Recovery Centre
Data Recovery 101
Data recovery services are lifesavers for people whose computer hard drives just crashed on them.
Data Recovery 101
Data recovery services are lifesavers for people whose computer hard drives just crashed on them. That is because hard drive recovery services give them some hope that they will be able to get back whatever data they lost during the crash.
However, before you avail of these data recovery services, there are a few things that you need to know about your hard drive. Knowing a bit about how your hard drive works and what errors can make them malfunction can save you some money in the long run.
It is sad to admit this, but many computer technicians trade on the fact that most average consumers – and even other IT techs – do not know much about data recovery. This makes them bold enough to charge exorbitant fees for their services no matter how simple the task is.
What do you need to understand about hard drive recovery to make sure that you do not fall into this money trap when you need such a service? For one, you need to know how a hard drive works. For another, you should be aware of what kinds of problems can bring your hard drive down.
The Anatomy of a Hard Drive
As we all know, the main function of a computer's hard drive is to store data. The software you install is installed there and you can save the files you create there as well.
A computer's hard drive is made up of the following parts:
1.The metal oxide platters where the actual data is stored. These platters can spin up to 10,000 revolutions per minute or RPM.
2.The actuator arm that reads and writes the data. The actuator arm is also called the hard drive's head and it records data as magnetic charges a millionth of an inch just above the surface. A single hard drive can have more than one actuator arms.
3.The controller board, which is the brains of the hard drive.
4.The service track of the hard drive, where the hard drive's firmware is stored.
Inasmuch as hard drives are meant to do heavy duty work, the fact remains that they are very sensitive computer components. You need to handle them carefully in order to prevent a crash. Still, there are many factors that can lead to a hard drive crash for your computer, and the five main causes of such crashes are:
1.Bad sectors
2.Electronic failures
3.Firmware corruption
4.Logical errors
5.Mechanical failures
A crashed hard drive may be the result of one of these listed causes. It is also possible for the crash to happen because of a combination of these causes.
Bad Sectors on Hard Drives
Over time, it is inevitable for hard drives to develop bad sectors. When this happens to your hard drive, you will no longer be able to access whatever data your hard drive has stored in these bad sectors, and neither would you be able to write data on these sectors anymore. Both the actuator arm of the hard drive and the operating system of your computer skip these bad sectors.
Bad sectors are like blimps on your hard drive. Once you find one existing on your hard drive, it means that your hard drive is about to die. As such, you need to start backing up your files, especially the essential ones.
Never run ScanDisk or any such utility software on your hard drive once you have spotted a bad sector on it. More often than not, these pieces of utility software will only make your problems worse. That is because this type of software is only meant to repair file system errors and nothing else.
There are existing technologies out there that make it possible for computer technicians performing data recovery to get back the data stored in these bad sectors. However, such a form of hard drive recovery service can be very expensive.
Hard Disk Crashes Caused by Electronic Failures
Sudden power interruptions or power surges can cause your hard drive to crash, especially when your computer is not protected by a voltage regulator. When this happens, the controller board of your hard drive can die. As a result, your computer's BIOS will not be able to communicate with the controller board and it will not be able to read your hard drive.
Hard drive recovery involving electronic failures require the repair of the controller board. This is a very delicate and time-consuming process. Nonetheless, data recovery from electronic failures is completely possible and you can expect to get all of your lost data back.
Hard Disk Crashes Caused by Firmware Corruption
Your computer's BIOS communicates with your hard drive through the hard drive's firmware, which is stored in the service track located on the outer rim of your hard drive. It is possible for your hard drive firmware to become corrupted, just like any other software.
Because the firmware is stored in the outer rim of your hard drive, it is easy to conduct data recovery with this type of hard drive error. It is also likely that you will be able to get back your lost data completely. However, the extent of the corruption can sometimes dictate how complex the recovery process can be.
Hard Disk Crashes Caused by Logical Errors
Logical errors are the easiest to work with when it comes to hard drive recovery. That is because logical errors mean the problem lies in the file allocation system itself and not on the physical drive. Logical errors can be as simple as an invalid entry on the file allocation table or can be as complicated as the corruption of the entire filing system.
You will know that your hard drive is suffering from logical errors when you cannot open certain files stored in your hard drive, when you cannot operate some of your software, when the Blue Screen of Death appears a lot, or when your computer takes millennia to boot up and always does so with plenty of hiccups.
You can recover your files by yourself using third-party recovery software that you can download from any reputable computer utilities website. Using third-party recovery software, however, can make the problem worse if you do not use them properly. Thankfully, it is possible to prevent logical errors on your hard drive. One effective way of doing so is by defragmenting your hard drive regularly.
Hard Disk Crashes Caused by Mechanical Failures
As mentioned above, data is stored on the hard drive by the actuator arm, which records the data on the drive as magnetic charges. When the actuator arm touches the disk platter, your hard drive is as good as dead. You will know that this has happened when you hear loud clicks or grinding noise from your computer tower as you run your computer.
Getting back data lost due to mechanical failures on the hard drive is the most laborious and, therefore, most expensive kind of data recovery service. That is because a hard drive recovery engineer will literally take your hard drive apart to fix the mechanical error first before attempting to recover the lost data.
Also, if the damage to the hard drive is severe, it is possible that you would not recover any data at all. So, the sooner you detect a possible mechanical error on your hard drive, the sooner you should take your hard drive out for data recovery.
As traumatic as a crashed hard drive can be, it is possible to get at least some of your lost data back through data recovery services. You should understand, however, that such services can be expensive, depending on the kind of error or failure that your hard drive went through. In order to prevent such a crash from happening, make sure that you run maintenance checks on your hard drive on a regular basis and that you back up your files frequently.
