subject: Tips For Hard Drive Recovery [print this page] Hard drive recovery can be tricky and very damaging to the hard drive and the data on it if you dont know that it is the problem, how to fix it and who to have fix it. It is extremely important that only a professional and certified computer specialist be the one to perform your hard drive recovery. It is also important to know as much as you can about your hard drive, including the causes and symptoms of a hard drive becoming damaged, which operating systems are best compatable with the hard drive recovery process, and what not to do if you suspect your hard drive might be the problem.
Causes/Symptoms
Several causes can be the reason your hard drive has failed or lost data, as well as several small warning signs that this is what is happening. Knowing all of these will better help you decide when to resort to allowing a professional to take a look at it in controlled conditions so as not to damage the hard drive further. A BIOS error message is a sure sign that a hard drive failure is imminent. If your computer (laptop, desktop) has had any kind of water or fire damage, including just smoke exposure, your hard drive may soon lose data and need hard drive recovery. A clicking or noisy hard drive, logical corruption to the file system, invalid system disk, or a recent virus can all be warning signs and symptoms that your hard drive might be damaged. And of course, any time the computer has been dropped, banged or smashed, chances are a hard drive failure is coming. This last is also true of external hard drives.
Operating Systems
The truth about operating systems is that in the hands of the right professional, almost any operating system can be used for a hard drive recovery. Common operating systems like Windows through Vista 32 and 64 bit, Mac, BSd, and Linux are fine for hard drive recovery. Other systems that are fine include Unix and custom operating systems or other file systems. A professional can take the hard drive from any of these operating systems and perform a hard drive recovery on them with no problem, using the right techniques and equipment and a properly controlled environment.
Not Yourself!
Professionals will warn you always to make sure and stay away from trying to perform a hard drive recovery or tinkering with your damaged hard drive in any way. Contrary to the popular belief that they say this to keep busienss for themselves, it is actually hazardous to your hard drive and the data stored on it. Opening up the hard drive to look and see what could be wrong with it is not as inconsequential as lifting the hood of a car and looking even more data could be lost if this happens to a hard drive because its not being done in a controlled clean room. Using at home data recovery software is also strongly cautioned against as they sometimes do more harm than good as well.
