News

posted on 21 February 2008 11:06

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Data Recovery provider Kroll Ontrack has listed five things users should not do when their hard drives fail.

1. Reformat the drive and then restore data from a backup medium. No; test the backup to an alternate drive first. If it fails and you haven't tested it out in this way then your data is gone.

2. Replace a suspected failed part with a new one. This may not work because parts have versions and specific versions are integrated with other specific version components in the hard drive. Get a new part and you may find it is simply not recognised.

3. Trying to free a suspected stuck head by banging or knocking the drive. This is a complete no-no as such events could cause the head to scratch the recording surface making matters worse.

4. Drying out a wet drive with a hairdryer or putting it on a radiator. Any such DIY drying will likely cause residue to adhere to the drive platter surfaces and cause a head crash.

5. Running an operating system drive check program. A physically damaged drive could be damaged even more by this.

This last point seems a bit excessive. What are the darn O/S utilities there for?

What should users do instead of any of these five things if a drive fails?

Why, use a data recovery service of course.