First, it is necessary to determine the problem with the data medium. In case of mechanical damage, it's better to avoid attempts at home recovery. When a medium fails on its own, it's common for users to try basic steps themselves. If data is deleted, people often believe that it is possible to recover the data from the medium until it is overwritten. This rule applies only partially today. Numerous homemade attempts can cause even more damage to valuable data!
Physical damage - Mechanical or Electronics Failure
Don't plug in a hard drive after a fall or impact. If there is mechanical damage to the read heads and/or data platters caused by the fall, data recovery may be possible until you try to turn it on to see if it survived the fall. More information can be found here.
Hard drive suspected of electronics (PCB) failure - a user probably can't do much on their own. Sometimes a DIY enthusiast tries to solve the problem with another, seemingly identical electronics. And the disk doesn't work. Why? You can find the answer here.
SSD - mechanically damaged or with damaged electronics is not a very common type of problem for this medium, however, if it occurs, do not turn on the SSD. This article of ours will tell you more.
Flash drive - mechanical damage is a common problem. A moment of inattention and the disk is broken, stepped on, sometimes run over by a car, etc. Proceed carefully, mechanical damage to the memory chip can be fatal. We can help you more here.
Manipulation Error - Accidental File Deletion or Disk Formatting
The hard drive may still store data, but they may not always be accessible according to the old rule "data is on the disk until it's overwritten". This often applies to drives with conventional recording (CMR), but almost all current hard drives in the consumer segment are equipped with shingled recording (SMR) and other modern features. Here, data recovery is not that simple, but not necessarily impossible. It's important to choose the right approach. You can find more information here.
SSD and deleted data is a whole different league and the rule "data is on the disk until it's overwritten" doesn't apply here. The functions such as Trim, Garbage Collection, FBE, the way data is deleted (reset Translator), and other tricky names are the final nail in the coffin for deleted data. Disconnect the SSD and read this article.
Recovery of deleted data from a flash drive is usually possible. It's important not to work with the medium after detecting the problem, especially not to write any more data. More information on recovering deleted data from a flash drive can be found here.
Damaged File System, Other Software Defects or Malicious Software
Software can fail just like hardware. File system issues can arise, for example, due to non-standard manipulation with the medium at the time of writing, sudden power failures, hardware failure, or due to malicious software. Such situations can cause data inaccessibility, even though the medium is otherwise in order.
The file system used can also play a role. NTFS, HFS+ or APFS are more resistant to such failures than, for example, exFAT or FAT32. This is of course just an example, there are many more file systems.
For all media in such a case, the same rule applies - stop working with the medium and contact us. We offer consultation, diagnosis, and collection of data media free of charge.
More information on data recovery and restoration from individual media:
Regardless of whether you are dealing with physical disk damage, accidental file deletion, or file system damage, it's important to remember that it's crucial to stop working with the media as soon as you notice problems to minimize the risk of further data damage.
- Details
- By Frantisek Fridrich
- Parent Category: Blog
- Explanations and Tips
