6 Worst Reasons for Hard Disk Failure and Data Recovery Solutions
Contents
Hard drives are generally used to store large files, back up data, and to save important business files to keep them safe and secure. But, what if your hard drive suddenly stops working or fails? You may lose access to your crucial data. Hence, taking timely backup of your data should be your top priority.
So what are the worst reasons for hard drive failure? And how do we restore our lost data when a hard disk suddenly stops working or crashes?
Read on to know 6 worst reasons for hard drive failure and their symptoms; and solutions to recover lost data from a failed hard drive.
6 Worst Reasons for Internal/ External Hard Disk Failure
A Hard drive may fail at any moment. It happens after accumulation of bad sectors in the disk due to aging or a sudden crash. This may result in irrevocable damage to the disk platter surface. The reasons behind hard drive failure may be different, but they result in permanent data loss in most cases. Hence, recovering data from a crashed or failed hard drive at the earliest is quite essential. Here is a list of major reasons that lead to hard disk failure, their symptoms, and solutions.
1. Firmware or Manufacturer Faults
This error occurs due to improper power supply, virus attack, accidental shutdown, interruption during firmware upgrades, or manufacturing faults. You might observe the following symptoms even in a brand new hard disk.
Symptoms:
- Drive freezes at startup.
- The system can’t detect/identify the hard disk at all.
- The system fails to boot/hang up in the middle of booting procedure.
Solution:
Users can contact the hard disk manufacturer and ask them for Return Authorization (RA), as the disk must be under warranty. However, manufacturers generally don’t provide any guarantee regarding safety of your data. For more information, please refer to the warranty/guarantee policy provided by the manufacturer. Further, to recover your data in case of hard drive failure, we would recommend a professional data recovery tool.
2. Electronic Failure or Power Surge
Sometimes, UPS is unable to deliver the required power supply. It’s either too high or too slow. This can also occur when you use an unreliable power source or there is frequent interruption in the flow of electricity.
Symptoms:
- Sudden startup failure
- System BIOS can’t detect the hard drive
- Hard drive isn’t able to spin up
Solution:
Make sure that the system hardware is getting proper power supply. You can fix this error by using UPS from a well-known brand. Also, turn off your system properly when not in use.
3. Overheating
This error may occur due to faulty CPU fan, improper ventilation, high-voltage power supply, high temperature, virus infection, and development of bad sectors. These reasons could heat up the system and lead to sudden hard disk failure.
Symptoms:
- Pc frequently reboots/freezes
- Fans are either moving too slow or not at all
- System hardware is making clicking sounds or noise
- Desktop or Laptop gets heated soon after starting
Solution:
Make sure that the CPU fans are working fine. Double check that sufficient cooling is delivered to the processor and their peripherals. You can also try applying thermal paste between heat sinks of the CPU fan to make it run smoothly.
4. Mechanical or Internal Failure
Mechanical failure in your hard drive can occur due to moving parts, malware or virus attack, bad sectors, improper power supply and so on. These reasons could lead to hard drive failure or damage and data corruption.
Earlier, several rootkit viruses were introduced that used to become active with turning on the system. They corrupted the system functioning at BIOS level. However, Windows latest versions (8/10) are efficient at detecting such malware and remove it using UEFI technology.
Symptoms:
- Total system freeze
- Grinding or clicking sounds from hard drive
- Files & Folders becoming invisible or corrupt
- Appearance of black screen while booting
Solution:
You must update your system on a daily or weekly basis. Keep your antivirus software updated and scan your computer to analyze malicious activities or virus attacks. Replace your hard drive every 3-4 years.
5. Corrupt File
Use of malicious or faulty apps, accidental closure of running programs, unethical way of shutting down the PC, power surges, etc. are reasons that lead to system file corruption and make the hard disk inaccessible.
Symptoms:
- The files become corrupt or damaged.
- The hard drive is inaccessible.
Solution:
Always shut down your PC in the standard manner. It will prevent command kernel to stop powering remaining CPU equipment. Close all the running programs before shutting down the system and avoid installation of faulty software or malicious applications into your PC. You can also fix your inaccessible hard drive to recover data.
6. Human Errors
Human errors are the most common cause of hard disk failure. Such errors may include modifying system registry settings, wrong installation of OS, alteration in system files attributes, accidental deletion of files or directories, etc. These type of errors are quite hard to repair.
Human errors might not only cause severe damage to hard disk, but could also lead to permanent data loss. Hence, to scan on advance level, and recover data from damaged or failed hard drive, proceed with the most efficient data recovery software.
Okay, the Drive Has Failed! Now What to Do?
If your hard drive has failed or crashed, and you don’t even have a backup of your data, you could lose your important files and documents. Sometimes, you may feel that the hard drive has failed, but in reality, it has only become raw or inaccessible due to some logical reasons like software bugs, virus attack or malware, file or system corruption, accidental deletion or format, etc. You can follow the given methods to find out the exact reason, and then recover lost data from drive.
Retrieve Your Data from Corrupt/ Failed Hard Drive
Method 1: Carefully Connect the Hard Drive
Sometimes, when we connect the hard drive to the system, it doesn’t show in File Explorer. It might happen if the drive is loosely connected to the port. To fix this, reconnect the hard disk carefully. If this doesn’t help either, there might be some issue with the connecting port. Remove the drive, reboot the system and reconnect the drive to check if it is showing up now in the File Explorer.
Method 2: Fix Unallocated Drive
If the hard disk doesn’t show up in the file explorer, but is shown unallocated in the Disk Management, follow the given steps to fix this error:
1. In the Disk Management window, right-click on Unallocated drive and select New Simple Volume.
2. In the New Simple Volume wizard, click Next.
3. Click Next again to specify the volume size.
4. Click Next and select ‘Assign the following drive letter.’ Choose a letter from the drop-down list, and click Next.
5. Select ‘Format this volume with the following settings’ and select the desired file system; click Next.
6. Click Finish and your hard drive is ready to use.
Now, you can access the hard drive. However, you won’t be able to access your data as the hard drive had been formatted while fixing the error. But don’t panic! You can recover your data from a formatted hard drive easily using a professional data recovery software.
However, if the drive is failed or crashed due to Mechanical or other physical reasons and the drive is not visible in Disk Management, data recovery through the software is not possible. To recover your data from a severely damaged, crashed or dead hard drive, you must refer to a professional data recovery service provider.
Tips To Prevent Data Loss from Failed Hard Drive
Sometimes, the hard disk can crash or become dead without even making any grinding or screeching sound. In such situations, you might even lose the chance of taking backup of your data on another device. Hence, follow the given tips to protect your data from permanent loss:
Tips:
- Stop using the drive when you encounter any symptoms mentioned in this post.
- Unplug or remove the drive from CPU, and keep it in a clean and safe environment.
- Make sure that there are no ‘hot spots’ or any mark on the external controller board.
- You can also search and confirm that no any drive parts are broken or damaged.
- Take regular backup of your data, and keep a professional data recovery tool handy.
- Take precaution while handling external drive and laptop to prevent damage due to sudden drop.
Wrapping Up
The hard drives are prone to corruption or failure at any moment. If you do not have backup of your data, you may lose important files, documents, and other stuff. In this blog, we mentioned 6 worst reasons of hard drive failure along with their symptoms and solutions to recover lost data. Some tips to prevent data loss and hard disk failure are also mentioned above. However, if the drive is already dead, take help of a professional data recovery service provider.
In case of any query, please write us in the comment section below. For more relevant updates, stay tuned!
Hi,
I have purchased a WD 500GB new hard disk and after one weak time it start showing bad sectors, so i replaced it with new one,when i installed windows in new one it also start showing bad sectors just
after installing windows.What is the reason? When i run WD lifeguard tool it did not pass SMART test and shows raw read rate error.
I am using inverter for backup can it be the reason for bad sectors?
Just for your information, new or bad hard drive may have bad sectors on it. Check hard drive from other manufacturers and see if you keeps getting the same error message.
In the mean time, I’d also recommend to test RAM for bad memory module using memtest86 read as bad memory could cause false information while testing hard drive for bad blocks and sectors.
Hope it helps!!
i messed with bios setup of my win 8 os and i
seem to have forgetten what i did bt i exited
discarding changes bt now when i start
windows logo appears but then it gives some
crap about ‘this product is covered by one or
more of the following patents…’ and under it it says ‘realtek pcie gbe family controller series’ and under it ‘pxe-e61: media test failure, check cable’
and under it ‘pxe-mof: exiting pxe rom’… Please
help me i dont understand what this means and
the goddamned system keeps on rebooting
again and again with the same message.. Please any help would be greatly appreciated
Sorry for the hassles and the problem you’re facing in your system. The error log clearly indicates that you did something wrong with the BIOS settings and restoring it to defaults would be the only available solution.
Go to your BIOS settings again by pressing F2, F8 or whichever works with your PC. Once you’re at the BIOS settings page, press F10 to set everything to default and Choose ‘Yes’when the confirmation dialog opens.
Best of luck!!
hi sir,
i have a lenovo lappy which is about 2 years old. once i took it to the service centre for cleaning and formatting. but they said me that your hdd is crashed while formatting it. but it was all ok before handing it to them , the window could be easily loaded, there was no slow process or anything like that. the only problem before taking it to centre was that whenever the num lock was on and i typed something this (…….)thing was typed automatically.
so kindly let me know what could be the possible reasons for crashing or was the fault from technician side .
please help me know.
You may not pin point this as your laptop is pretty old and would cause hard disk to fail imminently. Most hard disk error comes out while formatting or cleaning it. So there is a huge chance that there might not any fault from the technicians.
Ask for the old hard drive and manually connect it to another working computer using SATA/IDE cable and see if the system might able to detects your old hard drive as well as allows you to restore data from it.
Thanks.
Hi..
About 2-3 days before I was having problem in my cpu…..when I consult the technician firstly he said that there is problem in motherboard and smps….and now after replacing all the said components he told me that there is problem in your hard disk…..he told me that hard disk is backing the power and I have to replace it…..Is it possible ..,?? and if yes then what might be the reason of doing so…..and what about my data…can I retrieve it back…??
hi
my PC is showing a disk error on every boot means hard disk is not working or may be it is crashed. it happened when computer was swtiched off directly two three times because of hang problem. i tried to install fresh copy of windows but i coundn’t as hard disk is not detectable. however can there be any way to recover pics or some important files from crashed hardisk?
I am regularly using my computer since last 2.5 years n their is no probs in my pc nor harddisk nor window nor anything ,.answer why this happens to me
Solution:
Make sure that the system hardware is getting only the required power supply. By using UPS of any well known brand could troubleshoot this.
Is hardly a solution to a crashed hard drive!!! Prevention maybe but not a solution
Hi,
I am having sony vaio laptop. Its one year- 2month old. When i try to open a folder, its taking too much time. So i formatted OS. Now my laptop is not working. I checked with sony customer care. They said, Hard disk failure. They are asking 10k for harddisk replacement. What I have to do further? why the harddisk gets failure? I didn’t use my laptop often.
Your hard drive would fails for sure, either sooner or later. It’s always a great idea to replace it as soon as possible to make sure that you’ll have all the thing that you need and never going to loose it.
There are list of reasons about why your hard drive would fail like firmware corruption, PCB failure, platter damages, read/write head damages etc.
Lessen learned from the day, always take backup of your precious data that needs to let you survive. It would be great if you keep this process as frequent as possible.
Good Luck though.
I have Segate 1 TB External Hard Disk.
One day, it was getting detected & undetected automatically. From the next day, it is not getting detected in the system. Then, using SeaTools I tried to check for errors in which it shows Bad Sectors due to virus. I have heard this for the first time that a bad sector may occur due to virus. Can it happen? And how can I repair my Bad Sectors so that the hard disk gets detected again? Please help me out. Thank you.
Some kind of Virus/malware could cause logical corruption inside the hard disk which is further responsible for creating bad sectors by damaging the error correction code. Error correction code is used to match and verify the content of the bad sectors and might become damaged if the hard disk is suffering from logical corruption.
You can’t repair bad sectors. However, you can try anti malware software like malwarebytes and let it completely scan the system to make your hard drive working again. Most probably, it’ll find viruses inside the hard disk and remove it if they’ll find any.
You should remove the hard drive from the infected (as you said) and plug it any other virus free PC. See if you might able to see your hard drive again. I’d recommend you to first take the backup of your entire data to a safe place as soon as hard drive allows you to get in. Though, if it’s not, you should download Stellar Partition Recovery software and create the whole system image using advanced options of this software.
Post back with your status.
Hi Creative team,
I got a 11 months old asus noteboook and still under warranty (warranty due until 1 year only) and just recently I experience that my notebook keeps on freezing/lagging/hang (loading state) even when just browsing website but I can still move my mouse but cannot click anything even pressing cntrl+alt+del or esc. Sometimes it will just locks up with a gray screen of death. I already run (F9) partition recovery many times and yet the freezing and hanging problem repeats again after a few days after using. I suspect that their is something wrong with my hard disk because I could hear a ticking sound underneath. And after running partition recovery many times, my notebook finally given up and cannot run windows anymore and just stuck up on cmd.exe after start up. Pressing F9 to partition recovery again wont work anymore. So 14 days before my warranty expires, I went to asus service center to have it repaired. I stated to them the problem. Would the service center replace a faulty hard disk if its the problem or just fix it temporarily?
Thanks in advance.
The conditions have clear signs of failing hard drive, that’s for sure. Don’t know what ASUS guys will recommend you for this; perhaps they will replace it as the hard drive in stated situations could not be fixed.
However, in both the situations, you may have high probability to permanently loose you data. Just FYI, you should create an image or clone the entire hard drive to make sure that you’re not going to loose any important data inside that disk.
Good Luck!!