The use of internal hard disks are very prevalent nowadays. Most users admit using it most of the time, while others use it without even knowing about them.
Unfortunately, due to this, they don’t know what to do when they encounter problems on their hard disks. This is especially true for data loss, as most people don’t know how to recover data from crashed internal hard disk.
It is very frustrating at first, but you’ll find that it’s actually not that hard to recover data from such a scenario. Fortunately for you, this article will present various solutions for recovering data on different occasions. Let’s start with our top recommendation.
How to Determine the Cause of Hard Disk CrashHow to Recover Data from Crashed Internal Hard Disk (Recommended)Crashed Internal Hard Disk with Physical Damage (Clone the Disk)Crashed Internal Hard Disk with Logical Failure (Restore from Backup)Store Files Online to Recover Data from Crashed Internal Hard DiskBottom Line
How to Determine the Cause of Hard Disk Crash
If using a third-party software didn’t do the job for you, then perhaps the problem is not that simple. In that case, you will have to learn more about the problem, and one way to do that is to learn the cause of the issue.
There are typically two causes of a hard disk crash, the first one is physical damage and the second one is logical failure.
Physical damage is the more common cause owing to the fact that a hard disk is still a mechanical machine. Even the slightest mishap on the machine will lead to a disaster. This is what they call head crash wherein a circuit is out of place.
The solution that is most suitable for this type of damage would be a repair service by a professional or technician.
On the other hand, logical failure is more on the digital side of the issue. It can be caused by corruption, virus, and more. It is easier to solve although being a bit rarer.
Now that we know all this, what is the best way on how to recover data from crashed internal hard disk? Let’s start with when the problem is caused by physical damage.
How to Recover Data from Crashed Internal Hard Disk (Recommended)
Crashes is common to internal hard disk. In fact, it is too common that countless tools were made to solve this issue. It’s been so long since the first tool came out, so it’s only natural for these tools to be developed further and further.
Thus, perhaps the best advice that we can give you is use a specialized software. This takes us to FoneDog Data Recovery, a software designed to help you on how to recover data from crashed internal hard disk, or any other storage drive for that matter. Here’s how you can use this:
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Step 1. Download and Install Software
On your PC, head to the website of FoneDog to download the software. Next, install the tool on your PC. Simply follow the onscreen instructions to accomplish this.
Step 2. Choose File Type & Storage Drive
The software should already be up and ready for you to use on your PC. Now all you have to do is to launch the software. The first thing that will greet you will be a list of file types and storage drives. For file type, click on the Check all file types option at the top. Under this, you can select the storage drive which should be the crashed internal hard disk.
Step 3. Scan Files
As soon as you finish configuring on the first panel, click on the Scan button. This will start Quick Scan which, as the name suggests, would be quick. You may also make it more accurate by clicking Deep Scan at the top of the scan results.
Step 4. Recover Files
The final step is to actually recover the files. First, you have to select files from the list of items that will show up after the scan. Simply click on their boxes to select an item, then click on Recover once you’re done with selection.
That’s how to recover data from crashed internal hard disk using a third-party tool, particularly FoneDog Data Recovery. But as you might expect, not all data loss issues can be solved with this solution. You will still need to learn more.
Crashed Internal Hard Disk with Physical Damage (Clone the Disk)
As we’ve said before, data loss can result when the cause of the crash is physical damage. You can determine whether it really is a problem caused by physical damage when you can hear some noise inside your computer.
This noise can be from grinding, clunking, or the whirring of the circuits inside your PC. Remember that this is not as bad as you think.
This is especially true if you can still boot up your computer even with the noise. So how to recover data from crashed internal hard disk in this scenario?
All you have to do is clone your disk. This will be easy since you can still access your device. You simply have to ensure that you have an extra hard drive to transfer the files to.
So, before you start, ensure that you have an extra hard drive lying around. If you only have certain files that wants to recover, then a pen drive or USB flash drive would suffice. Either way, here’s how to clone a disk, or at least recover files from it:
- On your PC, head to the My Computer(This PC in other versions).
- Under Hard Disk Drives, you will see a list of the internal drives plugged in on your computer. Double-click on the one that is suffering from the crash.
- From there, you will see the files that are supposedly missing. Select all the files that you want to recover, right-click on them, then select Copy.
- Now go back to My Computer or This PC. This time, head to the drive where you’re supposed to clone the disk by double-clicking on it as well.
- On the new hard disk, right-click on any blank space then select Paste.
This should copy all the files that were from the crashed internal hard disk to the new hard disk that doesn’t have any problem. This is how to recover data from crashed internal hard disk in an event where it sustained physical damage. Now what if it’s the other reason?
Crashed Internal Hard Disk with Logical Failure (Restore from Backup)
Logical failure is a problem that is more on the digital side of your hard disk. It’s not caused by a broken circuit nor a part of the machinery that’s out of place. This is caused by malfunctions that may be the result of virus, human error, software incompatibility, and more.
You can determine if the issue you are currently facing is due to logical failure if you don’t hear any noises, but the data is still not accessible.
Now the solution here does not involve cloning your disk, as it will only be futile and your efforts will be in vain.
Additionally, using a simple tool such as the CMD, CHKDSK, or the Disk Management utility won’t be enough. What you need here is a specialized software made for this exact situation, hence our recommendation of FoneDog Data Recovery.
However, if you don’t find using software pleasant, you can always backup your files. You can do this easily with the built-in functions of Windows and Mac. Here’s how you can do it on Mac:
- Connect a hard drive on your Mac, if you haven’t done it already.
- Now head to the Apple menu then select System Preferences.
- There, click on Time Machine.
- Next, click on Select Backup Disk.
- On the resulting menu, select the disk that you want to use for creating the backup, then click on Use Disk.
That’s pretty much how to recover data from crashed internal hard disk using Time Machine on Mac. Now here’s how you can do it on Windows:
- On your Windows, head to the Control Panelfrom the Start
- There, click on System and Securitythen proceed to Backup and Restore.
- Next, click the Create a system imageoption then select On a hard disk.
- Make sure your hard disk is already connected, just like with Mac. Once you’ve confirmed it, click Start backup.
This will start the backup creation on Windows. It’s not hard to understand, but you are required to have an extra hard disk in order to accomplish this. However, you can’t really do anything about it, but, can you?
Store Files Online to Recover Data from Crashed Internal Hard Disk
Contrary to common belief, you can actually create backups of your files without having to buy a new disk. This involves using a cloud service when trying to learn how to recover data from crashed internal hard disk.
There are many advantages to this. For one, you won’t have to use a hard disk that has a risk of suffering from data loss. Instead, it will be Cloud servers that you’ll be using which doesn’t really encounter data loss.
Using Cloud service is more prevalent nowadays especially now that technology is already this advanced. You only have to go to the website of the Cloud servers.
Some examples of viable Cloud services include Office 365, Dropbox, OneDrive, Google Drive, and more. We suggest only using Cloud services from companies that you’ve heard of. This is so that you can ensure that it is actually legitimate and not just after your files.
Unfortunately, we won’t be able to give you the exact steps on how to recover data from crashed internal hard disk using Cloud services, mainly because each service is different from each other.
The difference between this and creating backups on hard disks is what we’ve already discussed, you don’t have to buy extra hard disks. On the other hand, you will need a stable internet connection when using this method.
Data Recovery
Recover deleted image, document, audio and more files.
Get deleted data back from computer (including Recycle Bin) and hard drives.
Recover loss data caused by disk accident, operation system crushes and other reasons.
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Bottom Line
When trying to learn how to recover data from crashed internal hard disk, you’re bound to stumble upon methods that will actually do more harm than good. Unfortunately, you won’t be able to easily determine if the solution given is legitimate or not.
Thus, even though you’ve acquired such solutions, you should make sure you don’t let this situation happen again. You can do this by taking care of your hard disk more.
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