|
|
|
Health and Medical Advice on the Internet: Use it Wisely to Overcome Illness and Find More Happiness in Your Life
I’ve got a bit of a problem with depression and anxiety. I’ve been tackling these problems for several years without the use of modern medicine. Tai Chi, meditation, martial arts (exercise), and positive interaction with other people...
How Safe is Your Success? Part 6 of 8
"How Safe is Your Success" is a series of eight articles that address different aspects of a universal problem which is of particular importance to those who do business on-line. Most Internet users are at least aware there are dangers "out there",...
Trouble-shooting Hard Drive Problems - Part 2
The following article is the second in a series that helps solve many of the common boot problems with hard drives. (To read the first in article in the series click here). The article explains how to reconstruct the Volume Boot Record and will...
Your Hard Disk Failed... Don't Panic !
Inability to access your data stored on the data storage device could be caused by many reasons, from those that are easy to fix to those which are completely impossible to fix. If the damage is irreversible then data loss will occur. The causes of...
Your Hard Disk Failed... Don't Panic !
Inability to access your data stored on the data storage device could be caused by many reasons, from those that are easy to fix to those which are completely impossible to fix. If the damage is irreversible then data loss will occur. The causes of...
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Hard Drive Crash? Avoid Making A Bad Situation Worse
If you experience a hard drive crash, it doesn't take much to
make a bad situation even worse. In the event of a hard drive
crash, in most instances, the data is completely recoverable at
first. However, as part of human nature, we often try to avoid
the high costs associated with hard drive data recovery in order
to find some sort of "quick fix" to a very serious problem. In
this report we will go over some of the symptoms of a hard drive
crash and the things you can try in the event of a suspected
hard drive crash, along with things you should avoid.
What Noise Is The Drive Making?
The first thing to take into account is whether or not the hard
drive is making any unusual noises. Often times when there is a
problem with the read/write head within the drive or a firmware
issue in the logic board a "clicking" sound will be heard. If
this is the case, then you should immediately power down the
system and refrain from reapplying power. Same thing goes for
any unusual sound, whether it's grinding, squealing, our sounds
like a "laser gun". If any of these occur you should immediately
power the system down, just pull the plug from the wall.
Unfortunately in the situations listed above, there is little
that you can do to recover the data yourself. Actually, unless
you have a clean room, fully equipped with the right tools and a
trained technician there is nothing that can be done. Even hard
drive manufacturers avoid this line of work, and many who do
offer data recovery services are only sub-contracting the work
out to an established data recovery firm.
Never Ever Open Your Hard Drive
If the data on a hard drive has even the most minimal value to
you, then it is imperative that you do not open the drive. We
often get calls or e-mails from people who felt they had the
right equipment and know-how to perform something as serious as
a head replacement. Once they've removed the hard drive's
protective case, we often times ask them not to send the drive
in, because more often than not, the damage is irreparable.
Working with the internal components of a hard drive requires at
least a Class-100 clean room. A clean room does not mean a room
that you just vacuumed and dusted (believe it or not people say
that to us all the time). A clean room is a special work area in
which air quality is heavily controlled and it is vital to hard
drives during the manufacturing or assembly process. The air in
the room is regulated in term of air particles, temperature and
humidity. A Class-100 clean room means there exists no more than
100 particles that are larger than 0.5 microns in one cubic foot
of
Associated Websites
air.
Opening a hard drive in air meeting anything less than the
standard listed above will mean certain death for your hard
drive and any data contained therein.
The Freezer Method
There has been a long running wive's tale about putting your
hard drive in the freezer when it crashes in order to revive it
just long enough to pull your data off of it. We've run this
test for fun on many occasions in different scenarios with junk
test drives that we have in our lab. So far we have yet to see
this actually produce any positive results. In fact, in one
instance we actually began to see the formation of tiny
microscopic ice crystals on the platter themselves, which is a
definite crash waiting to happen.
See the problem with this theory is, drives are not completely
sealed. Regardless of what you've heard or read, all hard drives
have a tiny breather hole (usually marked with a label that says
DO NOT COVER). This hole not only aids in cooling but it also
helps to equalize air pressure in the drive when the platters
are spinning. On the other side of this hole is a filter, which
keeps dirt and debris from getting inside the drive. However,
this filter does not stop heavy amounts of moisture (especially
in flood situations) or moisture vapor (such as found in a
freezer). This moisture vapor has been known to settle on the
platters and when a system is powered up, the read/write head
would resemble an airplane flying into a mountain.
In closing, If you've experienced a hard drive crash, it is
imperative that you consider the value of the data, before you
consider the money you might save by doing it yourself. Data
recovery is a specialty, and it requires a number of specialized
tools, skills and software to complete successfully. Many times
you run the risk of taking data that may be perfectly
recoverable and destroying it permanently. If you have any
questions, it is best to consult with a recovery firm first.
Most reputable data recovery companies will perform a free
diagnostic and evaluation on most standard IDE hard drives. Many
will even include a list of the recoverable files with that
evaluation before you proceed. In some cases, we even work with
our customers on a payment plan to help ease the burden of the
recovery costs. Of course the best way to avoid all of this is
to simply backup anything and everything of value.
About the author:
Greg Duffield is the founder of ACS Data Recovery, a premier
provider of hard drive data recovery services. You can reach
them toll free at 1-877-646-0546 or on the web at http://www.acsdata.com
|
|
|
|
|
|