Think You Have A Dead Hard Drive?

Click for more images

Description So you think that hard drive has finally died? Have you got the dreaded 'Inaccessible Boot Device' or 'Unmountable Boot Volume' message? There are several things that you may be able to do but one thing not to do is PANIC!! First get advice there are many cost effective Data Recovery Services - they have effective methods of getting the data back from that expired hard drive. Do not try running CHKDSK on a degraded or failing drive, do not run antivirus or antimalware software if the drive having problems with slow access times. It could be the heads are failing and the intensive scans will cause the drive to fail completely. Disconnect the drive power cable and data cable. Reconnect the cables and try booting again.if you hear any clicking, ticking or scratching noises power the drive down and seek advice from a data recovery specialist  - 0800 999 3282 Try the drive in another computer that you know works but install it as a slave drive. When you boot up and go into Windows Explorer you should see an additional drive. If the drive is there I would copy all of the important files to an alternative drive not the one you are copying from.  If the drive is not there you can use Hard Disk Drive Recovery Software or a Hard Disk Drive Recovery Service (NOTE: You should do your research on the service or software that you use due to the fact that the service or software could destroy the data on the drive and you probably only have one chance for data recovery using either of these methods). Just a reminder to prevent this problem in the future BACKUP, BACKUP, BACKUP!! You can purchase external hard drives that will allow you to backup your computer automatically at scheduled times every day. These drives will allow you to restore data from several days past in the event that you loose or have a hard drive crash. You should also get a battery backup if you get one of these drives to be sure that the power doesnt go out while using the drive. This could cause you to lose the information on the backup drive due to hard drive corruption.