotely.

What is Remote Data Recovery?

Remote Data Recovery (or Remote File Recovery) is a superior and cost efficient technology in which lost files and other data can be retrieved through Internet. In other words, it is a method to work on remote computers in order to perform data recovery. It is also known as Online Data Recovery.

Advantages of Remote Data Recovery:

1. Unlike conventional methods, you don’t need to carry your infected or damaged hard drive to professional.
2. Retrieving data physically is a time taking process while Remote Data Recovery is not.
3. Finding online recovery agencies is just a matter of few clicks.
4. Online Data Recovery is suitable option as it can be performed anytime, anyplace at your convenience.
5. Large domain of online recovery services is available. You can choose any one of your liking looking at cost and other dimensions.
6. Even though the recovery procedure is online, your data will be completely safe and secure as there is no actual transfer of files that takes place from your computer.

Steps for implementing Remote Data Recovery:

Reaching an online recovery service is easy but the part these agencies play isn’t. There is a sophisticated procedure which is involved for performing online data recovery.

It is generally performed through following steps:

1. Assigning of an Engineer who will volunteer the whole recovery process from start to end.
2. He studies the plausible reasons behind data loss and creates an environment for data retrieval.
3. Assigned Engineer is also responsible for analyzing hardware functionality and thus provides time estimation to customer. He also provides you with the list of recoverable files by diagnosing effected sectors of your hard drive. Severely damaged hard drives have very few recoverable files.
4. You look through the list and decide whether files which are to be recovered are of any use for you or not? After your approval, team/Engineer assigned for recovery process springs to action. Measures are taken according to the type of damage suffered by hard drive.

Now-a-days, many companies are offering memory space in servers where users can save their files and in case of data loss, they can easily retrieve them from servers.

All in all, Remote Data Recovery is a more advanced recovery procedure when compared to traditional ones.

Remote Data Backup

Will you be left unprepared if your computer’s hard disk fails today? Or will a computer breakdown cause you monetary and financial loss and ruin or affect your work or your business adversely?

If the answer is a yes then the first step to be taken to prevent the loss is to have knowledge about recovery services as part of your preparation to avert the difficulties and complications associated with data loss in your computer system. If you want to have a safe and secured backup and if you want yourself to be prepared for the best then you need to consider online and offline secured data storage and data recovery services. Both, the online and offline services have the same purpose. They are there for you to protect your useful and needed data and files that you create after spending so much time and money. This data, in the event of a computer breakdown will become damaged, inaccessible or may even lose.

But how the online and offline secured data storage works? The answer to this problem is the four steps that are needed to secure your data in case of occurrence of a disaster.

The steps that are involved in any secured data storage and recovery procedure are as follows:

1. You need to install a simple backup software to backup your desktop or laptop and server to store the information.
2. You need to run an initial backup of your selected data that too especially at night after business hours.
3. Enjoy automated backup offsite of your useful data files every night without human intervention.
4. Get technical support through the phone online instructions or from support department of vendor whenever it is necessary.

This will make the process of storing the data on storage devices such as on tapes, disks and recorded media a redundant, time consuming and an unnecessary step.

The better option to this problem is to allow your computer’s data to be transmitted seamlessly and remotely to a secured data centre for storage and retrieval by setting a timing schedule. In case your computer encounters a crash or a failure, you can easily access your data again and replicate the data and files in your restored computer so that your business can continue its work unhindered at exactly the same point where you were before the computer crash or failure.

One of the scariest situations you can experience as a computer user is when your hard drive is exposed to large amounts of water. Despite the fact that it is protected by a hard casing, your hard drive is certainly not immune to the damage of water contact. Water submersion is a huge issue, but is something we at Hard Drive Recovery Associates have specialized in for some time.

Have a water damaged drive? Contact us here to get help!

Some of the worst cases we have seen with water immersion are the result of floods, hurricanes, and even fires. We can assure you that your data is recoverable, even if it seems as if the drive is totally destroyed. Although on the outside your data may appear lost, this is rarely the case. In fact, your drive’s platters will still hold all of the data – it is just about having an expert access it for you.

How Water Harms Your Hard Drive

Your HDD’s electronics are usually the first victim of water’s contact. As soon as you turn on your system, water affected electronics will force current to short out the electronics, and potentially damage the system. In few cases you may even encounter smoke coming out from computer system.

Many people assume that it is OK to run a hard drive that has “dried out”. We would warn that you simply can’t afford to run a hard drive believing that the water has been completely dissipated. At first, it may look like the unit is functioning well when connected to a power source after drying, but internal damage may still occur, making data permanently accessible. It’s always best to power down in these situations, and at least call a hard drive recovery expert. Data recovery from a water affected hard drive is solely the domain of the professional recovery specialist.

This is why remote and cloud based backups can be so helpful.

In a nutshell, never switch on your computer after it has suffered water damage. The best way is to pack the unit safely and ship it to a hard drive data recovery specialist.

Recovery Of Data From Water Damage

The recovery of your data from a hard disk after an unexpected water damage catastrophe is not always easy.

It may take months or more to restore your property completely after a disaster takes place and moreover it causes interruptions in lives of people.  But data can be recovered quickly, often in as little as 24 hours by a clean-room equipped hard drive recovery company like Hard Drive Recovery Associates.

When you do look to a recovery professional, make sure that they have experience with flood or water damaged hard drives. Many shops do not have this experience, nor are they equipped with a clean room, and the result is often wasted time and money. Often, our customers have taken their drives to regional computer technicians, most of whom have little to no drive recovery experience, and have found no results, and a ton of broken promises.

HDRA is an expert with water damage data recovery. Contact us here for a free evaluation.

Your hard disk is where all your software applications and your operating system is stored. Due to this reason, the normal operation of any computer relies heavily on a properly working hard disk. Unfortunately, hard drives are prone to failures; they are always the weakest link your computer.

Due to such an uncertainty associated with hard drives, data recovery is an important factor for most of our visitors.

There are three levels of file recovery for a broken hard drive:

1. Basic Level: With this, the drive spins but doesn’t boot to the operating system.  This serves as an indication that a few Windows files may have been damaged or corrupted. Now you have two options:

Use of Rescue CD: You can get your hands on bootable CD with hard drive utility software installed on it.

Move bad drive: In case of no bootable CD, you can move the infected drive to some other working desktop PC. Once installed you can usually view all your files stored on that bad drive.

2. Intermediate Level: Here the drive also, but still you can’t access the files. Following methods can be used in this case.

Now with this level of broken hard disk there is work to do to solve the problem. There are various data recovery programs available such as “Recover My Files”, “Active UNDELETE” etc. You may want to download and run one of these for data recovery. They are easy-to-use and reliable so you can bet on any of these.

“Active UNDELETE” will let you make a bootable CD to run on your PC if it is not possible to move the broken disk. Also, a technical support option is available to you in case you need further help. Feel free to call us for help.

3. Advanced Level: Before arriving at the advanced level, you have likely already spent hours (or worse, days) trying to rectify the malfunctioned disk. You may have wasted money buying software, but you probably have a physical drive issue, which cannot be fixed with software. Certainly, you have arrived to the point where you need to take your broken disk to professional recovery specialist like HDRA.

Recovery From A Broken Hard Drive

When your drive is broken, the useful and sensitive data can either be lost or can be recovered professionally. If the files and data present on the drive are not corrupted the data can be recovered quite easily, actually. However, if the data is corrupted, the recovery of data is difficult or sometimes impossible. An expert opinion may help, so contact us here!

Some points should be kept in mind for the safest possible data storage:

• IDE are the thick sized cables that are attached to the hard drives. They carry data and control signals to and from the hard drive to the computer’s central processing unit (CPU). You must make sure that the IDE cables from the hard drive are disconnected.
• Remove all the electronic devices kept very close to the hard drive.
• Keep the hard drive away from any type of magnetic or electric charge
• Place the drive on an insulating surface
• Carefully identify the IDE or SATA cable. Search for an unused cable or wire. These unused connectors are normal wires that are no longer in use. Gently plug in your hard drive to this unused connector.
• Carefully mount the hard drive. Do not let the hard disk to hang loose in air from motherboard with cables.
• Remove the jumper from the drive. The drive would now work as “slave”.
• Add another drive in master slot and start your computer.
• First completely scan the drive before you start copying the data.

These are the steps that are to be followed when your system has broken hard drives. The broken hard drive can again be used and the data in those broken hard drive can be recovered back if done properly.

With significant increase in tendency of people relying completely over their computer device for storage of all the information and data, demand for more hard drive’s space is on its pinnacle. Demand leads to supply, thus companies have reacted by manufacturing as big as 1 TB drives capable enough to spin at the rate of 10,000 RPM. On the other hand, these high performance disks need more protection than conventional ones.

Hard Drive’s structure:

Hard drive comprises of circular tracks known as disks. Each disk’s section has several pie shaped partitions called sectors. Data is stored magnetically in these sectors. Disk errors are indicated as bad sectors’ error. You could fix hard drive errors and this article will help you in doing so.

#1 Checking your hard drive’s Health

Check Disk Utility (CHKDSK) is a Window application that lets you scan your hard drive for errors. So, running CHKDSK is the easiest way to fix hard drive errors. Probably, use of this utility alone will let you fix problems of hard drive ensuring its peak performance.

Steps for checking and repairing marked error zones:

1. Double click on “Computer” to open it.
2. Select “Hard Drive” and right click the icon of Hard drive.
3. Choose “Properties”.
4. Click on “Tools” tab.
5. Click “Check Now” button.
6. Click “Automatically fix file system errors” for repair process.
7. Select “Scan for recovery of bad sectors”.
8. A new dialog box window will appear, click on “Schedule disk check” to start disk checking.

Running this utility program in every 3 months will allow you fixing hard drive errors and avoid computers’ slow down.

#2 Fragmented data’s organization

Defragmentation is the organization of fragmented data which are placed at different chunks of computer memory leading to poor performance of hard drive. Steps involved in defragmentation.

1. Click on “Start” button on desktop.
2. Select “Computer”.
3. Select “Properties” after right clicking on C:\ drive.
4. In Properties menu, click on “Tools”.
5. Select “Defragment Now”.
6. Finally click on “Defragment Now” option.

#3 Remove Trash

Once you are done with defragmenting, it’s time to clean defragmented data in order to make your drive error-free. Steps to delete trash:

1. Click on “Start”.
2. Click “Programs” from start menu.
3. Open “Accessories”.
4. Open “System Tools”.
5. Finally, choose “Disk Cleanup”.

Following these steps, you can fix most of the hard drive errors by yourself and also improve performance of the system.

Fixing Hard drive problems in Windows

Are you working on Windows OS for quite a time, say few years? Is your computer starts lagging? Are you experiencing serious sluggish performance of your PC? Time to move a muscle as your hard drive could be in little bit trouble. This article will guide you that how to fix problems of hard drive on windows operating system.

Getting Started:

It is a known fact that the performance of your PC degrades with passage of time. Now let’s take a dig in to this problem. Every program or software you download or install get saved onto hard drive of your computer. Files, subfolders and other components take place in their own folder residing on your default hard drive.

Now, the problem arises when you uninstall program from the PC allowing deletion of main components while leaving behind smaller files intact. These leftover small files result into small chunks or gaps in your hard drive.

Now when you install other program on the same hard drive, then the program has to be fragmented in order to get fit into created memory gaps because of inability of hard drive to compress added or deleted files. This fragmentation leads to inefficient memory management of your hard drive with lots of unwanted files occupying space resulting in sluggish performance of your PC.

There are various ways to improve and maintain efficiency of your hard drive. Some of them are listed below.

1. Purging Files

To clean unwanted files and to delete unused programs, you can use Disk Cleanup Windows utility. Steps to follow for Disk Cleanup:

1. Click on “Start”.
2. Go to “All Programs”.
3. Select “Accessories”.
4. Click on “System Tools”.
5. Select “Disk Cleanup”.

This tool not only lets you locate unneeded and unused program files and deletes them but also organize other littered old files that can be compressed for storage, facilitating efficient memory management.

Defragmenting your hard drive:

By this point, you must have got an idea about what problem does fragmentation pose. For better organization of memory you need to use Disk Defragment Windows utility.

1. Click “Start”.
2. Go to “All Programs”.
3. Click on “Accessories”.
4. Go to “System Tools”.
5. Click on “Disk Defragment” option.

After completing above two options you would have a nicer, faster and cleaner hard drive with some more free space. Overall performance will increase markedly.

 

There has been a significant increase in people requiring their hard drives to run effectively, mainly because we all need them far more than we used to. Demand leads to supply, with companies manufacturing drives as big as 1 TB; some capable of spinning at the rate of 10,000 RPM. On the other hand, these high performance disks need more protection than conventional ones, and are far more error prone than previous models were. This means that more than ever, knowing how to fix hard drive errors can be key to a smooth running system.

About Your Hard Drive’s Structure:

Your hard drive is comprised of circular tracks known as platters. Each platter has millions of shaped partitions called sectors. Data is stored magnetically in these sectors. Disk errors are frequently the result of a bad sector error. Fixing these hard drive errors is not often that difficult, and this article can help you in doing so.

#1 Checking your hard drive’s health

The Check Disk Utility (CHKDSK) is a Window application that lets you scan your hard drive for errors. So, running CHKDSK is the easiest way to fix hard drive errors. Often the use of this utility alone can ensure you can fix minor problems and ensure its peak performance.

Has CHKDSK failed you? Suspect a mechanical failure? Contact us here for free support.

Simple steps for checking and repairing the marked error zones on your drive:

1. Double click on “Computer” to open it.
2. Select the specific drive (usually C) and right click its icon.
3. Choose “Properties”.
4. Click on “Tools” tab.
5. Click “Check Now” button.
6. Check the “Automatically fix file system errors” to go to it.
7. Select “Scan for recovery of bad sectors”.
8. A new dialog box window will appear, click on “Schedule disk check” to start disk checking.

Of course, running this utility program in every three months will ensure your data is kept safe, and is a fine preventative measure.

#2 Fragmented data’s organization

Defragmentation is the reorganization of fragmented data which can lead to poor performance of your hard drive. This is no longer as huge of an issue because of the NTFS file system, but it does make a difference.

Here are the steps involved in defragmentation.

1. Click on “Start” button on desktop.
2. Select “Computer”.
3. Select “Properties” after right clicking on C:\ drive.
4. In Properties menu, click on “Tools”.
5. Select “Defragment Now”.
6. Finally click on “Defragment Now” option.

#3 Cleanup

Once you are done with defragmenting, it’s time to clean your data in order to make your drive error-free.

1. Click on “Start”.
2. Click “Programs” from start menu.
3. Open “Accessories”.
4. Open “System Tools”.
5. Finally, choose “Disk Cleanup”.

Following these steps, you can fix most of the hard drive errors by yourself and also improve performance of your system.

Fixing Hard Drive Problems in Windows

Have you worked with the Windows OS for quite a while, perhaps even a lot of years? Is your computer beginning to lag and slow down? Are you experiencing seriously sluggish performance? Your hard drive is often the culprit. For most Windows users, the following techniques are winners.

Getting Started:

It is a known fact that the performance of your PC degrades with passage of time. Now let’s take a good look at this problem. Every program or software you either download or install gets saved onto your drive. Files, subfolders and other components gradually take up space in their own folders residing on your default hard drive.

Often a big problem arises when you uninstall program from your PC and inadvertedly allow the deletion of main components while leaving non-critical files intact.

When you install other programs on the same hard drive, your program may be fragmented  and may create memory gaps because of inability of hard drive to compress added or deleted files. This fragmentation leads to poor disk management of your hard drive with lots of unwanted files occupying space resulting in sluggish performance of your PC.

Need help with disk errors? Contact us here.

 

If you’re visiting this site, you undoubtedly know that your hard disk is easily the most important part of your personal computer or a laptop. It is the heart of your machine, where all your precious data is stored. What few people recognize until they lose their drive is just how valuable their data to them. Meanwhile, we must all face the fact that hard drives are simply not built to stand the test of time. In fact, most of today’s hard drive lifespans are under five years. So, when you are using a drive that has been in your computer for three years, you have to expect that it can end up dying out.

We at Hard Drive Recovery Associates will admit to being somewhat pessimistic when it comes to the robustness of hard drive architecture. After all, our business is to recover data from drive that often have failed inexplicably.

But what about your lost data? You probably find yourself at this website with one question in mind: “Is there any way to bring my data back from what appears to be a dead hard drive?”

This question may trouble you a little bit, but the ultimate answer is YES! There are several methods to retrieve your lost data from a dead hard drive, and it your hard drive is not actually physically damaged, you may be able to perform the full on hard drive data recovery operation yourself.

Need to find out just how damaged your drive is? Call our friendly technicians or click here to fill out our free diagnosis form.

Your Next Step
The first thing you’ll need to do is to troubleshoot so that you can make sure of what made your hard disc stop working in the first place. Hard drives are complicated devices. Besides intricate circuit boards, most platters sell hard drives feature a lot of moving parts. As a result, if you have a physical hard disk problem, you are taking a big risk if you attempt to repair the drive yourself. Certainly, if your data is very important to you, you do not want to attempt to be what we call a data recovery hero.

The Actions Of A Data Recovery Hero

The “Data Recovery Hero” has no fear. He knows very little about hard drive architecture, but assume that because he is very good with fixing other electronic devices, he will easily be able to restore it is hard drive with the help of only his wits and a set of screwdrivers.

He may do a lot of research into how to repair hard drives on the Internet, and assume that all he needs to do is purchase an exact copy of his current PCB board, and replace it. Then, his drive will be back in mint condition and everything will be great again.

Or, he may assume that if he just opens the hard disk case, he will be able to be easily diagnose the problem and perhaps with a couple of turned screws and some other minor adjustments, everything will be back to normal and is business files will be all intact.
Finally, our Data Recovery Hero may just assume that if he can just download a cheap data recovery software product from a website that he has never been to before, all his data will be recovered with a couple clicks of his mouse. Yes, it will cost somewhere in the neighborhood of a couple of hundred dollars, and yes, there are no guarantees, but it may be worth a shot.

Don’t be a Data Recovery Hero. Contact a professional right away.

About Data Recovery
Physical hard drive data recovery involves various techniques to recover data from damaged, corrupted or failed media when it is not possible to retrieve the data normally. Hard drive recovery companies invest a lot of time and money into both equipment and expertise to ensure that they perform to the highest quality standards. This is why computer repair shops rarely perform data recovery – the task is just simply over their head.

The Process
The overall process is very systematic. The drive is typically dismantled in a clean room environment and the parts are separated. Typically, data it is imaged on the disk platters before anything is done to the drive. However, different companies use different methods. We just happen to use a method that has enabled us to recover 95% of drives we deal with.

Tips and Tricks to Get Your Hard Drive Recognized
Most computer users know how important hard drives are to their computing needs. Regardless if a hard drive is used for personal or for business-related purposes, hard drives are recognized worldwide for their usefulness in storing and securing information. Unfortunately, they are not always recognized by your computer system. If you encounter this problem, don’t stress yourself out, as there are means in which your hard drive can be recognized.

The Number One Question
First, why is your hard drive not recognized? One common reason why a hard drive is not recognized is due to the fact that is suffering from operating system issues such a corrupt files or boot documents.
Need a quick diagnosis? Contact us here.

Experience To Help
One of the most interesting facts about Hard Drive Recovery Associates is that over 20% of our phone calls involve simple technical support. Although many of our competitors may not offer this, we have offered what amounts to free technical support to all of our prospective clients starting from the birth of our company.

This is simply because file system issues and operating system errors are very easy to diagnose and we get calls based on these every day. If we took all of these drive into our shop, there would be no way that we could find time for people with actual physical hard drive problems. So in order to save time for not only ourselves, but for you, our customer, we will typically diagnose your Windows or Mac OS problems in cases where you do not have an actual failed hard drive.

So give us a call. You may be sitting on the hard drive that is just a few mouse clicks from a complete restoration. What do you have to lose?

Does Flat Rate Data Recovery Work?

One of the things many of our customers ask us about is “flat rate” data recovery. It’s a common idea, and one that is frequently pushed by some of the smaller, less equipped data recovery companies on the web. The idea is, you send the drive, and they’ll charge you a $199 or $299 price and recover your drive. If they can’t recover the drive, meanwhile, you just pay for the shipping. Sounds like a great deal, right??

Well, sometimes it is. But most times, it is not. This is because hard drive recovery services that offer this kind of data recovery pricing schedule are banking on one thing: they will always make money, no matter what. And this is because if you have a minor logical problem like a file system issue or a simple operating system breakdown, these shops can immediately solve your problem. Sometimes, in 10 minutes or less. Meanwhile, you’re out $299. Sound like the kind of recovery deal you’re looking for? Probably not. But this isn’t the end of where “flat rate data recovery pricing” benefits smaller shops.

An Important Fact

One thing you should know about companies that offer “$299 flat rate recovery” is this: they rarely have the equipment or environment (a Clean Room) that will actually enable them to physically rebuild and repair your hard disk. Many of these companies won’t even open a hard drive, owing mainly to the fact that opening a hard drive without a clean room – an environmentally-controlled room that is certified to either Class 1 (only 35 maximum particles per cubic foot of air) to Class 100 (3500 maximum particles per cubic foot of air) – is actually quite dangerous to not only the drive, but the files on it.

Clean rooms are expensive – expensive to install, and not cheap to maintain. But they are the hallmark of any professional data recovery shop. If a company has not invested in a clean room, they simply are not a hard drive recovery shop. They may call themselves that, but without the skills and equipment to perform actual on-site physical hard disk repairs, they are certainly not a business that any hard drive manufacturer would certify.

The $299 Trick

So, what these smaller companies will typically do in a scenario where they know that they cannot recover the drive with either simple external parts replacement or simple software use is to tell you, “this drive is unrecoverable”. They will say, “the drive is far too damaged for us to fix”, or make up some other excuse, and then charge you for return shipping.

Sound fishy to you? It does to us, as well. But it’s a fact that 30% of people that come to Hard Drive Recovery Associates have already been told that their drive is unrecoverable. Obviously, we know that is almost never the case, and this is because we have a track record in the industry, and, not to belabor a point, but we are a manufacturer-certified data recovery service. Any shop offering $299 recoveries is usually not.

Why Waste Time?

 

Because you’re reading this article, you’re at least saving yourself the time that many others waste on non-certified “technicians”. But you’re probably asking: “how much does HDRA charge?” That is a question which we always answer this way: call us. Describe to us your drive issue, and we will provide you with a real, guaranteed estimate.

We won’t ask you to send us a check for $299. Or tell you that $199 on your Visa card will get you a careful examination by our technicians. No, that’s for some of the other companies out there.

What we can tell you is that once we have an idea of your drive’s issue, we will give you a price estimate. An honest, affordable price estimate on data recovery that you are free to compare with other shops either online or in your city. And if you find a price that’s better, let us know. We bet you we can beat it.

So, if we think we can recover your drive for $95, we will tell you. And if we can’t, we’ll pay for the shipping. On the other hand, if we think the drive cannot be recovered for less than $500, we will also tell you that.

We don’t want to waste your time. We’re here to help get your data back. It’s really as simple as that.

For a free drive evaluation, call us toll free at the number above, or click here.

Read more about clean rooms here.

External hard drives are extremely useful these days for backing up hard drives, and certainly come at a far cheaper price than they used to . Compared with other data storage methods, like say a flash drive or compact disk, external hard drives are much more dynamic, useful and portable. These devices can store exponentially more files and data that other storage options can and are a much more robust device that can last for years. Unfortunately, external hard drives don’t last forever. In some instances, particularly those that involve improper maintenance and care, a hard drive can suffer a crash that leads to an unintended retirement. Regardless of the brand, design and specs of the hard drive you use, there is a fair chance you could also end up losing valuable data from just such an unfortunate turn of events. And if you experience this situation, how exactly can you recover hard drive data from the dead hard disk?

The Hard Drive Recovery Process

The process of recovering data from a faulty or crashing hard drive may take various shapes depending on exactly what the fault is with the drive or file system. Using a of variety of techniques available, one can easily recover hard drive data that has been lost from a software malfunction, but not usually when a hardware failure occurs.

If you have a failed hard disk drive, one question that will pop into mind is: why is my hard drive malfunctioning? First, you should understand that there are numerous variables that can cause a hard drive to fail. A completely crashed hard drive is basically caused by an issue with its hardware components. The hard drive comprises of a magnetic disc (or platter) that rotates at extremely high speed and has an expanded arm that accesses the data using what is called a “head” of the hard drive. If this expanded arm is unable to function appropriately or if the motor overheats or is unable to rotate, the hard drive really can only do one thing: fatally crash.

Nevertheless, crashes and failures due to software or file system issues are also possible. Software issues sometimes occur when the system writes data to the wrong area of the drive. Problems that are a result from software issues are often much more complex to fix than you may think, and may call for more expert help from a data recovery engineer.

Get a free drive consultation here and solve your hard disk problem before it damages your drive.

A simple way to recover hard drive data is to download trustworthy and secure data recovery software on your computer. By using data recovery software, you may be able to recover files that can still be recoverable from the hard drive.

Need help selecting data recovery software? Not every product can be trusted. We can help. Call us at 1-888-420-3657.

Do It Yourself Methods For Hard Disk Failure Recovery?

Hard disk crash, theft or loss are like taxes and death – all are virtually inevitable. You may be fortunate enough and never encounter such a stressful and frustrating situation, yet chances are if you are reading this article, you may have already faced this. If you have valuable files and records stored inside the device, and wish to recover them as soon as possible, there are ways in which you can try to recover it without the need for data recovery specialist like Hard Drive Recovery Associates. Of course, the outcomes vary immensely from one case to another, so doing this is always risky, even if you consider yourself computer-oriented.

The first critical step when recovering your data from hard disk failure is to identify the type of hard drive failure you have encountered. It is absolutely critical that you do not panic or get frustrated right away and begin executing commands and hitting keys on your computer. You should always thoroughly think through the hard disk failure symptoms and perform some fundamental diagnostics first.

If your computer does not boot from the hard drive, even when it is set up in safe mode, your best bet is to use your emergency boot and recovery disks, which either came with the computer or were made by you. (Yes, we know. Most users do not bother to make recovery disks when they first buy their computer. If you haven’t yet for one of your systems, try it now!) Otherwise, try using your operating system disk to boot (this won’t work if you need Mac data recovery, however) .

The next step is to identify whether the crash is rooted in physical damage, or simply file system damage. If the former is the case, and your data is replaceable, consider purchasing a new drive as trying to salvage the drive yourself or hire a specialist will prove to be a much more expensive endeavor.

It is also possible that the external surface of the hard disk may have been damaged in several areas, yet may still be accessible if your computer has ample space  for data relocation. To look for this option, execute CHKDSK from the DOS prompt (you’ll need an old Windows 98 startup disk) or through the Windows defragmentation/disk optimization application, which can be found in the Analysis Mode on startup. Reboot your system and let the auto disk checker work until it doesn’t need to anymore.

Typically, hard disk failures are the outcomes of file corruption or division by viral attacks, failure to defragment the disk on a frequent basis, or the registry being randomized. Often you may able to operate a drive clean-up program, disk optimization registry solution or virus program (we recommend Microsoft Security Essentials), be it in a safe mode or not.

Hard drives are a model of consistency, at least for the most part. Unfortunately, there will come a time when you face a fact of life with all hard drive technology – these are mechanical devices, and they will fail at some point. It typically is not a matter of if, but when. When your drive does fail, you may want to consider getting help from a company that offers free support like, yep, Hard Drive Recovery Associates. On the other hand, if you decide to press ahead on your own, at least consider these troubleshooting techniques before you do anything rash:

One of the common problems and major issues that ultimately result in hard disk problems is a clicking or ticking sound, which is typically sign of a gradually collapsing hard drive. In fact, if the drive is still functional, do your best to backup as much of it as you can, as the clock is ticking on the life of your drive.

If your drive is clicking and can’t be accessed, power down your computer and contact us here right away.

If you don’t notice any aggressive sounds emanating from your hard drive there are certainly a few checks you can perform. There are seven of them:

• First, check for physical connectivity issues. Is the hard drive properly connected to the power supply? Is it connected into the computer with an appropriately linked ribbon (for IDE) or SATA cable? In the case of IDE hard drives, are the jumpers set up accordingly (this may not be a factor in computers 2008 and newer)? For SCSI hard drives, are the SCSI termination and ID set properly?
• Second, look over the BIOS setup. Does the BIOS detect your hard drive? If it does not, you may definitely have a physical drive problem.
• Third, did you recently experience a virus attack or perhaps install some malicious software? Does the drive have any boot sector viruses that you know of?
• The fourth phase is to assess the condition partition table. Using an old DOS startup disk, does FDISK locate an acceptable partition on the drive? If so, is it active? Consider using a program like Partition Magic or Acronis as an advanced scanning tool.
• Fifth check is all about formatting. Is the hard drive formatted correctly?
• Sixth is to look for drive errors. Is the external or internal error attributing to the read/write issues encountered on the hard drive problems? Is a specific error message coming up on the screen? Write it down.
• Seventh is your operating system: does the operating system provide a feature that analyzes the status of every external device connected onto the system? If yes, what is the condition or status displayed?

When checking all of these elements, one should realize that the process is time-consuming and labor-intensive. Alternatively, you can simply call our 24 hour help line with any questions you may have. At least one out of 12 customers that call end up having their data recovered absolutely free.

Get a free drive evaluation here.

What You Should Do if Your Hard Drive is Broken… A Guide for Beginners

Like it or not, your hard drive is the most important part of a computer. Of course, what makes it very important is not the equipment itself (which tends to be a bottleneck on computer performance) but the data it stores. So if your hard drive fails, and you need access to it, it can become a very stressful situation, very quickly. Your question immediately is: how can I fix this hard drive?” Well, the key to remember is that there are really two different kinds of hard drive breakdowns – a logical (file system) and physical breakdown. The first one may even offer you the ability to restore everything quickly and effectively with just a piece of data recovery software. It’s the second form, a physical or mechanical hard disk meltdown, that ends up being troublesome.

Logical Symptoms
If the hard drive can still be used (when the computer is turned on, you still here a very slight whirring sound that suggests it’s powering up) but you cannot view any data on the drive (in Windows Explorer, as an example), then there is a very good chance that there are some problems with the file system. If this is the case, then you do not need to know how to fix a hard drive. You just may need to consider a well reviewed data recovery software

One of the easiest fixes in this situation tends to be the ‘repair’ option from an older Windows boot disk. If you can use this tool, it’s worth a shot.

We offer free 24 hour hard drive support to North American customers. Give us a call or get a free evaluation here.

The Linux Read
Another tip might be to simply use the Linux operating system installed on another, functioning drive. Naturally, this isn’t a “beginner option”, but it may allow you to back up your hard drive. Often, Linux OS’ can read data from a disk formatted in Windows NTFS format even though its file system is broken or corrupted. If you attempt this, however, and Linux cannot read your data, then the problems might lie somewhere else.

Motherboard Problems
Another idea would be to attempt to connect the drive to another computer. If the drive suddenly functions again, your motherboard could be the culprit, which is fortunate, as a new motherboard is typically a lot cheaper than professional hard drive recovery. If the drive still cannot be recognized, try changing the cables.

Physical Hard Drive Problems

If the above checks are not helping you out, determine whether there are any buzzing or clicking hard drive sounds. They are pretty obvious, and typically signify actual physical breakdown. If you have come this far with your examination, understand that your drive may have a physical problem, which is certainly not fixable by a non-professional.

Warning: There are a number of Youtube videos that suggest you attempt to replace the controller or PCB board. We recommend that if you do not have extensive experience working with electronic devices, you avoid this idea. At Hard Drive Recovery Associates, we have seen hundreds of drives destroyed by amateurs attempting to fix their own hard drives, and 90% of the time, all of the data on those drives is completely unrecoverable.

Don’t make a mistake that so many others have made. Contact a professional for a free evaluation instead.