how to repair a dead hard drive

[Solution] How to Fix a Dead Hard Drive

1. Attempting to fix a dead hard drive will only lessen the chances of a professional being able to repair it.
2. Even replacing the PCB board is an advanced exercise that requires knowledge of how to solder circuitry and purchase...

Full Answer

What can I do with a dead internal hard drive?

Try plugging your hard drive into a different port or computer.

• If you're using an external hard drive, this is as easy as unplugging it from your computer and plugging it into a different one. ...
• Internal hard drives present a more complicated problem. ...
• Before removing a hard drive, make sure your computer is unplugged and the battery is disconnected (if applicable).

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How to save a dying hard drive?

STEP 4: Revive a dying hard drive

• Method 1. Change power cables and SATA cables, and turn on ATA/SATA in BIOS. ...
• Method 2. Update the hard drive drivers. Click the "Start" button, type: Device Manager, and hit Enter. ...
• Method 3. Test and check if the bad sectors are overtaking the disk. ...
• Method 4. Repair the hard drive under the warranty. ...

How to repair dead/ not detected hard drive?

Why is My Seagate External Hard Drive Not Showing Up?

• The USB connection is not tight enough.
• The USB port is dead and needs to be replaced.
• The corrupted or wrong file system on the hard drive.
• Damaged partition table or boot sector on the disk.
• Dropped external hard drive not recognized.
• Driver issues in Windows.
• Virus attack and malware infection.

How to fix your computer harddrive in under 5 min.?

Tidy up computer space with Disk Cleanup

• Choose Start→My Computer or Start→My Computer. ...
• Right-click the drive you want to check and choose Properties from the shortcut menu. ...
• Click the General tab, if it isn’t already open. ...
• 4. ...
• Clear the check boxes next to any files that you want to keep; check the check boxes next to any additional files that you want to clear off the disk. ...
• Click OK. ...

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Can dead hard drives be repaired?

While some forms of damage can put your hard drive in a state that's beyond repair, some corrupted, damaged, or dead hard drives can actually be restored.

How do you bring a dead hard drive back to life?

10. Hard drive revival: A technique I have learned is if you bring the temperature of the hard drive down to the freezing point by putting it in a freezer first and then taking it back out, somehow the condensation from bringing it back to room temperature helps revive it for about 20 minutes.

How do you fix a hard drive that won't turn on?

Step 1: Check the power cable on your computer. Ensure that the external hard drive or internal hard drive is plugged in stiffly on your PC. Step 2: If not, switch the cable or remove the hard drive to another PC to see if it powers up or not.

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...•

Can you recover data from a hard drive that won't spin?

When your hard drive is not spinning, your computer won't recognize it and you won't be able to recover the data from the hard drive using data recovery software until you fix it. When your hard drive is not spinning, you are recommended to send your device to a professional for manual repair.

Does putting a hard drive in the freezer work?

Bottom line, modern hard drives aren't vulnerable to the lubrication issues that are resolvable by freezing. You'll find that most of the time a hard drive fails because of a logical rather than a hardware issue. So freezing a hard drive does nothing but potentially destroy the hard drive permanently.

What happens when your hard drive dies?

Symptoms Of A Hard Drive Crash Blue screen on a Windows computer, also called the Blue Screen of Death, or BSOD. Computer will not start. Computer attempts to boot but returns a "file not found" error. Loud scratching or clicking noises coming from drive.

Common Symptoms for a Failing Hard Drive

Before we discuss how to fix a dying hard drive, let’s look at some of its common symptoms that would help you catch this issue in the first place.

How to Diagnose if Your Hard Disk is Dying or Not?

By closely examining the above-listed symptoms, you can check if your hard drive is dying or not. Apart from that, when I wanted to be certain if my hard drive died or not, I did a quick examination of my disk. If you want, you can also do the same and get the status of your hard drive in the following way.

What Should You Do After Realizing Your Hard Drive is Going to Fail?

When I realized that my hard drive died, the first thing I did was to take a backup of my data. In this way, you can preserve your important files from getting lost or deleted. If your hard drive also died, then take the assistance of AOMEI Backupper. It is a dedicated application that can take an entire backup of your system.

How to Fix a Dying Hard Drive: Possible Solutions

By now, I was able to check if my hard drive is dying or whether there is any other issue with my system. In case your hard drive died and you are facing some issues with it, then I would recommend the following methods to fix it.

How to Recover Data from a Failing Hard Drive?

By now, I have already discussed what to do if my hard drive is failing and how to revive it. Though, if you have lost your important data in the process and your hard drive has been corrupted, then you can use Wondershare Recoverit Data Recovery.

What to do if your laptop is dead?

Community Answer. If the laptop is dead do to a problem other than the hard drive you need to pull the hard drive and you can access it with another computer. If the hard drive on the laptop is dead, you can't recover it unless you are willing to send it to a professional which is likely to cost around 1000 dollars.

How to stop a hard drive from spinning?

1. Stop using your computer immediately. If your hard drive is still spinning but you're encountering performance issues, it's best to stop the hard drive from running as soon as possible. Once you've turned off your computer, don't turn it on again until you can take it to a professional repair service. If you're worried about an external hard ...

What does the light on my hard drive mean?

Community Answer. The light means there is power to the hard drive. It may not be working at all. A partition editor can tell you if your operating system can do anything with the drive or not. If not, shut off and unplug the computer until you can remove the hard drive, so you can take it to a pro. Thanks!

How to diagnose internal hard drive?

In order to diagnose your internal hard drive's connection health, you'll first need to remove the drive from your computer. After doing so, you can buy a hard drive docking station or a USB cable converter (Amazon sells both) that allows you to connect your external hard drive to another computer.

Why does my hard drive make a clicking noise?

For example: if your hard drive was making a clicking noise, it most likely has a problem with the head assembly.

What are the components of a hard drive?

Hard drives have three distinct components that are likely to cause a drive failure if they malfunction: PCB - The circuit board (usually on the bottom of your hard drive) controls most of your hard drive's functions, as well as translating hard drive information into readable information.

Can you recover data from a hard drive?

Due to the incredibly complex construction of a hard drive, you won't be able to fix your own drive to the point of being able to retrieve the data stored on it unless you have an advanced background in electronics.

How to get a hard drive out of a freezer?

Take the drive out of the freezer after two hours and connect it to the computer , leaving it in the zip-top bag to avoid condensation. This may require you to set the drive down inside the computer case. Turn the computer on and attempt to read the drive data. If the data can be read, copy it to another drive immediately before the drive heads become stuck again.

What happens if a SATa hard drive fails?

If your SATA hard drive fails, you may face massive data loss. SATA (Serial Advanced Technology Attachment) hard drive failure occurs when the hard drive has melted internal components or stuck heads due to physical abuse or old age. Without a proper backup, you must get the drive working long enough to recover the data.

How to stop a computer from making clicking noises?

Step 1. Turn off the computer , put the drive into a zip-top bag and place it in the freezer. Use this technique if the drive is making abnormal clicking noises. The idea is to release stuck heads that read the drive data. Advertisement.

What does it mean when a hard drive makes a sound?

Any incomprehensible sound emanating from the hard drive indicates that it will soon break down, as its moving parts will become unusable.

What is the recovery wizard?

The recovery wizard built into the program can work in several modes: “uneraser”, “reader” or “recovery”. When restoring files, remember not to rush, so the program can calmly and gradually do its job. With the help of the preview function, you can verify the unsurpassed quality of the work done.

Is it possible to format an external hard drive?

Formatting is a debatable option. Formatting may be a solution, but it is debatable. Formatting can be a solution for the dying external hard drive. If you saved your data (either restored and by making a backup copy), then you should definitely try it.

How to recover deleted files from a hard drive?

To Recover Deleted Data from a Damaged Hard Drive: 1 Download & Install Disk Drill on your computer. 2 Select your hard drive & click the ‘Recover’ button. 3 Preview files. 4 Select & save your files.

What to do if your hard drive is not detecting?

Can I recover data from hard disk which is not detecting? If your operating system can’t detect your hard drive, you won’t be able to use any data recovery software application to recover your data. Sometimes, all you need to do to fix this problem is connect your hard disk to a different port or computer.

Why does my hard drive show up as another storage device?

That could happen because it’s not the hard drive that’s faulty but the operating system installed on it . Unfortunately, most data recovery cases are not that simple.

What is disk drill?

In the large sea of file recovery programs and apps, Disk Drill stands out with its polished user interface that allows anyone to recover files from external hard drives or SD cards or just about any other storage device in just a few minutes.

Why is my hard drive corrupted?

Hard drive can become damaged or corrupted due to various hard drive errors like bad sectors on hard drive, file system corruptions. So you must learn these basic tips. After reading this article, you may find that hard drive repair is not so complicated.

How to uninstall hard drive?

Right-click the hard disk with hard drive failure and then click Uninstall device to uninstall the drive. Step 4. Restart the computer and connect the hard drive. The drivers will start installing automatically in most cases. After restarting, you can check if your external hard drive can be read.

What to do if your computer cannot read your external hard drive?

If your computer cannot read your external hard drive, you can connect it to another PC to see if the drive can be read and work normally. If it works, you can make external hard drive repair by reinstalling the device drivers on your computer. Here are detailed steps for you to reinstall your hard drive's drivers.

Can a hard bad sector be repaired?

Formatting the drive will almost always fix this. But, if it's a hard bad sector, this indicates physical damage , which cannot be repaired.

Can a hard drive run into problems?

Hard drives can run into problems sometimes. This article will show you how to make hard drive repair and recover data from a hard drive. When your hard drive needs to be repaired, you can try the top 4 solutions in this article to fix the hard drive.

What does it mean when your hard drive crashes?

If it's an inconvenience when your system crashes, it's a disaster when your hard drive heads south. Usually, that means your data is destroyed, and your bits are blasted—unless you backed up, of course.

Why does my hard drive stop working?

If there's a power surge or a component failure on that board, your drive will stop working, but only because it doesn't know what to do next. Look for signs of damage—burns or scorch marks.

What to do if you can't hear anything?

If you still can't hear any noises, go on to the next step. However, if there is a difference, reattach the drive to your computer and listen for spin-up of the drive and normal clicking that indicates head activity. If all seems well so far, try to access the drive, and move your data onto a good drive.

Why is my iPod hard drive jammed?

Community Answer. If it's an iPod hard drive, where failures are generally due to drops, then your issue is usually a jammed arm. Smacking it gently while it is clicking might fix it for a while. This also works with any drive that was physically dropped (laptop drives, external drives).

How to back up a plugged in computer?

The inside of your plugged-in computer will usually work. Slide in the new board, making sure it's seated firmly into the drive, then re-attach the screws. Reconnect the drive to the computer, then power back up. If it works, congratulations! It's a good idea to back up your data at this point, but you're ready to go.

What is an external hard drive?

An external hard drive is just a regular internal hard drive in an external case. You can open the case and take out the drive, and from here you can connect it to a computer in a number of different ways. Or you can find a replacement case and install the hard drive so you again have a functioning external hard drive.

Can you replace a burned out controller board?

The idea is that if you only replace the burned out controller board, your drive will spring back to life. Truth is, maybe it will! But there's one big caveat: the chips on the controller are, more and more, calibrated for that particular drive, and there's no guarantee a replacement will work.