The hard drive is the preferred storage location for data on desktop computers and laptops. It is one of the few mechanical devices still present in computer systems. As a result, it is prone to failure and can die. Contrary to what some may think, it is not always easy to know if a storage device is physically defective. Succeeding at this challenge for data recovery requires a certain methodology. How do you know if a hard drive is dead? Follow these steps.
Check Whether Your Hard Drive Can Still Access Data
The failure of a hard drive is not a matter of chance. It is usually the result of unfortunate events.
A Fall or an Impact
A violent impact is without doubt the most common cause capable of putting your equipment out of order. Such an event can have harmful consequences for the health of your equipment. Indeed, during a violent impact, the read heads and platters can collide. In some cases, the damage is more serious, going as far as degrading the surface of these components.
When one or more platters are damaged, there is a risk of irreversible data loss. On the other hand, if a read head becomes damaged, your storage device will unsuccessfully attempt to access the data it contains. Your storage device then becomes unable to fulfill its role, and you can consider your equipment dead or unusable.
Repeated External Vibrations
Whether external or internal, a hard drive is basically designed to withstand vibrations generated by its own operation. However, you should know that it is vulnerable to vibrations generated by the external environment. You may be wondering how this is possible. Well! Vibrations only truly become harmful to it once they occur during its operation and over a prolonged period. The effects caused by such vibrations are similar to those caused by a violent impact. You must therefore remain vigilant so as not to render your hard drive out of order.
Check for Abnormal Noises Coming from the Hard Drive
It is true that the death of a hard drive can be sudden. However, with a bit of effort, you can learn to identify the warning signs. Among the most relevant, there are the various noises your equipment may emit. Do not overlook any strange noise. When properly interpreted, it can reveal crucial information. In any case, get into the habit of copying your most sensitive data onto other media such as USB drives.
But how can noise help you? For example, scraping or grinding noises may indicate that your equipment is trying to repair itself after a failure. If the strange noises you hear are becoming more frequent, you probably don’t have much time left before your storage device is out of order.
Check That Your Hard Drive Is in Good Condition and Can Be Partitioned
Basically, the majority of modern drives are equipped with S.M.A.R.T (Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology) technology. This allows the hard drive’s attributes to be monitored, in order to know how it is doing. Thanks to the various alerts issued by this technology, you can easily avoid data loss in the event of a failure.
If you are using Windows, you can manually check the health status (the status) of your storage device. To do this, you first need to know how to open the command prompt. You can simply type « cmd » in the search bar and launch the application. Once the prompt is open, enter the command « wmic diskdrive get model, status ». The first possible result of this command is « OK », meaning your storage device is in good condition. The second possible result is « Pred Fail ». You should then know that your storage device will soon become out of order.
It is also possible to use the CheckDisk verification tool to detect and repair damaged sectors that may prevent potential partitioning. It examines the storage space and its use by file systems.
Check Whether It Is Possible to Install Operating Systems
Even though it may seem trivial, you need to know whether your computer still recognizes your storage device. If it no longer recognizes it, the problem comes from the device in most cases. As long as this recognition issue is not accompanied by strange noises, you are most likely dealing with a logical rather than mechanical problem. In this situation, installing a new operating system is rarely the solution, since it is your device that is out of order or about to fail.
You also have another way to find out if the problem comes from the storage device. This involves running a scan of it. Thanks to this, you will be able to see how the health of every corner is assessed.
If there is a problem after running the scan:
- The process may never reach completion;
- The problem may be indicated to you;
The process may take an unbelievably long time.