MyRecover
How to Fix & Recover Data from Damaged Hardware (5 Ways)
How to recover data from damaged hardware? You can get 2 easy ways to recover data from damaged, corrupted, or dead hard drives and 3 repair methods. You can also find out why your hardware is damaged.
By Lori / Updated on April 2, 2024
Is It Possible to Recover Data from Damaged Hard Disk?
Hardware damage can cause significant threats and wreak havoc on your system, especially when it comes to your hard drive. A damaged hard drive can cause irreversible data loss, making your valuable data permanently inaccessible.
Likewise, power fluctuations can cause startup issues and further complicate the issue. Many users are very worried about their valuable data in their damaged hard drive. "Can I recover data from damaged hardware?” The answer is YES.
If you are dealing with challenges like this, you've come to the right place. In this article, we will provide 2 simple methods to data from damaged/dead hard drives.
Causes of Computer Hardware Damage or Dead
Before that, let’s first understand how hard drives get damaged and dead. Here are common causes of computer hardware damage or failure:
🎇 Malware and Viruses: Malicious software can damage files, corrupt the operating system, or compromise hardware functionality. It can also make the hard drive won't boot.
🐱💻 Faulty Updates: Incorrect or incompatible software updates may cause hardware-related issues.
🎐 Improper Handling: Incorrectly installing or removing hardware, such as RAM modules or expansion cards, can cause damage.
🐱🏍 Physical Damage: Hard drives are vulnerable to physical damage with their many moving parts.
💥 Power Surges: Sudden increases in electrical voltage can damage components like the motherboard, power supply, and other sensitive electronics.
How to Recover Data from Damaged Hardware (2 Ways)
How to recover data from a dead hard drive? We offer two methods to determine whether damaged hardware can boot your computer. If your hard drive is damaged and cannot boot, check out way 2.
#1. Restore Files from Backups
If your computer can boot and you enable Windows' built-in feature - File History, it will automatically back up files, you can recover deleted/lost/damaged/corrupted files by restoring precious versions of files /folders, such as Documents, Pictures, Videos, and desktop folders. In this case, you can restore files from backups via the following steps.
❌ Warning:
If you don't enableFile History before data loss, this won't work, please refer to the next method.
Regularly backing up your valuable files from hard drives is crucial. If needed, you could try this free backup software for Windows like AOMEI Backupper Standard.
Step 1. Type Control Panel in the search bar to open Control Panel > System and Security > File History > Restore your files with File History.
Step 2. Click Restore personal files.
Step 3. Select the files you want to restore and click the green Restore button to get them to their original locations.
#2. Recover Data from Damaged Hardware via Bootable Media Data Recovery Software
When your damaged hardware causes the disk coot failure, you cannot boot the computer. Because the BIOS cannot read your disk, preventing Windows from loading.
Don’t fret, professional hard drive data recovery software MyRecover can help you recover data from damaged hardware and create a bootable media to perform dead hard drive recovery.
- When you create a bootable USB media, it will erase all data saved in the USB drive. Please use an empty drive or try to use free backup tool - AOMEI Backupper Standard to protect your data beforehand.
- Download and install MyRecover on a working computer. Connect a new USB drive or insert a CD/DVD into the system to create a bootable media.
Let’s show how to perform crashed hard drive recovery efficiently
Step 1. Create a bootable drive
1. Run MyRecover on the working PC, and click "Crashed PC Recovery".
2. Then, you could select a mode to create a bootable drive, USB, or CD/DVD. In this case, please select the USB Boot Device and click "Execute".
3. When you create a bootable USB drive, it will erase all data saved in the USB drive. Please make sure you have the important file backups in case of data loss.. Then click Yes.
4. The creation operation will launch and you could check it. The process will take a while.
5. Finally, you can see the success message and be notified of the steps to boot from a bootable drive. Start recovering data from damaged hardware using the bootable media.
Step 2. Boot your PC from the bootable USB drive
Connect the bootable USB drive or insert the CD/DVD drive to the PC that won’t boot> press F12, F2, F10, F11, Del, or Esc to enter the BIOS > change the PC’s boot order in BIOS > reboot the PC and select the proper boot media > save the change by pressing F10 and exit.
MyRecover- Support all brands of hard drives (HDD/SSD): Seagate, Acomdata, Asus, LaCie, Toshiba, SanDisk, Samsung, Transcend, ADATA, etc.
- Recover lost Word document, Excel, PPT, PDF, PPTX, ODP, CSV, WPS files, and other 200+ file formats with simple steps.
- Support both Quick scan & Deep scan to recover deleted files from hard drive and preserve their original filename, directory, and path.
- Support NTFS, FAT32, exFAT, and ReFS file systems in Windows 11/10/8/7/Server.
Step 3. Recover data from damaged hardware
1. Run MyRecover and choose PC Recovery. Hover the mouse over the drive saved deleted files before, and click Scan.
2. It will perform a quick and deep scan of your selected drive. You can sort or search the wanted files by extension, Type, Size, Date modified, etc.
3. Upon choosing the required data, choose them and click "Recover x files". Then, select a new location to save the recovered files.
How to Repair a Damaged or Dead Hard Drive (3 Ways)
Some corrupted, damaged, or failed hard drives can actually be repaired if the damage isn't particularly severe. After recovering data from damaged hardware, try the following 3 effective solutions to see if they can be fixed.
#1. Scan for Viruses to fix Damaged Hard Drive
As we mentioned above, a virus or malware infection can cause hardware damage. If a virus is detected, you can use Windows security settings to remove ransomware virus. This Windows built-in feature comprehensively scans your entire system to detect hidden viruses. Generally, once the virus is removed, your computer will return to normal.
Step 1. Press “Win + I” to open Windows Settings and go to Update > Security > Windows Security > Virus & threat protection.
Step 2. Click “Scan options” .
Step 3. Select “Full scan” and click “Scan now” to start scanning.
#2. Run the CHKDSK to Repair Dead Hard Drives
CHKDSK is a file system repair utility designed to address logical errors on your drive. By employing specific parameters, you can guide CHKDSK to scan and fix your drive's errors automatically. Follow these steps to repair damaged hardware using CHKDSK.
Step 1. Type cmd in the search bar > click Run as administrator to open the command prompt window.
Step 2. Type chkdsk *: /r and press Enter to scan and repair damaged hard dirve. Replace *with the drive letter of your corrupted hard drive.
#3. Fix Damaged Windows Files
If any of your Windows system files are damaged or missing, it may prevent your system from functioning properly. In this case, you can use the System File Checker (SFC) utility to scan and correct corrupted system files. However, it cannot fix file system-related issues but can scan for lost or corrupted Windows system files and recover corrupted hard drives.
Step 1. Type cmd in the search bar > click Run as administrator to open the command prompt window.
Step 2. After opening, Type sfc /scannow and press Enter. This command will scan all system files and replace any corrupted ones.
How Do You Tell if a Drive Is About to Fail?
Warning signs may indicate that your hard drive is starting to fail. If any of these appear, you need to act quickly and either back up your data or move it to another drive.
|
Warning sign |
Description |
|
1️⃣ Clicking noises |
Hard drive makes clicking noise and won’t boot is a clear indication that something is wrong with your hard drive, such as a faulty head, spindle motor, or bearings. |
|
2️⃣ Slow performance |
If you notice that your hard drive has started to become sluggish, it may be starting to fail. |
|
3️⃣ Corrupted data, files, and folders |
Corruption of individual files or entire partitions can be the result of hard drive failure. |
|
The infamous BDOD on Windows can be caused by a failed hard drive. |
FAQs
What are the signs of HDD failure?
What to do when your hard drive fails?
How to recover data from a hard disk which is not detecting?
How do you fix a hard drive that won't boot?
Way 2. Make a bootable media to boot your PC (faster)
Way 3. Change the bios boot order
Way 4. Run startup repair
Way 5. Run CHKDSK to repair corrupted disks
In the End
How to recover data from damaged hard drive? If your hardware is corrupted or damaged, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the end. In this article, you can not only recover data from damaged hardware in 2 easy ways, but also fix the damaged or dead hard drive in 3 effective ways.
If your drive has suffered severe physical damage, it is recommended to contact a data recovery center, although it is expensive. More importantly, making backups regularly is always the best way to prevent future data loss. Try to use this free backup software- AOMEI Backupper Standard to create a file backup automatically.
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