We all use hard drives since are indispensable pieces for our computer, there are internal and external, but both can have different failures and problems that may have repair. Here at internetpasoapaso.com we will show you all the information you need to be able to repair the hard drive whenever you want.
In this post you will find what are the possible causes that cause the failures in our discs, and how to fix them . You can also study the types of damage that can be found on the discs and what to do in the presence of each of them.
Finally, you will find a small list of the most used software to repair and recover files from hard drive . This is a detailed guide that will allow you to be your own technician from home.
Index:
Why do external disks usually get damaged? Causes
Our external disks as well as the internal ones can be subject to different risks, so we can even lose our information. Every day we are more those who use this type of memory thanks to its portability and easy handling , although they may be suffering damage without us noticing, maybe when we see it it is too late.
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Next, we are going to show you some of the most common failures that make our external disk lose information or get completely damaged:
Virus or malware
Viruses are things that not only harm the health of our computer but everything they touch, although their main function is to steal information , they can alter the writing and encoding of files by returning them totally useless But, just as they do for archives they also do it for disks, since they are housed in parts of memory occupying a space that is not detectable at first glance.
These viruses can grow until they completely occupy the disk memory causing failures , and preventing us from writing or deleting them in memory. These feed on all the files that we place near it.
Viruses arrive when we connect our external memory to laptops or computers that are infected, and they are the main vulnerable to being infected.
How to fix it?
The solution is to keep our operating system updated, although they are certainly external disks , but if the internal disk is cured or clean against all viruses with a good antivirus program , it will not be infected, and we can be sure that we will not lose any files.
Corrupt files (Bad Sectors)
Just as viruses also corrupt files can be a serious problem for our external disk . These are hosted on our disk preventing modifications or alterations of the information that exists on it, in many cases the defective sectors mean that our external disk cannot be recognized by our computer.
These are caused by a virus, or an error when passing files. It is also known as corrupt or defective files, those files which failed to write correctly inside the disk causing an error, which accumulates inside the system.
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How to fix it?
To prevent these types of problems we must take into account that we should never take out or remove our external disk without first ordering the system to eject it. Close all the activities that are being executed from sharing between internal disk and external hard disk, to be able to separate them, since these are connected and generate codes and commands that if they are not closed cause errors.
We must also prevent the computer from shutting down while using our external disk since these blows generate defects in the partitions, for this reason it is recommended to connect our PC to a No- Break.
Let’s not forget that we should always keep our disk under observation, since we could lose all our files , so it is advisable to use programs such as CrystalDiskInfo, HDDScan, EASIS Drive Check, Hard Disk Sentinel, HDD Health, DiskCheckup, Acronis Drive Monitor to always keep our external disk error free.
Sudden temperature changes
This problem can lead to the death of our HDD. They manifest when there is an electronic failure in external hard drive , or when our computer sends an electrical overload in a way sudden or sends a voltage to the external disk, greater than it can withstand, generating overload, or a temperature so high that it can damage the circuit board.
When these problems occur, the plates of the external disk may begin to function slower or deform until the death of the entire external disk .
How to fix it?
We cannot leave our external disk connected to our computer for a long time, we should only use it when we want to copy or paste files, that is, do not exceed them . We must also verify with a multimeter the voltage that receives our HDD, which should not be greater than 5 Volts.
Falls and blows
This is one of the things we should always take care of, because a blow or fall can cause damage to all our records . We must remember that external discs are mechanical parts that comply with a circuit, that a blow can generate failures within the system, and cause irreparable situations and never access the information we have on the disk.
How to fix it?
We must take care of the disc, in order to avoid damage, so we must place them in place without exposing them to so many blows, that is, a flat surface and without risk of anything falling on them.
Wear it over time
It is inevitable that our external disk is damaged , because everything that exists has a lifetime, and that does not escape our HDD. Although we can do some things to prolong its useful life such as:
- Use them in cool places (without moisture) and do not expose them to the sun
- Keep them free of dust, always clean them with a brush
- Do not wet them
What types of damage do hard drives usually have? Are they all repairable?
When we are frequently using our external disk , we generate some errors or even failures. Next, we show you what these problems are and know if they are repairable or not:
Physical damage
Physical damage can be said to be the most common on our records, but these have a cause, so here we show you a list of them which are the most common:
- Logic card failures.
- Connectors broken or moved , or also some broken data.
- Errors in the integrated circuit. This type of problem needs replacement and reprogramming of the card and repairs additionally from the source of the problem.
- Problems in the read head, for this fault is necessary open the disc in a suitable environment and with high knowledge of what is going to be done to avoid losing information and the disk permanently.
- Wear due to excessive use or broken circuits.
How to detect disk failures?
We can detect what are the failures of our disk before it is too late. What we have to do is notice the symptoms that our disc shows us. Here is a list of those symptoms:
- Visible damage to the disk: These damages can be noticed from the external part of the disk, although in others, we have to open them and see the changes that may be in the internal part.
- When we insert the disk and our BIOS fails to recognize the connection of an external memory.
- When our operating system leaves show external hard drive availability.
Logical damage
Logical damages are repaired, since as we have explained previously these are caused by errors within the system . Here are some of the most common causes:
- Disc reading errors . When the discs have failures in reading, it is because at the level of encodings there is something altered or wrongly organized causing a failure in the use of the hard disk.
- Logical damage caused by viruses. strong> Many of the viruses can also affect the logical part of our external hard drive, so we have to be very aware of protecting our disk from any virus threat.
Mechanical damage
Finally we have mechanical damage , which are the most frequent than those shown above, although they may be the same causes:
- Damage due to blows: When we subject our external disk a lot to hits, whether they are consecutive or not, it can cause damage to our physical structure, even in some cases splitting the command card.
- Wet places or bad handling of the disk .
- Excessive and unnecessary use achieving wear on the disk.
Steps to repair an external disk with logical and easy damage to Windows
Logical damages are easier to repair since we can execute any program or command to eliminate those errors that make a logical failure in our external disk. Here we will see two methods that we can use to repair our hard drive:
With CHKDSK (Windows) h3>
When we don’t want to use more external programs , we just have to learn how to use the command prompt, and if we don’t know, we can be guided by the steps below to execute the recovery through CHKDSK .
First we go to the Windows menu and write in the PowerShell search engine .
After we have the search result, we select the result that says “Windows PowerShell” and execute it “As administrator”.
We will see that a window appears with the name of “Administrator: Windows PowerShell”
This window is known as a console. Already, within it, we use the “CHKDSK / f B:” command (without quotes) so that an analysis of everything is done to find possible errors that are affecting the health of our disk hard.
We will see that after executing the command, a brief information of the disk will appear, which tells us the type of file system, in the case of us and is usually NFTS .
This will begin the recovery process which we must wait for the time necessary for the system to repair our external disk . During the process we should not turn off or block our computer since if we interrupt it we can further damage the unit.
Easeus Partition Master
EaseUS Master is a third-party application that allows us to recover partitions or the entire disk in a few clicks. To learn how to use it, we bring you two simple steps:
- First we must download the program (later you have the link).
- After downloaded, installed and executed the software , we right click on the device and select “Surface test”
- We let the software do its disk inspection and automatically repair all the affected sectors. To finish we click on “Finish” and it automatically ends the process.
Download Easeus Partition Master Windows
Steps to recover information from a damaged hard drive h2>
Sometimes, when we inspect our hard drive, some important files and information are lost, and when the disk repair is performed, we can even lose all the files we have stored on it. So if we want to recover that information we must follow the steps below:
With CHKDSK (Windows)
The command prompt as we have seen in the previous sections in a function or tool of the same operating system which we can do many things. But for this we need to know the commands that we are going to execute, since if we want to recover information and we don’t know how to do it, we can lose it forever. Follow the steps:
- We go to the Windows menu and type command prompt and enter the first result shown. We can also access by pressing the “Windows + R”, keys and type “CMD” and type in clearlyENTERARY.
- When the command prompt console appears to us we write CHKDSK E: / f and press enter . Although the letter “ E” can be changed to any other letter that is assigned in our external hard drive .
- Then we write “Y” and press “ENTER ” and repeat the same with the letter “E”. We write “E: > attrib – h -h -r -s / s / d “ and type in ” ENTER “ again.
When we do all these steps, most of the files that were deleted by accident and those that were deleted manually (intentionally) may be recovered, and will be stored in a folder inside the external hard drive .
With EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard h3>
If we are one of those who do not like to do many things, we can download software that does it for us. In this case we are talking about EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard, which is excellent at doing its job.