Hard Drive Data Recovery Software

Download and install Disk Drill for Windows. Do not use the disk that experienced that data loss for the download to avoid overwriting files you wish to restore. Use a USB drive for the download and install if your main hard drive has lost data. You will need to provide Administrators credentials during the install process.

Connect an external storage media and launch the program. The application presents you with a list of disks that the software has discovered and are available for use. Select the one that you will use for recovery.

Click the Search for lost data button to start the scanning process. You will see a status bar at the top of the app’s main window that displays the status of the scan. Scans can be paused and resumed whenever you desire to facilitate a more convenient recovery procedure. Scan at your leisure and recover the files when you are ready.

You can stop the scan at any point, but you will get the best results by letting complete. If you pause the scan, you can restore any files the software has already identified as being recoverable. This can be helpful if you are in a hurry and don’t want to let the process finish. Check the box to the left of a file or folder to make your recovery selections.

Click the Recover or Recover all button to perform the recovery. You will be prompted to provide a safe storage location where you want the data to be restored. Stay clear of the device which lost data so you don’t overwrite files before they can be recovered. When recovery is complete you can go to the designated folder and move the files wherever you want. Some reconstructed files may need to be renamed.

The CHKDSK command can be used to scan any storage device for logical errors. If CHKDSK finds any problems, it will attempt to repair them:

1. Press Win + X.
2. Select Windows Terminal (Admin) if you’re using Windows 11 or Windows PowerShell (Admin) if you’re using Windows 10.
3. Enter the following command and press enter (replace “X” with the letter assigned to your storage device): chkdsk X: /r

If you're not a fan of typing, Windows offers a visual alternative to CHKDSK. To check your storage devices for errors and fix them without having to type commands, you can:

1. Right-click on the device you want to check for errors and choose Properties.
2. In the new Properties window that shows up, move to the Tools tab.
3. Click on Check in the Error checking section.
4. Choose Scan drive from the requester that pops up.
5. If errors are found, you can have them fixed.

Does your hard drive suddenly seem to be completely empty even though the amount of free storage space is still the same? Then it’s possible that malware or some logical error has messed up your file attributes. Fortunately, you can fix them using the ATTRIB command:

1. Press Win + X.
2. Select Windows Terminal (Admin) if you’re using Windows 11 or Windows PowerShell (Admin) if you’re using Windows 10.
3. Enter the following command and press enter (replace “X” with the letter assigned to your storage device): attrib -h -r -s /s /d X:*.*

Included in Windows is a handy Disk Management utility that lets you format hard drives that are not accessible from File Explorer. Here’s how to use it:

1. Press Win + X.
2. Select Disk Management.
3. Right-click the problematic hard drive and select the Format option.
4. Choose the NTFS file system and confirm.
5. Click OK to complete disk formatting.

When hard disk drivers don’t work correctly, bad things happen. The solution? Force Windows to update them by following these instructions:

1. Press Win + X.
2. Select Device Manager.
3. Go to Disk drives and right-click your hard drive.
4. Select the Update drivers options.
5. Choose to “Search automatically for updated driver software”.

It’s possible for a logical error to cause the affected drive to lose the letter that was assigned to it. In such cases, you can manually assign a new drive letter to regain access to your files:

1. Press Win + X.
2. Select Disk Management.
3. Right-click the hard drive that has become inaccessible and then click Change Drive Letter and Paths.
4. Click Add and select the new drive letter.
5. Press OK to confirm.

Windows checks storage devices for problems during its automatic maintenance activities. However, this maintenance happens without user interference, automatically, based on a pre-defined schedule. You can start a maintenance scan manually, though, with the following steps:

1. Open the Start menu and search for Security and Maintenance. Select and open that entry when it shows up.
2. At the Security and Maintenance window, expand the Maintenance pull-down section.
3. Click on Start maintenance under Automatic Maintenance to manually start a checkup.
4. If you change your mind, you can cut the scan short by clicking on Stop maintenance.

All modern SSDs and HDDs come with self-checking capabilities you can use to analyze their overall "health" based on a series of different metrics. They fall under the S.M.A.R.T. banner, which stands for Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology. Unfortunately, Windows doesn't come with tools for running S.M.A.R.T. tests, but you can use a free third-party tool like HD Sentinel for that. After downloading and installing it:

1. Choose the HDD or SSD you want to check from the list on the left.
2. Move to the S.M.A.R.T. tab to see an overview of the device's condition based on current S.M.A.R.T. information.
3. If everything looks fine, but you still believe the device has a problem, you can launch S.M.A.R.T. tests manually.
4. Move to the Information tab. Scroll down to find the S.M.A.R.T. Details section.
5. Click on Supported, Click To Start next to either Short Self-test or Extended Self-test. The first will run a quick check of your device in (usually) under 5 minutes. However, keep in mind that the extended - and much more thorough - test might take hours, or even days, depending on the device's storage size.

All storage device manufacturers offer official tools for checking their condition and testing them. Since each of them works somewhat differently, we won't dive into the details of how to use them. You can find them by looking at your device manufacturer's official site, usually in a "support" section. For four of the most popular brands, take a look at:

• Hitachi
• Samsung
• Seagate
• Western Digital

Even if you're using Windows, you can temporarily use Linux to check your disks for problems and attempt to fix them. All without changing or affecting in any way your current operating system. Windows users will feel right at home with GParted. The app accompanies most Linux distributions and is straightforward in its use. To check your disks with it:

1. Download one of the more Windows-friendly Linux distributions, like Linux Mint.
2. Make a bootable USB with it. Check this guide if you don't know how to do that.
3. Boot your PC from your bootable Linux media. Check your PC motherboard's manual to see how you can boot from a secondary device.
4. When you reach the Linux distribution's desktop, expand its Start menu equivalent, and search for Gparted. Run the application.
5. Choose your storage device from the drop-down menu on the top-right.
6. Right-click on your device and select Check from the menu that pops up.

TestDisk is a powerful open-source data recovery software that can fix partition tables to recover lost partitions. While it doesn't have a graphical user interface, the steps you need to follow in order to fix logical disk errors and recover your data are fairly straightforward:

1. Download and install TestDisk.
2. Launch TestDisk and decide if you want to create a log file.
3. Select the disk that has the lost partition you want to recover.
4. Tell TestDisk which partition table type it should look for.
5. Analyze the current partition stucture.
6. Use the Quick Search option to look for recoverable partitions.
7. Select a found partition and press Enter to recover it.
8. Write the new partition table.
9. Confirm your decision.
10. Exit TestDisk.