[2025 Full Guide] Dell Hard Drive Data Recovery

Losing data from your Dell hard drive laptop can be a nightmare, especially if it contains important files, business documents, or cherished memories.

Whether due to accidental deletion, system failure, or hardware damage, data loss can happen to anyone. Fortunately, there are ways to recover lost data from a Dell hard drive, whether using DIY methods or professional recovery services.

This guide will walk you through the common causes of Dell hard drive data loss, and the most effective Dell hard drive data recovery solutions.

Common causes of Dell hard drive data loss

Several factors can lead to data loss in Dell hard drives, including:

✦ Accidental Deletion

Deleting files unintentionally is one of the most common reasons for data loss. Fortunately, deleted files can often be recovered if they haven’t been overwritten.

✦ Hard Drive Formatting

Formatting a Dell hard drive erases all data. However, recovery tools can help retrieve lost files unless new data has been written over them.

✦ Hard Drive Corruption

File system errors, bad sectors, or malware infections can corrupt a Dell hard drive, making data inaccessible.

✦ Hardware Failure

Physical damage or mechanical failure can lead to data loss. In such cases, professional recovery services may be required.

✦ Virus or Malware Attack

Viruses and malware can delete, encrypt, or corrupt your files, leading to data loss.

These are the common causes of data loss from Dell Drive. Next, you will learn how to recover data from Dell laptop hard drive.

Dell hard drive data recovery from a working laptop

If you want to recover lost or deleted data from a working Dell hard drive laptop, don’t miss the content, 2 recovery tools are provided here, including a Dell native recovery tool and a simpler third-party recovery tool.

▶ Solution 1. Use Dell Backup and Recovery

As you may have guessed, the vast majority of brands of computers or hard disk suppliers have their own backup or recovery tools.

Dell also has such a tool, which can create rescue disks, reset to factory settings, or manually back up and restore data. However, it is only available for computers running Windows 7, 8, and 8.1 and is now discontinued.

If you have already backed up your computer with Dell Backup and Recovery before, then you can use it to recover your data:

Step 1. Launch the Dell Backup and Recovery and it will automatically start scanning for operating system problems.

Step 2. Select Recovery> System Recovery.

Step 3. Select the latest system restore point and click “Restart”

Step 4. Click “Yes”. Dell's Backup and Recovery tool will backup your files and re-image your operating system.

▶ Solution 2. Try AOMEI FastRecovery

If you are running a higher system than Windows 7 and Windows 8, or if you have not done an advanced backup of your computer, then you cannot recover your data through Dell Backup and Recovery.

Do you think there is no way out? Don't worry, you can try a more direct and simple third-party data recovery tool - AOMEI FastRecovery, which can recover deleted data from Dell hard drive even if you don't have a backup and works on Windows 11/10/8/7 &Servers.

AOMEI FastRecovery

👍Dell Drive Recovery Software

• Recover over 1000 file types, including images, videos, documents, pdf, word, ppt, excel, etc.
• 2 Scan modes: Quick and Deep scans can find as many files as possible and recover them with a high success rate.
• Precise targeting: Search, filter detail files, and preview files to ensure that you have selected the right files.
• Apply to comprehensive scenarios: Support different data loss scenarios, such as accidental deletion, emptied Recycle Bin, formatted/corrupted hard drive recovery, PC crashed recovery, etc.

Download Freeware
Windows 11/10/8.1/8/7 & servers

100% Secure

Connect your Dell hard drive to the running PC; if you want to recover data on Dell laptop, please download and install AOMEI FastRecovery on that laptop.

Step 1. Find your Dell hard drive in the menu and click Scan.

Step 2. Then, it will automatically run Quick Scan to scan the target Dell hard drive, during the process, you can perform Filter or Search to quickly locate the files you need to recover. If not found, please click Deep Scan to find more losing files for you.

Step 3. Select the target files and click Recover.

Dell hard drive data recovery from a dead laptop

Recovering lost data from a running Dell laptop is not a difficult task, but if your Dell laptop is in a dead state, how should you recover data from a crashed Dell laptop? Please refer to the following solutions.

▶ Way 1. Create a bootable USB drive

In this solution, we'll still use AOMEI FastRecovery, because it has another feature that works for this scenario - the PC Crashed Recovery. It allows you to recover data from Dell hard drive when PC won't boot.

⚠️Notes:

• Download and install AOMEI FastRecovery on a working PC. Connect the USB drive to the working PC to create a bootable media.
• Creating a bootable disk will erase all data on the USB drive, you should backup important data in advance.
• Please prepare another USB to connect to your PC and use that USB as your recovery destination.

Step 1. Run AOMEI FastRecovery on the working PC, and click "PC Crashed Recovery".

Step 2. Choose your USB to create a boot drive and click "Create".

Step 3. When you create bootable USB in Windows 10, it will erase all data saved in the USB drive. Please make sure you have the important file backups. Then click "Yes".

Step 4. The creation operation will launch and you can check it. The process will take several minutes.

Step 5. Then, you can see the success message on the screen and be notified of the steps to boot from a bootable drive. Start recovering data from crashed PC.

Boot your PC from the bootable USB drive

• Connect the bootable USB drive to the crashed computer. Restart your computer. If your computer is already off, turn it on.
• As your PC starts up, press the appropriate key F12, F2, F10, F11, Del, or Esc to enter the boot menu.
• In the boot menu, you’ll see a list of bootable devices. Use the arrow keys to change the PC’s boot sequence. Select the bootable USB drive and press Enter.

• Save the change by pressing F10 and exit. Your PC will now boot from the USB drive.
• After restarting your PC, you will see the main interface of AOMEI FastRecovery. Refer to our method in the first part, select the Dell hard drive to scan and recover.

▶ Way 2. Connect the Dell hard drive to a new PC

There are times when the operating system or power supply may be unstable and you may not be able to access the Dell hard disk. In this case, you can remove the Dell hard disk and connect it to another computer for access.

• Use a screwdriver to remove the hard disk drive mounting bracket screws from your Dell laptop and then remove the hard disk drive.
• Connect the hard drive to another PC using a SATA to USB cable.
• Start the computer and test if you can access the drive normally. If access is successful and data is present, save its data to another secure location.

Conclusion

Dell laptops are loved by users and Dell hard drives store their important data. However, any user may encounter data loss issues and they need a reliable Dell hard drive data recovery solution.

No matter what the cause is, data loss of Dell hard drive is a serious problem. For still-working Dell hard drive, users can use Dell's Backup and Recovery or AOMEI FastRecovery, which are usually very useful options. If your Dell hard drive is completely dead, you can create a bootable USB or connect the drive to another working PC.