Disk Cloning Scenarios #1 Chapter 1: Hard Drive Is Failing, Hard Drive Crash

Hard drives are essential parts of modern computing, storing everything from operating systems to personal data. What to do when a hard disk crashes? In this article from EaseUS software, let's learn some information about the hard drive crash and how to save data from a crashed hard drive.

Hard Drive Crash Causes

A hard drive crash occurs when the HDD fails to function properly, making it hard or impossible to access stored data. This hard drive failure can stem from various issues, from physical damage to software corruption.

Physical Failure. A hard drive could be physically damaged by moisture, heat, or shock. Physical damage usually causes the hard disk platters that store your data to get scratched or the read-write head for accessing data to crash into the platters, leading to a head crash.

Logical Failure. It is a software-related issue that prevents access to the stored data and does not have anything to do with physical damage. The common causes of logical disk failures can range from accidental file deletion and software corruption to malware attacks and corrupted files to human errors.

Hard Drive Crash Symptoms

So, how to tell if hard drive crashed? Both the physical hard drive crash and logical hard drive crash have their signs to help you recognize. Once you have detected these signs, you can take measures.

First, let's gain insight into the physical hard drive crash. It occurs because of a hard disk's malfunction. It potentially comes from the outside impact, like water, heat, or electrical shock. The symptoms of physical failure can be:

• Clicking, clunking, grinding, or whirring noises.
• The hard drive is not being recognized by the computer.
• The hard disk appears but does not allow data access.

On the other hand, the logical hard drive crash is much easier to recognize. Before it really occurs, you need to pay attention to some small yet important symptoms like sudden loss of processing data or slow performance. It happens when your hard drive spins fine, as usual. The symptoms of logical failure can be:

• The blue screen of death (BSOD) is a clear indication of logical damage to a hard disk.
• Still, for some unknown reasons, your operating system cannot get access to the stored data.
• Your operating system fails to recognize the hard disk.

Potential Risks & Remedies

When a hard drive has signs of a crash, take the below measures before it completely crashes in case you permanently lose all your important data.

• Backup data as soon as possible
• Replace the crashing hard drive with a new or good one

To back up your data on the hard drive, you can use Windows built-in backup tool Backup & Restore (Windows 7) or File History. You can also try free backup software like EaseUS Todo Backup. It is always recommended to create a regular backup of your data on your computer or hard disk to prevent potential data loss risks.

For both logically and physically crashed hard disks, you should try to retrieve your data on the hard disks and then replace the hard drive with a new and good one. EaseUS Disk Copy, a dedicated and specialized cloning tool, can be your data saver.

Its advanced sector-by-sector clone technology can let you copy a hard drive bit for bit. That being said, it can help you clone your hard drive to another even if your hard drive is failing since it can skip the bad sectors on your hard drive.

If you still want to save your hard drive, you can check whether your hard drive can still be used. To do this, you can check the health of your hard drive using CMD.

• Press Windows + R to launch the Run dialogue and type cmd.
• Type wmic and press Enter.
• Type "wmic diskdrive get status," and press Enter to see the disk health status.

If you receive "OK", the hard disk is in good condition. If you receive "unknown", "caution", or "bad", the hard disk drive is faulty, and you should repair it. You can ask technical experts for advice on whether the hard drive can still be repaired.