how to repair a corrupted hard drive

[Solution] How to Fix Corrupted Hard Drive

1. Try CMD to Fix Corrupted Drive. As mentioned above, the CMD Line is a built-in mechanism for deeper operations on a...
2. Check Drive for File System Errors. Hopefully, there is a systematic channel for error checking when you try to...
3. Control Panel. Moreover, the Control Panel is an effective path for repairing corrupted external drives and internal...

Full Answer

How do I fix a corrupt hard drive?

To fix a corrupted hard drive that shows 0 used space and 0 free space, try following methods:

• Recover lost data from hard drive using DiskGenius.
• Run Chkdsk in the drive to fix errors in file system.
• Format the corrupted drive to NTFS.
• Check and repair bad sectors.

How to fix a physically broken hard drive?

• Remove the drive and repeat the first step. ...
• If needed, reheat the device and, while holding the drive in one hand, sharply spin and hit the drive on a hard surface. ...
• Repeat the first step. ...
• If you can hear a rhythmic "click" in time with the movement, the chances are that the drive heads are free on their mounts and are not jammed. ...

How to fix external hard drive not working?

How to Fix "External Hard Drive Is Not Working/Responding" Error

• Method 1. Check and Fix Disk Errors on External Hard Drive. ...
• Method 2. Formatting an External Hard Drive to NTFS to Repair the Fault. ...
• Method 3. Create A New Partition in External Hard Drive. ...
• Method 4. Assign a New Drive Letter to External Disk. ...
• Method 5. Initialize External Disk and Create a New Volume. ...
• Method 6. Update Disk Driver. ...
• Method 7. ...
• Method 8. ...
• Method 9. ...

How to fix corrupted USB flash drive and recover data?

Recovering Files from a Physically Damaged USB

• Method #1: Adjust the USB. If your USB doesn’t connect to your computer when you plug it in, this could be caused by a loose connection.
• Method #2: Check for Any Debris Obstruction. ...
• Method #3: Recover Corrupted USB by Contacting Professional Recovery Services. ...

How do I fix a corrupted hard drive without formatting?

How to Restore Data from External Hard Drive Without Formatting?Scan Your Computer for Viruses.Use CHKDSK to Fix File System Errors.Replace Corrupted Files with SFC.Recover Your Files with Data Recovery Software.

How do I fix corrupted files on my hard drive?

How to Fix Corrupted FilesPerform a check disk on the hard drive. Running this tool scans the hard drive and attempts to recover bad sectors. ... Use the CHKDSK command. This is the command version of the tool we looked at above. ... Use the SFC /scannow command. ... Change the file format. ... Use file repair software.

Can you reset a corrupted hard drive?

While formatting can repair a damaged hard disk, there's no guarantee that your data can be recovered after the drive is formatted, especially if a Full Format is performed. Right-click Start and click Disk Management. Right-click the corrupted partition and click Format. Check Perform a quick format.

How do I fix a corrupted hard drive on my laptop?

Methods to Fix Corrupted Hard DriveGo to Computer/This PC >> Select Hard Drive >> Choose Properties.Select Tools >> Error checking >> Check now >> Check local disk >> Start.Shut down all open and running programs >> wait for the system to check upon the next boot >> restart the PC.

Can a hard drive be repaired?

If the hard drive is inaccessible, TestDisk is a program that can repair it. Though challenging to use due to its scanty interface, this free little tool proves itself to be a powerful tool to save your hard drive. Alternatively you can use Ontrack EasyRecovery with its SMART tools.

What causes hard drive corruption?

Hard drive data corruption can occur due to mechanical component issues, software errors or even electrical events. Serious data corruption is more likely with larger files than with smaller files, since larger files take up more physical space on a hard drive's platters.

What happens if your hard drive is corrupted?

Corruption occurs when data within a file or storage device is altered from its original state, causing it to behave differently or become completely inaccessible. Common symptoms of hard drive corruption include: The drive is completely inaccessible. Sluggish performance.

How do you revive a hard drive?

0:333:00Revive a dead hard disk - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipAnd keep it there overnight the theory is that by freezing the drive the metal will shrink justMoreAnd keep it there overnight the theory is that by freezing the drive the metal will shrink just enough for the parts to start working again in the morning take the hard drive out of the freezer.

How do I know if my hard drive is damaged?

Here are the most common hard drive failure signs:Overheating.Strange sounds.Corrupted data, files, and folders.Major slowdowns.Stuck spindle motor.Frequent error messages.System crashes.Blue Screen of Death.More items...•

How do I know if my hard drive is corrupted?

Corrupted Data and Accumulating Bad Sectors If you repeatedly see one of these symptoms, chances are your hard drive is gradually failing: Scrambled file or folder names. Random error messages when opening, moving, or saving files. Files that fail to open.

Why is my hard drive unreadable?

There are many reasons why your drive may be unreadable: Incompatible file system – If your drive is formatted with an unfamiliar file system, it...

How did my hard drive get corrupted?

Sometimes it’s hard to figure out what caused the corruption. A few common reasons include: Premature disconnection – Disconnecting the hard drive...

How to repair corrupted hard disk using cmd?

You can use the Check Disk (CHKDSK) utility in Windows to scan and fix any hard drive-related problems. The command being used will also look for b...

How to fix a corrupted external hard drive without formatting?

You can attempt to fix your corrupted external hard drive using Check Disk, a utility that’s included with Windows that scans for hard drive relate...

Will formatting fix a corrupted hard drive?

There’s no guarantee that formatting a corrupted hard drive will fix it, but formatting does remain one of the most effective solutions to fixing f...

How to fix corrupted external hard drive?

You can attempt to fix your corrupted external hard drive using Check Disk, a utility that’s included with Windows that scans for hard drive related errors and attempts to fix them.

What is corruption in hard drives?

Corruption is a nasty and often unexpected problem that occurs in hard drives and results in the loss of some of your data, or worse, your entire hard drive. It’s a problem that plagues anyone who’s unfortunate enough to encounter it, and it’s a very real possibility for anyone who uses a hard drive.

What is the check disk command?

You can use the Check Disk (CHKDSK) utility in Windows to scan and fix any hard drive-related problems. The command being used will also look for bad sectors and mark them as unusable to the operating system.

Why is my hard drive not showing?

The drive is corrupted – Corruption can result in the hard drive not appearing when connected. Instead of checking Windows File Explorer, try checking Disk Management to see if it appears.

What is the best tool to recover data from a hard drive?

To recover your data, you need a data recovery tool. The one we’re using is Disk Drill. Not only does it have an impressive track record of successful recoveries, it’s also packed with useful features that can be used to monitor your hard drive’s health and preemptively warn you of potential problems (we’ll look at those later).

What is check disk?

Check Disk (CHKDSK) is a command in Windows that can scan and resolve any problems it discovers on your hard drive. It’s customizable using different parameters, depending on what you want the command to do.

Why won't my drive read?

Incompatible file system – If your drive is formatted with an unfamiliar file system, it won’t be readable. Try connecting it to a machine with a compatible operating system.

How to repair corrupted hard disk?

Once the hard disk is corrupted, you may not be able to access the data on it. Thus you need to repair the corrupted hard disk. But how to fix corrupted hard dive? Here provides you two methods to complete this operation.

What causes damage to a hard drive?

Damage caused by related inferior accessories. (If the user buys a poor quality data cable, a poor quality power supply or a poor quality motherboard will cause damage to the hard disk. Therefore, users are advised to choose a good brand with good reputation when selecting accessories.)

What causes a hard drive to fail?

The main causes of hard disk damage can be summarized as follows: 1. Abnormally cut off the power supply for the hard disk. (eg: suddenly power off when powering on and off.) 2. Wrong partition operation. 3.

How to clean a disk in Windows 10?

1. Press “Windows” + “R” to open the Run box, typing “diskpart” and press “Enter”. 2. And then, type the following command and press “Enter” after each. list disk. select disk n (here “ n ” is the disk number of the disk you want to format.) clean.

How to deal with a corrupted hard drive?

How to deal with a corrupted hard drive? If there are important files stored on the hard drive, the first thing you should do is to recover lost data. Hard drive data recovery software like DiskGenius can do this for you. Once your files are recovered correctly, you can try repairing the hard drive.

What is the best software to recover data from a corrupted hard drive?

DiskGenius - The recommended software to recover data from corrupted, RAW and formatted hard drive partitions, SD cards and USB flash drives.

How to distinguish the causes of hard drive crashes?

Physical damage and logical damage can be distinguished according to the symptoms of hard drive damage. If the hard drive has obvious symptoms of physical damage or is damaged in case of overheating, it is obvious that the physical damage causes the hard drive to crash. In addition, if the hard drive stops working immediately after being impacted or overflowed, it is also a physical failure. The hard drive with logical crash will have symptoms such as low system performance, accidental data loss and disk error.

Why is my hard drive failing?

Physical failure: the hard drive may be physically damaged by heat, moisture, or electric shock. These physical damages may cause serious damage to the hard drive, resulting in hard drive failure. Most of the time, due to the impurities accumulated in its filter, the fan cannot provide sufficient cooling for the hard drive, which will cause thermal damage to the hard drive. Water overflow on the hard drive cam can cause moisture damage, while falling laptop can cause hard drive damage.

What is the best free tool to clone a hard drive?

DiskGenius - The best free tool to clone disk, migrate Windows 10, and check and repair bad sectors for hard drives, USB drives and SD cards.

How to prevent data loss due to hard drive damage?

The best way to avoid data loss due to hard drive damage is to back up regularly. For physical hard drive damage, it is recommended to seek professional help to recover the data.

What happens when a bad sector is encountered in the process?

When a bad sector is encountered in the process, the detection speed slows down. After testing, the software reports the number of bad sectors detected.

How to repair a corrupted hard drive?

Follow the instructions below to run CHKDSK scan and repair corrupt hard drive without formatting: 1 Open an elevated Command Prompt window 2 Make sure the corrupt drive is connected to the system 3 Assign a letter to the corrupt drive via Disk Management tool, if it doesn’t have one

What Causes Hard Drive Corruption?

There are several reasons that can cause hard drive corruption, such as:

How to replace D with hard drive letter?

In the elevated CMD window, type CHKDSK /f/r/D: and hit Enter. (Replace D: with your hard drive letter.)

How to tell if your hard drive is failing?

Common signs of a failing hard drive include clicking or loud component sounds, corrupted files, and sluggish performance. Learn more.

How to open disk management?

Go to Start by pressing Windows + X and select Disk Management to open it.

How to update Windows Security?

Press Windows + I to open System Settings and then navigate to Update & Security > Windows Security.

Can malware cause a corrupted hard drive?

Malware or viruses can lead to hard drive corruption. You can run a malware scan on your hard disk to get rid of the issue. Windows comes with a built-in antivirus program – Windows Defender Antivirus. To run a scan, follow these steps:

How to repair a corrupted hard drive?

To start the corrupted hard disk repair process, open Command Prompt in Admin mode (Right-click Start button and click Command Prompt (Admin)).

How to fix a corrupt hard drive using built-in Windows CMD tools and other options?

The Check Disk utility we use for repairing corrupt flash drives and SD card also works for rotating hard drives and SSDs. It can be accessed in the Properties of a connected hard drive. For hard drive recovery, you also use Check Disk or chkdsk using the command line.

How to format an external hard drive?

Format an external hard drive using CMD. You can access the Diskpart tool using command prompt in Windows to format an external hard drive that’s not working properly. The process to clean a hard drive is similar to how you format flash drives and SD cards. Open CMD in Admin Mode. Type diskpart and press Enter.

What is the name of the hardware monitoring technology that monitors hard drives?

The hard drive we use on our desktops and laptops have a built-in hardware monitoring technology called S.M.A.R.T. Now, Windows doesn’t have any app to display the data collected by S.M.A.R.T. but you can check the overall status using WMIC (Windows Management Instrumentation Command-line) in CMD and try your hands on the broken hard disk repair.

How to reinstall a hard drive?

You can reinstall your hard drive’s drivers by visiting This PC (right-click) > Manage > Device Manager. Right-click on the name of your hard drive and click Uninstall. Now, restart the computer and connect the hard drive. The drivers will start installing automatically in most cases.

What does "OK" mean on a hard drive?

It’ll show the SMART status of your hard drive as OK, this means everything is fine. But if it’s not Ok then you should worry about your hard drive dying in the coming future. Things get confusing when you have multiple hard drives connected, it doesn’t display the name, so, you will see an ‘Ok’ for each of the hard drives connected.

Why is my external hard drive not working?

If you’re using an external hard drive, then it’s possible that the storage media is taking the power from the USB port itself. Try to unplug the hard drive and connect it again in the process of hard drive fix. You can also try another USB port on your computer, maybe the one you’re using isn’t working properly. Make sure haven’t disabled your USB ports.

What to use to clean a hard drive?

You may use a small piece of cotton rag and a dip of alcohol to clean it by yourself, and a cotton bud is also a good choice for the inside areas.

How to recover data from external hard drive?

Since you're going to recover data from an external hard drive, you need to correctly connect the drive to your Windows computer. Run EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard and choose the exact external drive where you lost data. Click Scan.

How to uninstall USB drive?

Click on "Disk drives", right-click on your hard drive that is not showing up in Windows, and choose "Uninstall device". (Make sure you have selected the correct USB device).

How to check if external hard drive is g?

Type chkdsk g:/f (if the external hard drive is drive g) and press Enter.

Why is my hard drive not opening?

Missing or corrupted system files are responsible for a hard drive with unusual symptoms. It usually occurs when there is a problem during the file save process. So when your hard drive seems to be damaged and you cannot open it, maybe you need to repair the crashed system files at first.

How to make your computer not slow?

Remove junk files, useless and extremely large files, and system/browser cache files that occupy precious disk space to avoid the risk of the computer becoming slow. Use simple disk cleanup to boost hard drive performance.

How to format an external drive?

Right-click the external drive or USB you intend to format and choose "Format".

How to repair corrupted internal hard disk without formatting?

Or you can use a data recovery program like Recoverit to restore them and make a backup before they are gone forever.

Why is my internal hard drive damaged?

Common reasons: ▸ The hard disk is infected by some unexpected or unknown viruses. ▸ The hard disk suffers a sudden power failure during working. ▸ The internal hard disk has some bad sectors . ▸ The MBR of the internal hard disk gets damaged. ...

How to rebuild a RAW partition?

Part 1. Rebuild MBR. 1. Right click the internal disk and select "Rebuild MBR". 2. Choose a proper MBR type for the current OS you are using and click OK. 3. In the main interface, click "Apply">"Proceed" to start rebuilding the MBR.

How to make a bootable USB?

To create a bootable USB: Connect an empty USB to a working computer, download the free software, install and run it on the working computer. Click "Make Bootable Media Wizard" and follow the hints to create a bootable USB. ( PS: it will contain installed AOMEI Partition Assistant.) Then plug the bootable USB in the computer with ...

How to open cmd window?

>> If your Windows can boot successfully, you can click the Search box, input CMD, and right-click the given Command Prompt icon and select Run as administrator to open the CMD window.

What is internal hard disk?

Overview of corrupted internal hard disk. An internal hard disk is the primary storage device, holding the OS and other pre-installed programs. It decides whether your computer and system can run successfully. But similar to external hard drives, the internal hard disk sometimes also gets corrupted. When that occurs, your computer won’t boot ...

Can you wipe an internal hard drive?

If those methods does not work, you can use AOMEI Partition Assistant to wipe the internal hard drive completely and reinstall OS.

How to repair a corrupted disk?

Step 1. Open AOMEI Partition Assistant, right-click the corrupted disk and select “Rebuild MBR”. Step 2. Select a proper MBR type for your current operating system and click “OK”. Step 3. In the main interface, click “Apply” on the top left corner to commit the pending operation.

How to fix corrupted hard drive using CMD?

When your hard drive is corrupted, you can refer to the following content to fix corrupted hard disk using Command Prompt. Before proceeding, you had better recover data from the damaged hard drive, and move them to another safe location.

How to reformat a corrupted hard drive?

Reformat the corrupted hard drive. Step 1. In the main interface of AOMEI Partition Assistant, right-click any partition of the corrupted disk and select “Format Partition”. Step 2. Select a file system (ex: FAT32) and click “OK”. Step 3. Click “Apply” to start formatting the partition.

What to do if chkdsk.exe fails?

If checking and repairing disk/partition by chkdsk.exe fails, then you can consider the option of rebuilding the MBR of the damaged hard drive. Luckily, AOMEI Partition Assistant could also perform this task.

What does the G mean on a hard drive?

Note: the g: is the drive letter of the damaged hard drive, the f means fixing errors on the disk.

Why is my hard drive corrupted?

Hard disk corruption is most commonly caused due to physical damage (if the hard disk took a tumble), a virus attack, file system corruption, bad sectors, or simply due to age . In most cases, if the damage isn’t physical and severe, the data from a corrupted hard disk can be retrieved by fixing/repairing the disk itself.

What utility can be used to repair a corrupted hard drive?

Along with the system file checker, there is another utility that can be used to repair corrupted storage media. The check disk utility allows users to scan for logical as well as physical disk errors by checking the file system and file system metadata of a specific volume. It also has a number of switches associated with it to perform specific actions. Let’s see how to fix corrupted hard drive using CMD:

What to do if your disk is corrupted?

Firstly, ensure you have a backup of the data contained in the corrupted disk, if not, use a third-party application to retrieve the corrupted data. Some popular data recovery applications are DiskInternals Partition Recovery, Free EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard, MiniTool Power Data Recovery Software, and Recuva by CCleaner. Each of these has a free trial version and a paid version with additional features. We have an entire article dedicated to various data recovery software and the features they offer – 9 Best Free Data Recovery Software.

How to update disk drivers on Windows 10?

To update the disk drivers on your computer-. 1. Open the Run command box by pressing Windows key + R, type devmgmt.msc, and click on OK to open the Device Manager. 2. Expand Disk Drives and Universal Serial Bus Controllers to find the corrupted hard drive.

How to manually download drivers for a hard drive?

You can also manually download the latest drivers from the hard drive manufacturer’s website. Simply perform a Google search for ‘ *Hard drive brand* drivers’ and click on the first result. Download the .exe file for the drivers and install it as you would any other application.

Does Windows have a built in hard drive repair tool?

As mentioned earlier, Windows has a built-in tool to fix corrupted internal and external hard drives. Usually, Windows automatically prompts the user to perform an error check as soon as it detects a faulty hard drive is connected to the computer but users can also run the error scan manually. 1.

Scenario

Why Hard Disk corrupted?

How to Repair Corrupted Hard disk?

Summary

• Follow these simple steps, you can easily and effectively repair the corrupted harddisk. AOMEI Partition Assistant is such a useful corrupted hard disk repair tool.Besides check partition, it also provides you many other powerful functions such asResize/Delete/Format Partition, repairMBR and so on. What’s more, AOMEI Partition Assistant can also he...

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