Discover the top 4 effective strategies for safely recovering files from a corrupted hard drive. Our step-by-step guide will help you regain lost data quickly and securely.
Hard Drives are used by most of us for storing important data like documents, pictures, videos, and others. What if the disk gets corrupted and there is a risk of data loss?
This is definitely a situation that none of us would like to encounter but sadly is not a rare one.
Thankfully, there are professional services as well as tools available that will help you recover files from corrupted hard drive.
Reading this article means that you are in a similar situation and looking for hard drive recovery. We will help you with the best and most effective ways to safely recover important and needed files from a corrupted drive.
Part 1. What Can Cause a Hard Drive to Get Corrupted?
First, let’s start by knowing some of the culprits that might lead to the crashing of the hard drive and its corruption.
- Wear and Tear: Like any other device, a hard drive is also prone to wear and tear on regular use which results in issues like slow functioning and even hard drive crash.
- Power Issues: A common reason for a hard drive crash is power issues like electrical storms, power failure, and similar others.
- Overheating: If multiple tasks are being performed at a time or your system is being used for prolonged hours, it might result in overheating of the laptop and PC which in turn would cause several other problems including a hard drive crash.
- Hardware Problems: Improper handling of your hard drive would lead to damage to the device and could even cause a crash.
- Bad Sectors: There are millions of sectors in your hard drive for storing the data and if due for any reason, these sectors get damaged the disk will be corrupted.
Part 2. Can I Recover Files from a Corrupted Hard Drive?
Yes, recovering files from a corrupted hard drive is possible but for this, you would need specialized tools or services. With data recovery service providers, you need to hand over your disk to them and their experts will get the task done.
Service providers are mainly used when there is physical disk damage. The present-day disk-recovery tools are quite advanced using which you can try recovering the lost data on your own in a few quick simple steps.
Whether trying to recover data on your own using tools or handing them to an expert, ensure not to use the disk after it is corrupted to prevent data overwriting.
Part 3. How to Recover Data from a Damaged Hard Disk Using a Recovery Tool?
A recovery tool is a reliable and safe way for recovering lost data from a corrupted hard drive and one of the best in the category is WondershareRecoverit.
Claiming a 95% success rate, this Windows and Mac-based software support recovering over 1000 file formats and types from more than 2000 devices.
You don’t need to be a tech expert for using the software as the data recovery task can be done in a few simple and quick steps.
Step 1. Connect the hard drive to the system
First of all, you need to connect the corrupted hard drive to your Windows/Mac system and also make sure that the drive is detected by the system.
Step 2. Launch the software and choose the drive
Launch WondershareRecoverit software and on the main interface choose HardDrives and Locations from the left side panel, and then on the right-hand side choose the hard drive that needs to be recovered. Click on the Start button.
Step 3. Scan the hard drive
The software will start scanning the connected hard drive. You can wait for the process to finish or can also pause or stop in between if you locate the targeted files.
Step 4. Preview and recover the files
Finally, when the scanning is complete, you can preview the files and choose to save the ones needed at the desired location by clicking on the Recover button.
Some of the key features of Recoverit that make it a perfect recovery tool are discussed below.
- Support to more than 2000 storage devices: No matter for which device or storage media you are looking to recover data, Recoverit will be a perfect choice with support to more than 2000 devices. For PC and Mac, it even supports the systems having BitLocker or T2 and is M1 chip-enabled. Additionally, data recovery is supported for drones, camcorders, SSD, USB drives, hard drives, dashcams, and several other devices.
- Recovery of over 1000 formats supported: Almost all types of file types and file formats are supported by the tool for recovery. In addition to the regular media and document files, the tool allows recovering NTFS, HFS+, APFS, FAT, and several other similar file types.
- NAS Data Recovery: The software allows recovering lost or deleted data from failed and corrupted NAS servers like Thecus, Synology, QNAP, and more.
- Linux Data Recovery: The software can also scan and recover files from Linux devices as it supported EXT4, BTRFS, BFS, and XFS file systems.
The pricing for the software for Windows and Mac users can be checked from the table below.
| System/Plan | Essential | Standard | Premium |
|
Windows |
$69.99/Year |
$79.99/Year
|
$99.99/Year |
|
Mac
|
$79.99/Year |
$99.99/Year |
$139.99/Year |
In addition to the Individual plans, the software is also available for Team & Business, and Education categories.
TIPS: You can also do the same on an SD Card. Yes! And it’s simple. Check our recent guide on how to recover files from a corrupted SD Card.
Part 4. How to Perform Corrupted Hard Drive Recovery Without Any Software?
If using any software for data recovery is not a possibility, there are a few other approaches that can be given a try. Some of them can be checked below.
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Use CMD to Recover Files from a Corrupted Hard Drive
Command Prompt which is generally referred to as CMD is a built-in utility of the Windows OS that be used for performing an array of tasks including hard disk recovery.
The method can be used for fixing the issues without any need for drive formatting. The CHKDSK command helps to highlight the bad sectors of the drive and fix the errors of the systems.
READ: How to Prevent External Hard Drive Failure
Steps for corrupted hard drive recovery using CMD
Step 1. Type cmd on your Windows search bar to open the Command Prompt.
Step 2. At the command line, type “ chkdsk” and then press the Enter key for checking the damaged drive errors.
Step 3. Finally, for fixing the drive, type “chkdsk c:/f/r/x”
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Use Disk Management Utility
This method works when the hard drive is logically corrupted. The Disk Management Utility can be used on Windows as well as Mac systems for fixing the issue. Check out the steps below.
Steps to recover data from a damaged hard drive for Windows system:
Step 1. On your system press Windows + X and then select the Disk Management option.
Step 2. At the Disk Management panel, check out for the crashed hard drive.
Step 3. As you locate the drive, format it to fix the errors and have access to the data.
Steps for Mac damaged hard drive recovery
Step 1. Press Command + Space to open Disk Utility on your Mac.
Step 2. Next, choose the desired disk or volume and then tap on First Aid.
Step 3. After the process of First Aid runs is complete, the disk will be repaired and you will know if any issues are fixed.
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Use Corrupted Hard Drive Data Recovery Services
If your hard drive is physically damaged or you have tried all the methods of data recovery nut no success, hard drive data recovery services can be tried as the last resort.
Check out these professional service providers in your area and get the quotations. Ensure to choose the one that has a good reputation, and offers a policy of no payment on no data recovery.
Part 5. How to Keep Your Hard Drive Away from Data Loss in the Future?
Losing important data from a hard drive and then trying to recover it using different methods is a stressful and time-consuming process. So, it is best if this situation could be altogether avoided. For the same, shortlisted below are some ways to keep your hard drive away from data loss in the future.
- Using reliable anti-virus software on your system is a great way to prevent disk corruption.
- Keep your hard drives in a cool and dry place as extreme humidity and heat can damage the disk.
- If any strange noise or sound is observed from the disk, stop using it immediately to prevent any further damage or data loss.
- It is always recommended to regularly back up your data so that in case of any unforeseen situation or loss, the data can be recovered.
- Ensure to verify all the potential destructive activities like partition formatting, file deletion, and others.
Similar Resources:
- Minitool Partition Wizard
- EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard
- How to Update and Fix Drivers in Windows PC
- Best Driver Updater Tools for Windows
Conclusion
Hard drive corruption and data loss is definitely an unwelcome situation but also unavoidable one. So, if you too are stuck in this and looking for a sure-shot and reliable solution,
