Hard Disk Failure

A hard disk is the most important data storage component of your laptop and computers. Its failure can amount to potential data loss and hence, can hamper your work. The situation worsens when you don't have a backup, and you're on the verge of losing all your important data.

"Hard disk failure is imminent" - if such alert messages are displayed on your PC, then it's a warning that your hard drive might fail or stop working sometime soon (within a few minutes or hours).

• System is powered on but the drive isn't detected
• Clicking sound is heard as soon as head is initialized
• Computer freezes while working

• Heating issues
• Sudden deletion or missing of system-related files
• Computer freezes while booting
• System slows down
• Number of bad sectors increases when you perform chkdsk

Broadly categorized, there are four types of hard disk failures. Mostly, they occur because of following reasons:

• Electronic Failure
• Mechanical Failure
• Firmware Corruption
• Logical Errors

Generally, this failure is caused by power spikes, voltage fluctuations, electrical surges or due to some fault on the controller board. In such cases, the hard disk can't be detected and you may hear clicking sounds when the head starts to rotate.

Since, the printed circuit board acts as a communication link between read and write data of hard disk, a damage in any component of PCB of controller board can also lead to hard disk failure. Generally, recovery of data after electronic failure is 100% possible. All you've got to do is to contact a data recovery center.

Mechanical failures occur due to defect in internal hard disk components. In case of any internal component fault, the hard disk stops functioning. There may be a clicking sound when the hard drive is powered on.

For mechanically repairing a hard disk or to recover the data, one has to ensure that the drive is opened in lab conditions and in a clean room area. In normal room conditions, dust and dirt can damage the drive. Moreover, if you are not a hardware expert then there are chances that you may further damage the hard drive due to poor handling.

Logical errors are very easy to deal with. The level of difficulty in recovering data increases when the drive is corrupted or some important system files are missing.

Logical errors are different from mechanical and electrical errors, as there is no fault in the hard drive but the information stored on it causes logical errors. There are various data recovery software tools that have been designed to tackle this problem.

Firmware is vital for the proper functioning of the drive. It gives the hard drive access to the disc data. So, if this part is corrupted then the hard drive fails to fetch the drive data and thus, is unable to function smoothly.

The firmware codes are stored in the ROM of the hard drive and any discrepancy in these embedded software codes will interfere with the working of the drive.

If your hard drive is not functioning, check for symptoms like freezing of computer during startup, hard drive is not recognizable in the BIOS setup, etc. Pay a visit to the nearest data recovery center as one of the causes of corruption is virus attack!

Hard disk data recovery is a technical process of recovering data from damaged hard disk, access to which is not possible owing to several problems. Physical damage to the hard drive can be repaired by replacing read/write heads, arms and chips, platters, etc. It is advisable to visit expert services so that you don't end up damaging the hard disk further.