- Backup your data - Backing up your data should be something done on a routine basis. When you back up your data you can save yourself time and money in an event that your computer or server crashes.
- Invest in a good power strip- When you have a good power strip it prevents power surges and can regulate the amount of power coming into the power supply of the computer.
- If you hear clicking, grinding, or weird noises- Noises from a computer can mean that there can be internal components failing inside the computer. If you hear and grinding, clicking, or wired noises coming from your hard drive you should shut down your computer immediately to prevent any further damage to your hard drive. Leaving the computer on trying to diagnose your hard drive can lead to sever damage to the internal components of the hard drive.
- Antivirus Software- You should invest in a good antivirus program that can keep your computer protected from harmful viruses. You should also make sure that your viruses definition database is regularly updated for protection also. Two antivirus software programs I recommend are AVG and AVAST
All these are preventive measure that you can take to help protect your computers data and also your computer. If you experience any grinding, clicking or wired noise coming from your computer please visit http://www.adrdatarecovery.com/.
I should first state that the internal components of a hard drive or very senstive to dust,fingerprints, and debris. It only takes a small partical of dust to get on the platter and ruin all of your data. It is not recomended to open a hard drive unless a professional data recovery service has a class 100 clean room were your interal componets of your hard drive will be safe.
Drive Casing
The drive casing is the rectangular shaped box that holds all of the internal components of the hard disk. A cover mounts to the casing using multiple screws.
Spindle
The spindle rotates the platters at a certain speed measured in RPM.
Actuator
The actuator moves the actuator arm to the correct position on the platters using voice coils motivated by electric currents. When no electric current is being received, the actuator causes the actuator arm to place the read/write heads in the parked position.
Read/Write Heads- Are attached to the end of each actuator arm, they are responsible for reading and writing data to/from the platters, there is a set of read/write heads on each side of each platter
Platters
In the center of the hard disk, there are platters which hold all of the data on the hard disk. A disk can contain one or more platters depending on the capacity. A spindle with a motor holds the platters together and rotates them at a certain speed measured in RPM. This creates air pressure that lifts the read/write heads off the platters.
External hard drives have become very popular in recent years due to data storage increase from end users. End users mostly use there external hard drive for photos, videos, songs and more. Also, the process of adding an additional internal hard drive is more difficult than an external hard drive because of the internal connections required. Therefore, there has been a significant increase in the usage of external hard drives.
EXTERNAL HARD DRIVE PROBLEMS
All internal and external drives are prone for failure. Here are some reasons that external drive failures may occur:
- Dropped the hard drive- With external hard drive being portable, there has been an increase in incidents of drives being dropped during transportation. This can cause the drives internal components to become damaged and render the drive unusable
- Hard Drive falls from a surface- Many external drives fall from a desk, table or work area due to the drive being to close to the edge of the surface. Also drives that are designed to sit upright on a surface are prone to tipping over the external drive. It is a good idea to make sure that you external hard drive is laying flat on a surface and that it is away from any edge that could cause the drive to be knocked over.
- Spaghetti mess of cables- Excess cabling from the drive should be properly pulled out of the way so that your hands and feet do not get tangled in the cords and pull your external drive off its surface to the ground.
- Using the wrong power cord- People usually can make the mistake of plugging in the wrong power adapter to there external drive which causes a power surge, which can overheat the drive. When plugging in your external drive check to make sure you have the proper power cord for your external hard drive.
COMMON EXTERNAL DRIVE ERROR MESSAGES/SYMPTONS
- delayed write fail
- external hard drive crashed
- external hard drive noise
- external hard drive corrupted ask to be formatted
- external hard drive not recognized in OS
- drive stopped working
- input/output error
- drive does not power up
With hurricane IKE barreling through Texas a lot of people are out of power including most data recovery companies. Until power is restored Data Recovery Texas is sending all new recoveries to our lab in Dallas until power is fully restored. Shipping will be covered for anyone that needs to send in a drive for data recovery. Just give us a call at 800-450-9282.
If your hard drive is not spinning it could be caused by several factors. The heads could be stuck to the platters (this is called sticture), the hard drive’s motor may be frozen or siezed, the PCB (circuit board) board on the hard drive could be damaged or have blown chips. The data cable or electronics inside the drive could be faulty.
All of these can be caused by power surges, power outages, wear and tear or dropping the hard drive, computer or laptop. You should not try to fix any of these types of failure on your own and software will not help because the drive is suffering from mechanical or electrical failure. Data recovery software and utilities are designed to work with hard drives that are operational and recognized by the system.
If your hard drive is not spinning, it is not in working mechanical condition. Your best bet for getting your data back is to have a data recovery company work on it in a cleanroom environment. ADR Data Recovery can help you get your vital information back.
Firmware tells the drive what it is: model, serial, size and brand. It also tells the drive where the files start and how to read. If the firmware is damaged or corrupt the hard drive can not read. The only way to repair the firmware is with a piece of equipment that enables writing the firmware to the PCB board as well as te service tracks on the drive. Only a handful of companies have this capability.
Can someone give me some advice about what data recovery software to use to recover my clicking hard drive? I dropped it and now it is clicking like crazy and I need my Itunes back.