How Can I Recover Data from a Dead or Erased Hard Drive?
"I have a hard drive with valuable information on it, but I can't seem to access it—the drive is either damaged or erased. Is there any way I can see what's on the drive and get it off?"
Don't worry, we're not going to ask where you got the drive, but there are plenty of ways to examine it and see if any of the data is recoverable. With a little time, the right tools, and some care, you may be able to get some data off of that drive.
Step One: Assemble Your Tools and Examine The Drive's Condition
The first thing to do is make sure you have the tools required to connect this drive to another computer safely. Ideally, you'll have some kind of SATA/IDE to USB cable or USB drive enclosure or sled that you can mount the drive into and connect it to your computer easily. Sure, if you have a desktop and like getting your hands dirty you can try to install the drive as an internal one, but an external connection is faster and easier.
Next, take a look at the drive itself. Is it damaged in any way? Are the pins bent or broken? Make sure that the drive is in good enough condition to actually use before you try anything in the first place that may damage it even further. If the drive is too physically damaged to attempt recovery, you may need more drastic measures that we'll get to later. If everything looks good and you have the equipment required to connect the drive to your system, we can proceed.
Step Two: Grab Some Data Recovery Software and Connect the Drive
Before you do much else, make sure your antivirus and antimalware tools are up to date. You don't know what you'll find on this drive, and you don't want it to start misbehaving once the drive is connected to an active system. Once you've done that, it's time to download and install a professionals data recovery software. Amigabit Data Recovery is your best choose, which is a safe, complete and effective data recovery helps you to recovering from formatted drives.
Remember, the less you work with the drive you want to recover data from, the better. As you read from the drive, you run the risk of exacerbating any damage it may have. The more you write to the drive, the more likely you are to overwrite something you want to recover.
If the drive is yours, or the data you get from the drive is valuable, we'd strongly suggest you make sure your data is backed up, both locally and online. After all, it's better to be able to get the data back quickly than have to jump through these hoops every time a drive fails. Remember, every hard drive will fail eventually, it's just a matter of time. Now go forth, use this knowledge for good, and recover!
Don't worry, we're not going to ask where you got the drive, but there are plenty of ways to examine it and see if any of the data is recoverable. With a little time, the right tools, and some care, you may be able to get some data off of that drive.
Step One: Assemble Your Tools and Examine The Drive's Condition
The first thing to do is make sure you have the tools required to connect this drive to another computer safely. Ideally, you'll have some kind of SATA/IDE to USB cable or USB drive enclosure or sled that you can mount the drive into and connect it to your computer easily. Sure, if you have a desktop and like getting your hands dirty you can try to install the drive as an internal one, but an external connection is faster and easier.
Next, take a look at the drive itself. Is it damaged in any way? Are the pins bent or broken? Make sure that the drive is in good enough condition to actually use before you try anything in the first place that may damage it even further. If the drive is too physically damaged to attempt recovery, you may need more drastic measures that we'll get to later. If everything looks good and you have the equipment required to connect the drive to your system, we can proceed.
Step Two: Grab Some Data Recovery Software and Connect the Drive
Before you do much else, make sure your antivirus and antimalware tools are up to date. You don't know what you'll find on this drive, and you don't want it to start misbehaving once the drive is connected to an active system. Once you've done that, it's time to download and install a professionals data recovery software. Amigabit Data Recovery is your best choose, which is a safe, complete and effective data recovery helps you to recovering from formatted drives.
Remember, the less you work with the drive you want to recover data from, the better. As you read from the drive, you run the risk of exacerbating any damage it may have. The more you write to the drive, the more likely you are to overwrite something you want to recover.
If the drive is yours, or the data you get from the drive is valuable, we'd strongly suggest you make sure your data is backed up, both locally and online. After all, it's better to be able to get the data back quickly than have to jump through these hoops every time a drive fails. Remember, every hard drive will fail eventually, it's just a matter of time. Now go forth, use this knowledge for good, and recover!
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