• Home
• Technical Articles
• Bad Drive Recovery Practice to Avoid

When Data Recovery Software fails
Or
Why It Better Not Try

While most disk recovery utilities provide an excellent preventative maintenance by fixing minor software-inflicted errors, all and any of these programs can render the entire hard drive with all data unrecoverable. Even slightest mechanical defect or malfunction will turn the running hard drive into uncontrollable self-destruction mechanism that develops multiple physical defects on the disk platters.

When HDD has got just a little scratch or dent on any of its spinning data-disks, it may still be an easy for the lab procedure with the success rate close to 100%. However, when the motor continue spinning the spindle, irrespective whether recovery software is running or failing drive is simply idling inside a working computer, the erosion of magnetic layers is inevitable and no recovery is possible with such damages to data. Of course, the drive suffering additional load of running software with lurching heads vigorously seeking sectors requested by software in running tests could not withstand destructing forces longer than normally idling drive and would suffer even faster and severe destruction.

In both cases, surface deterioration leads to the production of wear particles and increases friction to the level of distinct audible sound.

Damaging sounds are included: clicking, buzzing or scraping. The unusual sounds foremost is the indication of a damaged head set mechanism or a head set crash. Shutting down the computer, or disconnecting the external device is the only way to stop any further damages to the drive and its data. Next step is to send your drive to the professional data recovery.

Technically, a program running on your computer can work only with fully functional hard drive. Simply speaking of, you or your technician must be 100% sure that the drive that is to be exposed to an extensive data reading by running data recovery software is absolutely in the perfect working condition.

Otherwise, if you keep running a faulty drive in the computer, the data will be inevitably corrupted, if you are lucky it will happen gradually, if not - very quickly. As a consequence, you may just run out of time to salvage of all your important files and folders, so the drive will die along with the rest of unrecovered data.

Developing Scratches on Hard Disk Platters

Concerns about using the software recovery methods must be taken seriously. Although the programs are sold to the public as non-inflicting any harm to the physical device software, in reality, these tools can actually ruin your hard drive exactly the same way as illustrated in the pictures below.

Loosing Data in unstable or problem sectors

Another unpleasant surprise might be there for you: during the software recovery the big pieces of data are skipped, for the reason that the hard drive will re-map the bad sectors, or even the whole tracks and cylinders as bad and prevent the future access to unstable sectors. All information in those sectors including important data will be lost just because reading heads were not replaced with new ones immediately after their failure, and drive operated some period of time – in software recovery attempts - with bad heads.

Action Plan

If you suspect your drive has failed or about to, you need to consider the actual risk to the data - down to every second the drive is staying powered on in the computer. Tiny particles of dust inside your drive, micro-scratches, clicking or any abnormal sounds, all of those factors escalate the risk of permanent data loss by the spinning disk platters inside. Extra head hovering over the spinning disks (during data seeking process when run your software) increases that risk exponentially. When a head hits a platter at speed as high as 7,000 RPM, it kicks out tiny particles that may knock out other particles from the platter surface in an avalanche-like process.

Do not allow that catastrophe happen to your drive. We have seen the unhappy endings more than should have, when users had tried quite decent data recovery software like Ontrack EasyRecovery, Lost & Found, Get Data Back, R-Studio and other data recovery programs - producing the same conclusion : drive is beyond recoverable / overused after its initial crash. You may see the result of it in the photographs. The data there was just tuned into black ferric oxide dust inside of the drive’s corps. Avoid repeating someone's mistakes; seek for the professional help as it's the only right solution for the restoring valuable data.

Follow these tips to help ensure your drive and data safety:

• Turn off your computer or failed external device.
• DO NOT POWER UP HDD ANYMORE! It must be removed from the computer.
• Do not attempt to use any type of recovery software, especially if the drive makes any unusual noises.
• If you already tried some data recovery software on your failed drive with no positive outcome, there is still a good chance to retrieve your data, if the damage is not so devastating. We will do our best of skills and knowledge to help and recover all of your data. In professionalism we trust! So should you!