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4 June 2024  Jennifer Thatcher  Technology Manager of Test Dept.
 

Summary
Master how to recover data from dead hard drive and resolve hard disk errors with expert solutions for unrecognized or inaccessible drives.



Table of contents

table iconI. Symptoms of hard disk failure and causes of failure
table iconII. How to restore data when the hard disk is broken?
table iconIII. How to fix hard disk errors?
table iconIV. (Extended information) How to solve the problem that the new hard disk cannot be recognized?
recover data from dead hard drive

I. Symptoms of hard disk failure and causes of failure

Symptoms of a hard drive failure generally manifest as:
● The mechanical hard disk does not respond or makes abnormal noises. Please refer to the detection and repair method of abnormal hard disk noise.
● The hard disk prompts that it needs to be formatted before use.
● The system prompts that the file or directory is damaged.
● The data in the hard disk is lost.
● The computer does not recognize the hard drive, or the file system becomes RAW. Please check the detection and repair method of RAW hard disk.
● The hard disk partition suddenly disappears and becomes unallocated.
location is not available windows
check ssd health when can't access a partition windows
There are many reasons for the above hard disk failure, which may be as follows:
● virus attack
● There are bad sectors in the hard disk
● Sudden system shutdown or crash
● Human error
● Power and overheating issues
Kind tipsWhen you connect the hard disk to the computer, Windows may prompt “Do you want to format it?” Please click Cancel and do not select Format Disk, as formatting without a data recovery tool will result in permanent data loss. If you have selected Format Disk, you can try the data recovery method described below to recover.

 

format disk

II. How to restore data when the hard disk is broken?

When a hard disk cannot be accessed, prompts for formatting, displays as RAW, or shows unallocated space, as long as it is visible in disk management, you can fix it by scanning and recovering files. Using Renee Undeleter as an example, here’s how to recover hard disk data.

1. What is Renee Undeleter?

Renee Undeleter is designed to recover deleted files (videos, audio, documents, applications, etc.), empty recycle bins, or formatted disks/storage. It features four modules: Fast Partition Scan, Whole Partition Scan, Whole Disk Scan, and Image Creation, addressing all data loss issues comprehensively.
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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?

Specific steps are as follows:
Step 1: Download, install, and run Renee Undeleter on the computer, and select the (Whole Disk Scan) option on the main interface. If you need to restore the data of the mobile hard disk, please connect it to the computer.
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 a drive and click (Next).
select a disk to recover in renee undeleter
Step 3: Wait for the scan to identify all partitions on the hard disk. When the “Select the partition you want to scan” window appears, choose the partition for data recovery. If not selected, all partitions will be scanned, taking more time.
recover partition with Renee Undeleter
Step 4: During scanning, double-click to preview files. Once all required files are found, check the target file and click the Recover button to restore the data to another disk on the computer.
select taget files to recover with renee undeleter

III. How to fix hard disk errors?

Before starting the repair, it is recommended that you manually check the power supply and fans to make sure they are working properly, and then use the following hard drive repair solutions.

1. Run antivirus software

Viruses and malware can cause hard drive errors. Scanning and removing viruses with antivirus software may repair some corrupted drives and restore access. Connect the hard drive to another Windows computer with reliable antivirus software installed, and scan and remove viruses.

2. Use hard disk detection/repair software to repair hard disk errors

If the hard disk has bad sectors, you can use special hard disk detection/repair software to detect and repair hard disk errors.
Step 1: Download, install, and run HDD-SCAN, a free hard drive diagnostics tool. It supports RAID array servers, flash USB, and SSD drives. The program tests storage devices for errors, displays SMART attributes, and allows changes to HDD parameters like AAM and APM.
Official website link: https://hddscan.com/
HDD-SCAN
Step 2: HDD-SCAN can display the scan status graphically on the user interface. If the disk detects about 78%, there are a lot of bad sectors.
scanning situation
Step 3: HDD-Scan can output detailed scan logs. If bad sectors are found, use the repair software provided by the hard disk brand, such as SeaTools or Western Digital Data Lifeguard Diagnostic. Search for the appropriate repair tools online according to your hard disk brand. Note: Repairing with brand-provided software may erase all data. Back up your data first to avoid loss.
SeaToolsTools

3. Use Windows built-in tools to check and repair hard disk errors

You can try using Windows built-in tools to check and fix hard drive errors. Please do the following in Windows 10/8/7:
Step 1: Please press (Windows icon + R key) at the same time, enter (diskmgmt.msc) in the pop-up input box, and then click (OK).
run disk management
Step 2: In Disk Management, right-click on the target hard disk partition and select (Properties).
check disk's properties
Step 3: Switch to the (Tools) tap, and click (Check).
check disk
Step 4: For Windows 7 or 8, check (Automatically fix file system errors) and (Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors). Windows 10 repairs errors by default. Wait for the scan and repair to complete.
check disk Windows
The disk check function marks bad sectors as “unavailable” at the file system level to prevent data from being written to unstable storage spaces. However, using HDD-Scan will still display these bad sectors. To completely resolve the issue, you can perform low-level formatting (not always effective) or replace the hard disk.

IV. (Extended information) How to solve the problem that the new hard disk cannot be recognized?

If your computer cannot recognize a newly installed hard disk, it may be because the hard disk has not been partitioned and formatted. You can resolve this issue using Windows’ built-in disk management to initialize the hard disk. Follow these steps for Windows 2K/XP/Vista/7/8/8.1/10 operating systems:
Step 1: Please press (Windows + R) keys, enter (diskmgmt.msc) in the Run box, and click (OK) to enter Disk Management.
run disk management
Step 2: Then you will see that the newly installed hard disk is in the status of “unknown, not initialized” or “unallocated”.
Step 3: Right-click on the disk that is marked “Unallocated”, and select the (initialize disk) option.
how to initialize disk on windows
Step 4: Follow the default settings and click (OK). After that, the status of the disk will be changed to (Online).  Click here to understand the difference between MBR and GPT.
disk unknown not initialized 3
Step 5: Right-click on the unallocated disk, and select (New Simple Volume).
create simple volume for SD card
Step 6: In the next wizard page, click (Next) continuously, and finally click (Finish). The hard disk partition will be created, then open the file explorer/ This PC, and you can find the hard disk that works normally.