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11 June 2024  Amanda J. Brook  Senior Product Manager
 

Summary
Identify causes of hard drive not showing files, master data recovery, and repair faulty hard disks. Enhance your expertise in hard drive failure.



Table of contents

table iconI. What are the reasons for the sudden disappearance of hard disk files?
table iconII. Use Renee Undeleter to recover hard disk data
table iconIII. How to repair hard disk failure?
hard drive not showing files

I. What are the reasons for the sudden disappearance of hard disk files?

There are many possible reasons for the sudden disappearance of hard disk files, which can be summarized as the following points. You can preliminarily rule out the cause of the problem and try to solve it.
● Virus or Malware Attack: A virus or malware can prevent files from displaying normally. Try formatting the hard disk or scanning it with antivirus software to resolve this issue.
● File is hidden: Incorrect operations might hide the file. To unhide it, check Hidden items in the View tab in File Explorer. Right-click the hidden folder, select Properties, uncheck Hidden items, and click OK.
file explorer hidden items
● File System Error: A file system error on the hard disk can cause files to disappear suddenly. The usual solutions are repairing it with the Chkdsk command or formatting the hard disk.
● Sudden power loss or disconnection: Unexpected power outages or disconnections can lead to data corruption or loss. You can attempt to restore the system to a previous state to recover lost files.
● Sector Corruption: The hard disk consists of sectors that store data. Issues like file disappearance and unreadable data often result from sector damage, typically due to long-term wear or misuse.
● Hardware Problem: Hardware failure is irreversible. Each hard disk has a limited service life, which decreases over time. Device hardware failures can cause sudden file loss. Regularly back up important files.
Before repairing the hard disk, try using professional data recovery software to scan for recoverable files. If the files are not damaged or overwritten, you can recover them and proceed with a deeper repair process. Let’s first learn how to restore or retrieve data files from the hard disk.

II. Use Renee Undeleter to recover hard disk data

1. What is Renee Undeleter?

Renee Undeleter is software designed to restore various data files. Whether you accidentally delete important files, empty the recycle bin, or format the disk/storage, this tool can retrieve lost data. It includes four functional modules: Fast Partition Scan, Whole Partition Scan, Whole Disk Scan, and Image Creation, addressing all potential data loss problems comprehensively and conveniently.
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Supported file types Image, video, audio, text, email and so on;

Image creation Create a partition image to read and back up data;

Supported devices SD card, SDHC, SDXC, USB flash drive, hard disk and computer.

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Multiple scan modes Fast partition/whole partition/whole disk scan;

Supported devices SD card/USB/hard disk.

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2. How to use Renee Undeleter to recover hard disk data?

Step 1: Download, install, and run Renee Undeleter. Select the (Whole Disk Scan) option on the main interface.
Note: Do not install on the disk that needs to restore data, so as not to cause data overwriting.
select whole disk scan in renee undeleter
Data Recovery Function:

  • Fast Partition Scan – Quickly retrieve files lost due to accidental deletion or emptying the recycle bin.
  • Whole Partition Scan – Recover files from inaccessible or formatted partitions.
  • Whole Disk Scan – Analyze partition information and fully scan the entire disk.
  • Image Creation – Create an image of a partition to back up its current state.
Step 2: Select the hard disk and click (Next).
select a disk to recover in renee undeleter
Step 3: The software will analyze the hard disk. A select the partition you want to scan prompt may appear. Choose the desired partition or let it scan all partitions, which will take longer. After scanning, preview the files on the right, select the ones to restore, and click the Recover button in the lower right corner.
select taget files to recover with renee undeleter
Step 4: Select the target folder, click Browse to choose another disk for saving the recovered files, then click Recover to start the recovery process. Wait patiently.
recover files from whole disk scan with renee undeleter
These are the detailed steps for recovering data using Renee Undeleter. Once the data is recovered, you can proceed to repair the faulty hard disk.

III. How to repair hard disk failure?

1. Run the chkdsk tool to repair hard disk errors

The chkdsk tool is a Windows command to check and repair the disk state. It displays the disk state, memory state, and number of discrete files in a specified path. Repairing a hard disk failure with chkdsk is simple. The steps are as follows:
Step 1: Connect the faulty hard disk to the computer, search for cmd in the lower left search box, and select Run as administrator to open the command prompt.
run as administrator
Step 2: In the command prompt, enter chkdsk D: /f (D is the letter of the disk) and press Enter to fix the error. After the repair, check if the problem is resolved.
check disk
TipsIf chkdsk D: /f cannot solve the problem, try chkdsk D: /r. The /r option finds bad sectors, restores readable information, and includes the /f feature plus additional analysis of physical disk errors.

2. Format the faulty hard disk

Formatting the faulty hard disk can repair various issues and restore normal functionality. Follow these steps to format the hard disk:
Step 1: Connect the faulty hard disk to the computer, press Windows+X, and select Disk Management from the list.
open windows disk management
Step 2: Locate the failed hard drive, right-click on it, and select the (Format) option.
format drive
Step 3: Select the file system: FAT32, NTFS, or exFAT. For Windows, it’s recommended to select NTFS. Check “Perform quick format”, click OK, and follow the instructions to complete the process. After formatting, the hard disk failure can be repaired.
quick Format