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Hard Drive Crash Recovery

Hard drive crash recovery can be needed in various scenarios. You may find yourself in a situation where you need to recover information off your hard drive because the drive itself has crashed, or your computer may itself have died and you need to retrieve information from its hard drive.

In this post, I will explain the different ways to recover data from a hard drive that has not crashed, but the computer is dead by turning the old hard drive into an external hard drive (Windows, Mac, or Linux).

HARD DRIVE CRASH RECOVERY – HOW TO RECOVER DATA FROM A DEAD COMPUTER

Before we get into the steps to perform a hard drive crash recovery, it’s important to understand the type of failure you are experiencing. If you suspect the hard drive itself has failed, it’s best to reach out to our recovery experts immediately at (888) 495-4941 or feel free to write to us. The following steps should only be attempted if the computer failure is unrelated to the hard drive.

aluminum-external-hard-disk-enclosureTurn Your Old Hard Drive into an External Hard Drive

  1. Get a hard drive disk enclosure. This is a system that turns your old hard drive into an external hard drive. It allows you to let your old hard drive run through another computer via USB. Before you purchase the disk enclosure, make sure you check the dead laptop’s specifications because different computers use different hard drive models. (Example: If your laptop has a 2.5 SATA drive, you will need a 2.5 SATA USB enclosure.)
  2. Borrow a working computer that is compatible with your old one. If you had a Windows, use another Windows and so on. Make sure there is enough space to accommodate the files you want to recover from the dead laptop or computer. If it does not have enough space, you can hook up a second external hard drive and you can simply use the computer as a transfer system for the files. (Note: A Linux computer can read files off a Windows, but not the other way around.)
  3. Remove the hard drive from the dead laptop. Turn off the laptop, unplug it, and remove the battery. Turn it over and you can see there are various sections that can be unscrewed. Look up your laptop online and see where and see exactly where the hard drive lives. Unscrew the hard drive cover and remove the hard drive.
  4. Remove the disk enclosure’s connector plate and insert it into the hard drive interface. Look for connector pins at one end of the drive to see where to make the connection.
  5. Insert the hard drive into the enclosure. If necessary, screw it shut. I recommend reading the manual for additional details.
  6. Connect the external hard drive to the working computer via USB. Make sure the working computer is turned on. When you have connected the drive, either an icon will appear or a notification will pop up. Sometimes, the computer might also open the drive for you automatically.
  7. Explore and gather your old files. Transfer them to either the working computer or the second external hard drive, by clicking and dragging or copying and pasting. This process may take hours depending on how large the files are.
  8. When you are done, close the window to the hard drive. Right-click the USB icon and select eject. You may now detach the old hard drive.

Our team of experts is also happy to assist you with hard drive crash recovery. Our recovery process includes:

  • Diagnosis: Our experts perform a thorough evaluation to determine the cause and extent of the hard drive crash.
  • Recovery: We perform hard drive crash recovery by using cutting-edge techniques. We extract your data, repairing and restoring it to its original state with extreme care.
  • Verification: We ensure the integrity of the recovered data during the hard drive crash recovery process, verifying its accuracy and completeness.
  • Delivery: Your recovered data is securely delivered to you, whether on a new storage medium or through secure online transfer.

I hope these step-by-step instructions have helped you with hard drive crash recovery. If you have any questions or other problems with your hard drive that need fixing, contact DataTech Labs ® at (888) 288-DATA.