How to Recover Data from a Damaged Hard Drive

By
May 6, 2024

The powerful hard drive recovery software has the ability to recover data and repair corrupted disks. In case of system failure or boot problems, WinfrGUI will come to help with the option of data recovery. This free data recovery software is designed to restore data from corrupted hard drives.

To start the file recovery process from a corrupted hard drive, follow these basic steps:

  • Install and configure WinfrGUI
  • Select the desired hard drive and click the Scan button.
  • Check the desired file to be restored and click the restore button.

If your hard drive does not respond, sends out strange sounds when booted, and eventually turns off, it is possible that the drive will fail.

There are several indicators that suggest that the hard drive is dead, including abnormal sound, frequent computer failures, discounts, data loss, and difficulty identifying drivers.

But don’t worry! Try exploring some way to recover data from dead hard drives.

Part 1: Possible ways to recover data from dead hard drives

At some point, every computer user encounters a dead hard drive. The loss of pictures, music, documents, and other important files can be painful. However, there is still hope until the files are not severely damaged. It is always a good idea to have a backup plan, such as using a CD or DVD with hard disk recovery software, assuming the drive components are still functional.

Quick Tip: Make sure the disk is connected and that the partition or disk space is accurately recognized. If the drive is not connected, please see section 3 for troubleshooting steps.

Part 2: Data Recovery from Dead Hard Drive

WinfrGUI is a powerful tool for data recovery after system or boot failure. Here is a step-by-step guide to recovering data from dead hard drives:

  • Step 1: Select the scan range and specify the file recovery location
  • Step 2: Select the desired scanning mode and file type in the “Advanced Settings” section.
  • Step 3: Start the recovery process by clicking on the “start recovery” button.

This free software can retrieve information from dead hard drives, external disks, dynamic drives, memory cards, and other storage media. It can also recover data deleted from partitions and restore previous Excel files, as well as images, documents, and video files.

Part 3: Fixing Hard Disk Connection Problems

If your hard drive appears to be “offline,”  try the following troubleshooting steps, which usually fix most problems.

Case 1: Show hard drive status “ONLINE (ERRORS)”

dynamic drive shows an “online (error)” status when I/O fails. Most disk files are considered “in danger” to solve this problem:

  • If an I/O error is caused by a wire or circuit, restart the disk.
  • If the disk is still shown as “Healthy (At Risk),” it means physical damage. In this case, consider buying a new disk and backing up your data immediately.

Case 2: The hard drive appears to be “Not initialized.”.

When the disk is labeled as “Uninitialized”, it means it’s free of viruses or signatures. To fix this problem:

First, check other PC hard drives. If there are no options, go to the next step.

Right-click on the disk and select “start disk” when the drive is started. It should be displayed as “online”.

Case 3: The hard drive “disappeared.”

If the disk is damaged. Close or disconnect. It will appear as “missing” to enable the new disk. Follow these steps:

Open “Disk Manager” by right-clicking on the missing item.

Select “Import Foreign Disk” to re-log the disk. Importing the disk will not cause data loss.

Case 4: Displays disk status

If the disk appears to be “foreign”, it means that the changed file has been moved from another computer to your computer, making it appear to be foreign. This situation may occur with Windows XP Home Edition, dual boot, and dynamic files. To solve this problem:

Use the “Import Foreign Disk” option to log in to a disk. Importing a disk will not result in data loss.

Part 4: Solution for repairing broken or dead hard drives.

Consider the following solution to fix your broken hard drive:

Solution 1: Repair your disk.

If your disk has bad sections or errors, it can be fixed using the CHKDSK tool. Follow these steps to fix a hard drive that is not working:

  • Click Win+X to access “Command Prompt (Admin).”
  • Click “Yes” to confirm running the command as an administrator.
  • Type “chkdsk” along with the letter of the wrong hard drive and press “Enter.”.

Solution 2: Fix faulty non-system drives with the file manager

Click “Win + E” to launch the file manager, and right-click on the desired drive from the item on the left.

Select “Properties” and then go to the “Tools” tab and click “Error Check.”.

When the scan is complete, click “Repair this drive” to fix the specified problem.

Solution 3: Do a full disk scan.

  • Open “This PC.”. Right-click on the problem hard drive and select “Properties.”.
  • Go to the “Tools” tab and click “Check” in the “Error Checks” section.
  • Click on “Start” and select “Check Local Disk.”. Close all running applications and leave the system scanning disk during the startup process. Once completed, restart your PC.

If the report indicates that there are “bad sectors or groups,”  use the CHKDSK command from Solution 1 to fix the problem.

Conclusion

To recover data from damaged hard drive can be a tough task. Before seeking expert help, try using the above-mentioned methods and discovering an inexpensive alternative. When you recover data from an old hard drive, it is important to invest in a new hard drive, as a corrupted hard drive poses a risk to your data security.