A hard drive that will not boot, a USB stick the computer no longer recognises or a memory card that asks to be "formatted" are among the most stressful faults, because what is at stake is not the device but the documents, photos or company accounts. The good news is that in many cases the data can be recovered. The bad news is that the first minutes after the failure are decisive and one wrong step can lose it forever.
First: stop using the device
This is the most important advice. Every time the system writes to a faulty drive it may overwrite exactly the information you want to rescue, and if the fault is physical, every read attempt can make the damage worse. If you have deleted files by mistake, do not install programs or save anything new on that same drive. If the drive makes strange noises (clicks, squeals or beeps), switch it off and do not turn it on again.
Logical or physical failure: why the difference matters
Logical failure
The device works, but the information is not accessible: deleted files, a damaged partition, a drive formatted by mistake or a file system corrupted after a power cut. These are the cases with the best chance of success, as long as nothing has been written on top.
Physical failure
A component is damaged: the heads of a mechanical drive, the electronics, a knock, a fall or contact with liquid. Here recovery programs not only do not help but can make things worse. These cases require professional diagnosis and sometimes laboratory work.
What you should never do
- Open the hard drive at home: the dust in the air is enough to damage the platters.
- Put it in the freezer, hit it or try any internet "trick".
- Format the drive or accept the Windows message inviting you to do so.
- Run disk checks or repairs repeatedly on a failing drive.
- Install the recovery program on the same drive you want to recover data from.
Common cases
The computer will not boot, but the drive seems to work
Often the problem is in the operating system or another component and the data is intact. Removing the drive and connecting it to another computer lets you copy the information before repairing or reinstalling the computer.
USB stick or memory card that is not recognised
Try another USB port and another computer first. If the system detects it but does not show the files, it is usually a recoverable logical error. If it does not appear on any computer, there may be a fault in the device's controller.
Files encrypted by ransomware
Here recovery almost always depends on having backups. Disconnect the computer from the network and see our guide to backups and ransomware and the one on cybersecurity for SMEs.
The best recovery is the one you never need
Drives fail sooner or later. An automatic backup, checked from time to time and stored outside the computer, turns a disaster into a minor inconvenience. If your business is not sure whether its backups work, an IT maintenance plan checks them for you.
If you already have a drive, laptop or USB stick with important data you cannot read, do not try anything else: bring it to our computer repair service in Benalmádena or contact Master Informática and we will tell you what options there are in your case.
IT maintenance