03 March 2011
When we receive a faulty hard drive here at Kingdom Data Recovery, the first thing we do is to carry out an evaluation of it. A proper evaluation will help determine the right course of action to recovering as much data from the hard drive as possible.
As a rule there are three general causes of hard drive failure—logical, electronic and mechanical. Each different type requires specific data recovery techniques.
Replacing a hard drive's internal components is very time consuming due to the precision of work required.
Logical Hard Drive Failure
Logical hard drive failures are usually due to file-system corruption. This may be due to a virus, accidental deletion of key files or registry components or electrostatic discharge (ESD). In most cases of logical failure, the data may still be intact on the drive but remain inaccessible. The drive may still be recognized by the system BIOS but it will not boot.
Data recovery in cases of logical drive failure involves scanning of the drive to repair the file system corruption. At times a partition can be repaired and the drive can be restored to the state it was in prior to the event. If this is not successful, a low-level scan may be performed to search every sector of the hard drive for the files. Data recovery of logical failures is a laborious and time-consuming. A whole day for scanning and another day for recovery is not unusual.
Electronic Hard Drive Failure
Electronic failure refers to damage to the electrical components of the circuit board, basically the brains of the drive. The causes could be faulty component, improper installation, ESD, grounding out the board or damaging circuitry during installation. Poor ventilation and excessive heat are also common causes.
Data recovery with a damaged circuit board requires replacement with the exact same circuit board. These repairs require soldering skills and intricate knowledge of electronics. Furthermore, a Clean Room environment is an absolute must as even airborne dust can worsen the damage.
Mechanical Hard Drive Failure
Mechanical failures refer to that caused by damage to the drive’s internal components. A bearing failure for example can bring about excessive heat which will expand the drive shaft and seize the spindle motor. This is usually heralded by a loud whining, grinding or screeching noise.
In mechanical hard drive failures, the damaged component or part should be replaced with exactly the same one and fitted by a highly skilled technician in a clean room environment, this is very time consuming due to the precision of work required.
