How to Recover Data from Hard Drive?

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Lost all your precious data from a hard drive? Wondering how to recover data from a hard drive? Don’t worry! In this article, we have explained 5 effective methods to help you recover data along with powerful hard drive recovery software to quickly get back data from a hard disk drive.

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Data loss is a common problem and hard drives are often the victims of it. If you lose data, you may lose access to valuable information that you need on a daily basis. Additionally, if your data is lost due to a mistake on your part, you may incur significant financial losses.  

If you ever experience data loss on your hard drive, don’t panic. As long you follow the data recovery precautions, there are several things you can do to try and recover your data from your hard drive. 

Data can be recovered from a hard drive in a number of ways, depending on the circumstances. If the hard drive is working, you can usually retrieve data by reformatting it and restoring your files from a backup. In case your hard drive gets corrupted or damaged, or the drive is not working at all then you can take the help of a professional data recovery tool to recover your data. 

In this article, we have explained 5 effective methods using which you can recover data from hard drive. But before we proceed to the methods to recover data let's quickly find out the common data loss scenarios on hard drives.

Table Of Contents

Common Data Loss Scenarios on Hard Drives

1) Hard drive damage/failure

Most data loss is caused by hardware failure. Hard drives are the most vulnerable part of a computer, with approximately 140,000 hard drives failing each week. 

60% of these crashes are due to mechanical problems and 40% are the result of abuse or mishandling, such as dropping or misusing the computer or laptop. 

Hard drives can also be damaged when your computer overheats. This is usually caused by excessive usage or dust accumulation inside the computer.

2) Human Error

When it comes to data loss, human error is the main cause. Through inexperience or carelessness, someone can overwrite files, delete files, or format a drive, which can lead to data loss.

3) Computer Virus and Malware Infection

Clicking on unknown links in emails and elsewhere may contain viruses and malware or downloading software from unapproved websites that may contain viruses or malware can crash your computer or steal information causing you to lose all your valuable data. 

4) Power Outages

Power failures significantly disrupt tasks and operations, and can even shut down software systems without warning. This can lead to the loss of unsaved data, but it can also lead to file corruption due to improper shutdown procedures.

5) Liquid or Water Damage

Spilling liquid on tech equipment can lead to a short circuit, which is a major source of data loss.

Impact of Data Loss at an Enterprise Level

1) 94% of companies with major data loss never recover
2) 51% of these companies close within 2 years of data loss
3) 43% of these companies never reopen
4) In SMEs, 70% of loss incidents close down key data within a year
5) 67% of data loss is due to hard drive crashes or system failures
6) 14% of data loss is due to human error
7) 10% of data loss is due to software errors

5 Effective Methods To Recover Data From Hard Drive

Below we have mentioned 5 effective methods using which you can recover your lost data from your hard drive.

Method 1: Recover Deleted Files From Hard Drive Using Recycle Bin

The Recycle Bin keeps a temporary record of deleted files. So if you use the Delete key to delete a file on your PC, you can immediately press Ctrl + Z to undo the action. If you previously deleted the file, it cannot be undone. In such cases, you can use Recycle Bin to restore your deleted file.

Follow the below steps to recover your deleted files from the hard drive using Recycle Bin:

Step 1: Open Recycle Bin

Step 2: Look for the deleted files. 

Step 3: Once you find the deleted files, Right-click and select the Restore option. 

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Step 4: As soon as you click on the restore button the file will be restored to its original location.

Note: If you accidentally deleted a file, you can recover it from the Recycle Bin. However, if the file was permanently deleted, this method won't work. Fortunately, there are other methods that can help you recover permanently deleted files from your hard drive.

Method 2: Recover Data From Hard Drive Using File History Backup Drive

If you've ever had to restore a file from a previous version of Windows, you're probably familiar with the concept of file history backup. File history backup is a feature of Windows that keeps track of the changes you make to files and folders, so you can easily revert to a previous version if something goes wrong. 

File history backup is important for two reasons. First, it lets you roll back changes if something goes wrong. For example, suppose you make some modifications to a document but realize that you made a mistake. With file history backup enabled, you can quickly revert your changes and continue working on the document without any further hassle.

Second, file history backup can be useful in case you lost your important and need to restore the files.  

Follow the below steps to recover data from the hard drive using file history backup.

Step 1: Type "file history" in the search box, and select the "Restore your files with File History" option from the results.

Step 2: Select the latest version of the file(s) you wish to restore via the left or right arrow.

Step 3: Click the "restore" button to complete the process. To restore to a different location, click the Settings icon, then the "Restore To" option to select a new path.

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Unfortunately, File History Backup won’t help you to recover your data from your hard drive unless you’ve activated it in the past.

It also can’t recover files that were saved in any other file location besides your system drive. If you need to recover files from an external hard drive, USB flash drive, or memory card, go through the next method.

Method 3: Hard Drive Recovery Using Windows File Recovery

Windows File Recovery is a command-line software utility from Microsoft to recover deleted files. This tool is available for different versions of Windows for free. Windows File Recovery can easily recover files from an HDD, USB flash drive, or memory card such as an SD card.

Follow the below steps to start the recovery process from your hard drive using Windows File Recovery

  • Open the Microsoft Store, search and install Window File Recovery.
  • Launch Windows File Recovery, and use the syntax indicated below to start the process of recovering deleted files.
  • Use the basic command line that is: winfr source-drive: destination-drive: [/switches].

For example winfr C: D: /n \Users\Documents\test.Docx

  • Next, follow the on-screen instructions to recover data from the formatted hard drive.

Method 4: Recover Files From Hard Drive Using Command Prompt

Command Prompt allows you to access essential system files and perform basic repairs on a hard drive without having to rely on third-party software. By following these simple steps, you can quickly get your lost data back from your hard drive.

  • Type “CMD” in the Windows search box.
  • Now, Right-click on the Command Prompt and select the “Run as administrator” option to open it.
  • Type chkdsk g: /f and hit the Enter button.


Note: Make you change the letter g with the letter of your hard drive.

  • Now, type your hard disk letter again and press the Enter button.
  • Enter the following command:

[G: \ >attrib –h –r –s /s /d *.*] (Replace G with your drive letter)

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Here:

-r stands for read-only attribute, meaning the file is readable but not modifiable.

-s Assign the "system" attribute to multiple selected files

-h means hidden attribute for selected files only

/s to search specific paths including subfolders Specify

/d to include the process folder for

Once the restore process is complete, you can create a new folder on your hard drive or you can connect an external hard drive to your computer and create a new folder there also with all the restored files.

Some recovered files can be in .chk format. Don't forget to change the file extensions based on the file type.

Note: Command Prompt is mostly used to fix hard drive corruption. The ability to recover lost data from a hard drive using the command prompt is limited to a large extent, this means that you may not be able to fully restore all files using CMD.

Method 5: Recover Hard Disk By Using Data Recovery Software

To perform hassle-free hard disk recovery, make use of the Remo Recover software. Remo Recover is a professional HDD data recovery tool to recover data from the hard drive. This tool works with advanced data recovery algorithms to scan and recover more than 500 file formats (like photos, raw images, videos, audio, documents, etc) in simple clicks. 

Moreover, this hard drive recovery tool can also recover data from formatted, damaged, unrecognized, and unreadable drives and other storage devices like SSD, SD/Memory cards, etc. 

Steps To Recover Data From Hard Drive Using Remo Recover

Follow the below steps to start the recovery process from your hard drive using Remo Recover:

  • Download and install Remo Recover software on your computer. 
  • Select the hard drive from which you want to recover data and click on the Scan button.
hard-drive-recovery
  • After initiating the scan, you can go to the Dynamic Recovery View to retrieve lost files from your hard drive while the scan is in progress.
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  • After the scanning process, you can see your lost data under the Lost and Found folder or Lost Partition folder.
listed-recovered-data-from-hard-drive
  • Moreover, you can use the handy features of this tool such as Search Box, Filter, and Advanced Filter to search and sort your preferred recovered files.
use-the-filter-to-sort-recovered-files
  • You can double-click on any file to Preview the recovered files such as documents, PPTs, excel sheets, photos, videos, etc for free.
preview-the-recovered-files-for-free
  • If you are satisfied with the recovery results, select the files which you want to restore and hit the Recover button to save them at your desired location.
save-the-recovered-files

Conclusion

There are a few things that you can do to reduce the chances of data loss from a hard drive. First, make sure to take a backup of your computer regularly. 

Second, protect your computer with an effective antivirus. Third, keep in mind the risks associated with hard drive corruption and damage. By taking these precautions, you can protect your data from harm.

In the end, we hope this article helps you to recover data from your hard drive. If you have any further queries regarding the article, please make use of the comment section below.

About the Author: John Harris

With a decade of experience in data recovery, John Harris, Senior Editor at Remo Software, is your go-to specialist. His focus includes partition management, Windows solutions, and data troubleshooting, delivering insightful content that serves both users and search engines. John's expertise shines through in illuminating blog posts, untangling data loss intricacies across diverse storage platforms.…