18/08/2013
----------------How to Diagnose a Computer Hard Disk Drive---------------------
Before doing anything to your drive, read the Warnings section below.
2
Determine if the drive is inaccessible because of a mechanical failure or a software problem.
3
If the drive is making strange rattling or clicking noises, turn off the computer immediately. You can remove the drive by taking the cover off of the side of your computer (or the drive bay of your laptop) and using a screwdriver to disconnect the drive from its mounting bracket. Disconnect the cables from the back of the drive and store it in a cardboard box or an antistatic bag. You can fix this mechanical problem yourself if you are brave. Otherwise, do a Google search for computer repair or data recovery specialists in your area. This process is expensive, but can be worth it if your files are very important.
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If the drive seems to be working normally but appears as unformatted in your computer's BIOS or Windows, you may be able to fix it yourself. If your computer boots into Windows, the C drive is just fine and will make repairing your secondary drive or partition much easier. If your Windows drive appears as an unformatted drive in your computer's BIOS, remove it (following the removal instructions in Step 3) and mount it in a working Windows PC. This could be a friend's computer or an old 2000 or XP machine that you have kept after an upgrade.
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If you need to attach a laptop drive to a desktop machine or vice versa, you may have to purchase an external drive enclosure that converts your drive interface from PATA, SATA, or SCSI to USB or FireWire. You may need to do this anyway, depending on the age of the computer you are using to fix the drive. Older computers may not support drives from newer computers. Check your drives or the computer's user's manual to be sure.
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Once you have the problem drive mounted in a computer with a working Windows drive, ensure that you never write data or format the broken drive, as this can cause permanent data loss.
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If you have only damaged or erased essential operating system files from your Windows drive, the disk can still be read from your repair PC and you can easily recover data from My Documents, etc. Just browse to the files in Windows Explorer and burn them to a DVD or CD for later replacement.
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Move the drive back to its native computer and reinstall Windows on it. This will reformat the drive and any information still on it will be erased.
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Once you have a fresh, clean, and fully functional copy of Windows, you can put your files back in their rightful places and get on with the lengthy task of reinstalling all of your programs.
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If the drive in question is a data drive or a Windows drive that appears as unformatted, you will have to use data recovery software, the best example of which is TestDisk, a free utility that will analyze your drive and recover your data. Get it at http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk_Download and unzip and run the program.
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Follow the instructions in the program or go to http://www.cgsecurity.org for more help.
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Once TestDisk has made your drive accessible again, move it back to your own computer (if you had to move it in the first place) and enjoy your recovered files!
------------------------------------Warnings--------------------------------------------------
Never physically open up your drive. Exposure to unfiltered air, and the contaminants that it carries, can permanently ruin the platters.
Treat your drive with care. Do not drop it or toss it around after you have removed it from your computer, as it is very delicate.
Be especially careful with laptop drives. Although these drives are designed to be jostled and moved around, they are thinner and smaller than desktop drives. If their cases are bent or broken, it may become impossible to remount the drive.
Do not format a disk unless you are absolutely sure that the drive works and contains no data that you want or need. Formatting will completely wipe the drive of all its contents.
If you back up data to CDs or DVDs during the recovery process, check that the burning process was successful or you may lose the files forever when you reformat your drive.