Hard Disk Recovery: Main Causes of a HDD failure

The possibilities of a successful hard disk recovery rely on the nature of the issue you are encountering. This article looks at the three major faults that can stop you (component issues, software faults, lost data) and explains how to get your files again.

Beginning with the hardest scenario, a mechanical fault with a component in the hard disk in your drive can render it unusable. Windows will nearly immediately crash and fail to reboot due to being unable to recognize your drive.

But if you are favored then it may just be a loose power cable/ IDE ribbon (both of which you can check for). Nonetheless, if you hear odd noises from the drive (grinding/rattling) then power down the PC and get a technician to look at the fault.

The second circumstances is where Windows develops a fault that blocks it booting. This is generally a software/registry/virus fault rather than being a trouble with your drive. To finish a hard disk recovery you will first need to get Windows started. You could attempt one of the following strategies:

* Start up Windows in safe-mode.
* Start Windows using the ‘Last Known Good Configuration’ option as it boots.
* Start Windows from an emergency boot disk (Window’s own or some anti-virus software makers also produce them).

Once Windows boots up, you can complete your hard disk recovery by backing up files to an external drive then troubleshooting the cause of the issue. If it still fails to boot then you will need to route to computer maintenance software or a PC repair technician.

Finally, if you want to complete a formatted hard disk recovery or retrieve deleted documents then free software (for example, Recuva or Undelete Plus) are capable of scanning a drive for lost files. Notice that such tools will be decreasingly effective as the PC is used (as regularPC usage will begin to overwrite lost documents).

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i am familiar with tools that are pre-installed prior to data loss.

however I am looking for a GUI tool that will run from CD so I can retreive data from clients hard-drives without having to install software to the pc.

installing can over-write data so is not a good idea.

i want to be able to pop in a cd, or usb key would do, then browse a drive and recover files to burn to dvd or cd.

then i can do a reinstall on the original drive or transfer files to a new pc.

Best answer:

Answer by GAF
Download and install Damn Small Linux (DSL) on a USB key, or other Distros on LiveCD (nothing gets installed). That will boot you into Linux, from where you can copy all disk files to another machine without writing anything to client computer. Both Linux and Windows use NTFS file system.

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