They say your life flashes before your eyes before you (think you) die When I realized that my hard drive was failing, it was a bit like this. All I could think of were hundreds of photos of which I didn’t have a backup. I was determined to get them back, and I succeeded; like.
If your hard drive has failed, this guide will help you repair and restore your data. data corruption (If everything is fine with the device, these five methods will help you retrieve data from the hard drive.) Are you looking for help with a failed solid state drive? ? It is best to immediately contact a specialist.
My dead hard drive history
A few years ago I had a hard drive failure. My laptop was acting weird. When the problems persisted after a reboot, I realized that it was more than overloaded memory. I immediately started backing up the latest files. About half an hour later, the hard drive failed and the laptop would no longer boot.
I had backups, but not everything. Just a few weeks earlier, my backup drive had reached capacity. To back up important work files, I decided to delete my personal photos. Ironically, I already bought a new external drive, but I didn’t take the time to create a full backup. Now my photos were lost and I was devastated.
Over the next few weeks, I researched ways to recover data and thought about doing everything under the sun — and doing the most — to recover an old hard drive. This article is the result of those efforts.
External hard drive? Check case and cables
When your external hard drive fails, it can do so for the same reasons that an internal drive can fail. Sometimes, however, it’s not the drive that stops working, but the connection inside the case! And in this case, the disk is easy to recover.
Before opening any equipment, be sure to discharge your body’s static electricity, that is, ground yourself. Remove the hard drive from the case and use the IDE/SATA data cable and power connector to install the drive inside on a desktop computer. Alternatively, you can purchase an IDE/SATA to USB adapter or a new USB enclosure so you can connect the drive via USB.

The image above shows a SATA connector (front) and an IDE connector (rear).
Once you’ve reconnected the external drive to your computer, since an attachment was the culprit, Windows should recognize it and assign a drive letter. The disk should appear in File Explorer > This PC . You can also check under » Drives» in device manager (click Windows+X to find an option).
If the drive doesn’t show up anywhere, you can try to manually find the drive to further narrow down the problem; the process is described below.
Internal hard drive? Check all cable connections
Sometimes it was not the drive that failed, but the physical connection of the cables connecting the drive to the computer’s motherboard. You can only wish it was your problem! So before you hire anyone, make sure the data and power cables are securely connected at both ends.
To prevent danger to your health, it is important to turn off your computer and unplug the power cord. As mentioned above, you also need to discharge your body’s static electricity, i.e. ground yourself, before you start working on your computer’s internals. Then open the case and make sure all connections are good.
Our guide on how to physically install an internal hard drive shows which connections to watch out for.
Once you have verified that the connections are good, restart your computer. If you have a desktop computer, you can leave the case open, but avoid its interior .
Is your hard drive making sounds?
When you’re trying to get a hard drive to work, listen to the sound it makes. Is it completely dead? Or is it still spinning? How exactly does it sound? Compare your sound to the list of hard drive sounds provided by Data Cent. This will help you diagnose the type of damage.

Damage can be both internal and external. For example, a click sound suggests that the head may be malfunctioning, such as internal damage. On the other hand, a completely failed drive could be due to a faulty printed circuit board (PCB), which could result in external damage.
Does Windows recognize your hard drive?
Sometimes you can hear your disk spinning, but it never pops up. Or maybe he’s completely dead. To pinpoint the exact type of corruption, try manually checking if your computer recognizes the drive.
You can do this through the BIOS if it is the primary hard drive and your computer no longer boots. After turning on the computer, enter the BIOS by pressing the start button, which may be Del , Esc , F2 or F10 depending on the manufacturer.