SanDisk Error and How to Recover Data

SanDisk is one of the largest flash memory supplier of products like USB flash drives, memory cards, and readers, solid state drives, etc. From SD cards in cameras to extension memory in Android smartphones, various SanDisk memory devices seem ubiquitous. Because of the huge user base, we can often see questions from internet forums and Q&A websites about the SanDisk not recognized error. No matter it is camera SD cards or USB flash drives, when not recognized error appears, you completely lose access to your files. This could mean disastrous data loss if not handled properly.

There are 3 most-asked issues about SanDisk malfunctioning:

1. SanDisk card showing 0 byte

When you insert SanDisk card, you sometimes receive a prompt saying You need to format it before you can use it and the properties of this card show 0 bytes in Used space, Free space, and Capacity. But when users choose to format it, the system says Windows was unable to complete the format.

The possible cause of this situation is improper operations like removing the card while it is still writing data.You can run the disk check program and have the bad sectors fixed. After that, you can perform the formatting.

2. Can’t write data into memory cards/Write-protected

When you try to write data to their SD card, only to be told the card is write-protected. Although content inside it is visible, nothing could be modified. First check if the write-protect mode is on. Unlock the switch to turn off write-protection.

3. SanDisk cards cannot be recognized/detected

We need to make sure that the SD card is actually at fault. If you've inserted an SD card into your laptop or PC's built-in slot and nothing happens, try using a USB card reader and try different ports. Connect your SD card to another device if you have access to one. There could be many reasons for a faulty card, such as virus infection or bad slot metal wire.

The errors and causes of SanDisk memories vary a lot, but one reliable solution to fix the error without data loss is to implement a professional data recovery software. We introduce to you H Data Recovery Software, the solution for malfunctioning USB flash drives, sd cards, pen drives or other flash memory devices. You can recover data from these devices with only a few clicks.

1. Download and install H Data Recovery. Click on the "Deleted Your files From Flash Disk".

2. H Data Recovery will list all the flash devices it detects. Select the card you wish to recover data from. Hit Next to proceed with the scanning.

3. After the scan, select the files you wish to recover and choose a path to save them. Do not save the files onto the card you recover data from, which may lead to overwriting and permanent data loss.

Recover Files from Windows 8 and Windows 10 PC Reset

Windows 8 and 10 comes with a resetting option that allows you to restore your PC to factory default configuration. It is very useful when your PC or laptop becomes less responsive after a long time accumulation of files, caches, or fragmentations. Resetting prepares your PC or laptop to start from scratch rather conveniently and quickly.

Windows offers different options when we reset it to factory settings. It is best that we know how each of them works and how they differ from each other, in order to choose the best option that suits our need. There are basically two options when it comes to resetting Windows.

In Windows 8, you can either Refresh your PC or Reset your PC. Refresh your PC keeps your files and personalized settings but resets PC settings to default. Applications not from Windows Store will be uninstalled and removed. Reset your PC will perform a complete Windows reinstall from scratch and remove all previous data that doesn't come with this PC.

In Windows 10, there is Reset this PC option. Similar to Windows 8, you can choose whether you would like to keep your personal data or to remove everything.

If your PC came with pre-installed Windows, there will be a third option - Restore Factory Settings. This option restores your computer to the factory default state, which means if your Windows 10 was upgraded from Windows 8, it will be reverted to Windows 8. What's more, the bundled bloatware installed by manufacturers will find their way back to you.

When you reset your PC and remove everything, the PC boots into Windows RE (Windows Recovery Environment). Windows RE will erase and format the Windows partitions before it installs a new copy of Windows.

When you choose to keep your files, the PC will scan your drives and put aside your personal data before the formatting. After a new copy of Windows is installed successfully, the files will be moved back to their original place.

Will Removed Data be Recoverable?

Restoring PCs to factory default can help us solve some problems, but it can lead to potential data loss if anything goes wrong. What should we do if some necessary files are lost after factory reset? Is it possible to recover personal files after the factory reset has removed everything?

Whether or not you can recover data from factory reset depends on your actions. There are two ways to handle the removal of data in both Windows 8 and Windows 10. In Windows 8, when you decide to remove files, Windows will give you the options of "thoroughly" remove your personal files and "quickly" remove your personal files. In Window 10, the options are "Just remove my files" and "Remove files and clean the drive".

The quick removal or the Just remove my files option, is quick but less secure if you plan to donate or recycle your computer. This option is similar to quick formatting. It just resets the filesystem and cleared the table address. Although inaccessible, the raw data are still there and can be recovered by using professional data recovery tools.

The thorough removal, on the other hand, writes random patterns to every sector of the drive, overwriting any existing data visible to the operating system. This process will provide enough security for typical scenarios but as a result consumes hours to complete. This is the option for you if you are disposing of highly confidential business and government data. A single pass overwriting will put most consumer level recovery software off. Even with ample funds and forensic tools, only fragments of data can be salvaged.

Basically, resetting PC will completely remove all programs, applications, games, documents, pictures, music or movies from the device. But unless you specifically order to clean the drive, these lost data can be recovered with the help of H Data Recovery Software, which can help you handle data loss situations like lost partitions, accidental deletions, emptied recycle bin and more!

Seagate Drive Data Recovery Alternative

We now live in a digital era where electronic storage media have expanded drastically in capacity while maintaining relatively reasonable prices. However, as the storage capacity increases so is the risk of data loss. As one of the leading companies in the storage industry, Seagate provides high-quality storage devices for enterprises, desktop computers, mobile devices and consumer electronics. Being well aware of the rising risk of data loss, Seagate launches its data recovery services for enterprise data centers as well as personal hard drive users. But when it comes to recovering your hard drives, is there no alternatives? Why call for expensive services while you can do the hard drive recovery on your own?

Seagate Hard Drive Data Loss Situations and Solutions

In many cases, you can diagnose the cause of hard drive failure and recover data on your own. Here are some situations that happened frequently. 

1. The Click of Death

Click of death" is the sign that the HDD is failing as the malfunctioning read/write head is unable to access data correctly and will move back to its original position to try again. This process rapidly repeats thereby making the clicking noise.

In this case, you should transfer data from the clicking hard drive immediately while you still can access the data. The clicking sound problem will only get worse with time and eventually lead to sudden unexpected failure. That is why this problem is called "click of death". 

2. Logical Failure

Logical failure includes file system corruption, filesystem conversion error, registry damages and so on. This kind of problem prevents users from accessing files stored within the storage devices. 

However, the data, as well as the internal file structure are undamaged and can be recovered easily with professional data recovery software.

3. Human Error

It is revealed that human error is accountable for at least 12% of the causes of data loss. This may include accidental deletion, accidental partitioning, formatting or overwriting without backups etc. 

4. Virus Infections

The battle between virus and anti-virus are constantly evolving. Data loss could be a side effect or main purpose of a virus infection. Even anti-virus software might sometimes falsely delete perfectly secure files.

5. Physical Damage Caused by Impact or Corrosion

Hard disk drives are fragile mechanical devices. There are many moving parts running at such a high speed that any sudden impact or movement can lead to potential disaster. If the platter, where the data are stored, is damaged, it means the permanent physical damage to the data. This is tricky as it is not something that can be fixed by software.

In most instances of hard drive failure, the data on the disk aren't damaged and the data are often recoverable with the right tool. We strongly recommend that users make use of H Data Recovery Software to deal with these issues. H Data Recovery is an advanced data recovery software that can perform recovery of lost partitions, inaccessible data, inadvertent deletions and much more. Free download is available now! We believe you are able to restore data lost from your hard drive in most of the cases.

Recovery Files Lost during Conversion between FAT and NTFS

A filesystem is used to control how data is stored and accessed. Without a filesystem, the operating system will be lost in the sea of meaningless data.
NTFS (New Technology File System) and FAT32 (File Allocation Table) are the two most common file systems used by Windows.

As the default file system used by Windows NT family, NTFS is relatively new and considered to be more advanced than FAT32. NTFS makes use of advanced data structure to improve reliability, maximum capacity, and overall performance.

The advantages of NTFS over FAT does not mean that FAT is obsolete. Having been around for a really long time, FAT is universally supported on all operating systems, including your smart TV, game consoles like Xbox and PlayStation, older computers, printers, etc. If it is portability you want, FAT32 remains your best choice.

Under different circumstances, we might need to convert between FAT and NTFS. Here is how we can do it.

Convert to NTFS 

There are different ways to switch to NTFS. If you don't need to keep your files on the FAT or FAT32 partitions, you can simply format the partitions with NTFS. Otherwise, Microsoft Windows provides a built-in utility to convert from FAT or FAT32 to NTFS while keeping your files intact.

1. Click on Start and type cmd in the search bar if you use Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1 or Windows 10. If you use Windows XP, click on Run and then execute cmd.

2. Execute Convert x: /FS:NTFS (x is the target drive letter)

3. The command prompt will start the conversion process. CMD will notify you when the process ends.

Although this built-in utility aims to convert without data loss, we still highly recommend you to backup your important files beforehand in case the conversion goes wrong.

Revert to FAT32

Reverting filesystem from NTFS to FAT32 stands a greater risk of data loss. It requires formatting the partition. You can lose all your stored data so a proper backup is in order. You can use the disk management features to format the partition.

1. Open disk management.

2. Right-click the partition to be changed.

3. Select format partition.

4. Follow the remaining instructions to complete the task.

Due to the limitation of FAT32 filesystem, the partition volume should be lesser that 32 GB and files over 4 GB in size will not be supported.

Recover Data Lost in Conversion

Converting between filesystems can be risky. Unsuccessful conversion or accidental formatting of disks without proper backups can lead to serious data loss. We recommend H Data Recovery Software to help you retrieve as much as missing files as possible. H Data Recovery is an advanced data recovery software to recover lost partitions, inaccessible data or inadvertent deletions. You can follow the below-mentioned steps to recover lost or deleted partitions with H Data Recovery software.

1. Download and install H Data Recovery. Launch the software.

2. On the main menu, you can see different modules designed to handle different data-loss situations. Select the partition recovery module by clicking on the icon.

3. Select the partition from the displayed volume list and click Next to proceed with the scanning.

4. When scanning is done, you will be able to see all the files that can be recovered. Check the files you wish to recover and click next to select a destination you wish to store your recovered files. Remember to save these files to another drive or partition to avoid overwriting.

Data Recovery: Restore Files Too Large for Recycle Bin

"Hi, I had a really long video (an hour plus) on my laptop which I filmed with webcam. Anyway, I wanted to delete it so I right clicked, pressed delete then a message came up saying something along the lines of: 
"This file is too large for recycle bin." 
I can't find it in my videos, but is it still deleted even though it didn't go to the recycle bin? "

"I was moving folders around on/off my external hard drive and when I was deleting a folder from my computer after moving it I got a "file too big for recycling bin do you want to permanently delete" and absent-mindedly hit "YES" (thinking I was deleting a CD).
1 sec later I realized I deleting my ENTIRE music collection from my external.
Please tell me this was not really permanent and that I can get it back."

It is known that the Recycle Bin is the temporary storage space used to save deleted files and folders. It is also a failsafe in the event of accidental deletions as we can always go to the Recycle Bin and restore the files we need. Questions like the above-mentioned are no rare cases because Windows does not provide any tool to recover files permanently deleted or cleared out from Recycle Bin.

Why would some files too large for Recycle Bin?

First, let's find out the default capacity of Recycle bin. Recycle Bin is a virtual folder that stores the information of files deleted in Window Explorer by users. It doesn't have a path or a fixed capacity. The capacity of the Recycle Bin is determined by each underlying volume size.

In Windows operating systems with NTFS filesystem, each volume has a $Recycle.Bin folder under it, which normally is set to Hidden. The capacity of Recycle Bin is the total size of each $Recycle.Bin combined. The calculation might vary in different versions of Windows but starting with Windows Vista, the algorithm for default $Recycle.Bin size is ten percent of the first 40GB of volume size/quota, and five percent of any remaining volume/quota above 40GB.

For example, if you have a 100GB hard drive, the capacity of the $Recycle.Bin folder of this drive is 40x10% + 60x5% = 7GB, which is 7168MB. If you attempt to delete anything on this drive bigger than 7168MB, the operating system will show you the "File too large for recycling bin do you want to permanently delete?" message. If you choose permanently delete, the file will bypass the Recycle Bin and be removed straight way.

As the deleted files slowly fill up the recycle bin, older files will be cleared out to make room for newly deleted files. So the photo you deleted 3 years ago may have been purged by the system already.

How to Manually Set Recycle Bin Capacity?

If you don't like the default size of the recycle bin, you can tweak the number to meet your own need.

1. Right-click on the Recycle Bin icon and select Properties.

2.Select the Recycle Bin Location for the drive you wish to change the Maximum size for.

3.Select Custom Size and set the Maximum size in MB for storage you want. Click on Apply.

4. Repeat the above steps to change the recycle bin size on other volumes.

5. When finished, click OK to leave.

How to Recover Permanently Deleted Files?

If you inadvertently clicked on Permanent delete when the file is too large for Recycle Bin, you will not be able to recover it with default Windows utilities. But do not despair, you can always use H Data Recovery Software to help you retrieve the lost files.

With our advanced algorithm, H Data Recovery Software scans deep into the file structure and can recover files permanently deleted by Windows or cleared by Recycle Bin. Also, data lost due to accidental formatting or partition crash can also be retrieved using H Data Recovery. If these problems are bothering you, free download and start to recover deleted files on your own!

Related articles:

How to Recover Data from Emptied Recycle Bin
          
File Recovery: Where Do Deleted Files Go?

How to Undelete files Deleted by Kaspersky

Internet, the battlefield of the constant war between viruses and anti-virus software. As malware and viruses roaming freely on the Internet disguised as free coupons and friendly email invites, anti-virus software plays an essential part in the defense of our operating system and valuable data. However, sometimes anti-virus deletes suspicious files without warning, which can be quite frustrating because the file may contain important information. 

For example, Kaspersky will detect and delete infected files with "auto block/delete" settings without users' permissions. This can potentially cause unnecessary troubles when Kaspersky Antivirus or Kaspersky Internet Security reports a false-positive infection and deletes a file or folder we still need. What should we do when this happens? Don't get frustrated just yet, there are ways to fix this.

Recover files from Quarantine

Kaspersky will not bluntly delete your files permanently. Instead, it will send the suspicious files to an isolated area call "Quarantine" to avoid the further spreading of the virus infection. You can inspect those deleted files and determine for yourself whether or not you should recover or permanently remove the files. 

If the file is useful, you can restore it the following way:

1. Open the Kaspersky Virus Removal Tool and click Quarantine.

2. On the Quarantine tab, browse the files and select the file you would like to restore and click Restore. (Click Delete to permanently remove the file if you are sure that it is malicious.)

3. Click Restore in the Warning dialog box to confirm your action.

How to Recover Files Permanently Removed

If the files have been clear out and you cannot find them in Kaspersky “Quarantine”, your best choice would be using a third party data recovery tools. H Data Recovery Software performs an in-depth scan of the drive and restores deleted files like documents, pictures, photos, videos, music, emails and more from the hard drive, pen drive, memory cards and other flash cards. It is the most preferred software to recover files deleted by antivirus software such as Kaspersky, Avast, AVG, etc. To restore files deleted by Kaspersky, follow the below-mentioned steps using H Data Recovery Software:

Step 1. Launch H Data Recovery Software and select "Deleted Your files Accidentally" by clicking the icon.

Step 2. Select the partition where your files used to be before they get deleted. If you wish to recover files on Desktop or from Recycle Bin, choose partition (C:). Click Next to start the scan process. It only takes few seconds

Step 3. When scanning is done, you will be able to see all the files that can be recovered. Check the files you wish to recover and click Next to start the recovering process. If the scanning process failed to find your lost file, try our new feature "Universal Recovery". It is a special module that scans deeper into the file structure and locates all deleted files.

Step 4. The last step where you choose a path to store the recovered files. Click Next and you should have them back in no time! Here you should save all the recovered files on another disk to avoid data overwriting.

If you are using Avast or AVG anti-virus software, check below a related article.

• How to Recover Files Deleted By Avast and AVG

File Recovery: Where Do Deleted Files Go?

Have you ever wondered, where do all these files go when we deleted them? Are they still lingering somewhere? Can I get the deleted files back? Will the recovery process be difficult? Let follow the trails of deleted files and find out!

Sent to the Recycle Bin

When we delete a file on a computer, the file will be "moved" to Recycle Bin, Trash or something with the similar name depending on your operating system. Recycle Bin functions as a failsafe in case users accidentally delete useful files. In windows, for example, you can go to the Recycle Bin and restore the files you inadvertently deleted.

These deleted files are not deleted actually. They are marked as deleted by the file system and become latent to users. In Windows Vista and above with NTFS, each drive has a $Recycle.Bin special folder under it, which normally is set to Hidden. Deleted files’ information is recorded and stored in these $Recycle.Bin folders. Desktop Recycle bin collects information from these separate $Recycle.Bin folders and presents them to users so users can view, restore or "permanent delete" these files.

Emptied from Recycle Bin

When we emptied the Recycle Bin, those files will be considered permanently deleted by the file system. Once the headers, or file references, are removed, the operating system will no longer be able to locate these files. The spaces the files are taking will be marked as "not in use".However, removing references still doesn't mean the permanent removal of files.

Deleted files aren't removed permanently until they got overwritten by new files. Why won't the system just delete them right away? Because to permanently remove a file requires the file to be overwritten. That means each time you delete a file, the system will overwrite the file with random 0s and 1s. This is time-consuming and inefficient. The larger the deleted file, the longer it will take to overwrite. Just think about the painful waiting each time you copy a huge file. This is the base of consumer level data recovery software technology - they employ special algorithms to search and rebuild the file header to make the deleted files accessible again.

Digitally Shredded files

Because of the fact that normal deletion does not remove the raw data of files, special cares should be taken when dealing with sensitive information and recycling old storage devices. For users with specific security requirements, there are tools available to erase files permanently in case of unauthorized recovery.

A file shredding program uses algorithms to overwrite certain files over and over again with other data till the trace or data remanence can no longer be recognized or recovered. It is in nature overwriting. We call it shredding in an analogy with traditional paper shredding machines, which are used for disposing of sensitive documents.

Formatted Drives

We all know once a drive is formatted, all files stored on that drive will be deleted. But there's more to it.

A quick format just resets/rebuilds the file system, leaving data mostly untouched. We can recover files from a quick-formatted drive with the right tools.

A full format will reset the data by overwriting the whole drive. Files will not likely to be recovered from a full-formatted drive. This is very useful when you are disposing of or recycling your hard drives containing sensitive or personal information.

Regarding SSD

SSD works differently as traditional hard disk drives and the read/write cycles of SSD flash memories are limited so there could be some exceptions regarding SSDs.

1. Trim Enabled SSDs will erase deleted files to make space for future new data. Data can only be written to blank spaces on SSD, which means new data cannot simply overwrite old files. Trim marks deleted or invalid data so that the Garbage Collection process will remove these files to improve speed and lifespan.

2. Because of the finite read/write cycles, wear-leveling is featured on SSDs. WL moves files around to avoid certain parts of the memory deteriorating faster that other parts. This makes file shredding on SSDs almost impossible because we have no idea where the SSD is going to put these data, let alone overwriting particular data.

SSD Data Recovery: What is TRIM

A solid-state drive differs from a traditional hard disk drive in that it has no moving mechanical parts. It is mainly comprised of a controller, flash memories, and cache or buffer.This underlying difference defines how they store, read, and delete data.

What Happens When We Delete a File

On a traditional hard disk drive, if a file is deleted, it’s only the index that has been removed. To the file system, the file is deleted and the space it takes is marked as "not in use". But in fact, the file still exists as raw data on the hard drive. When the operating system requires more space, it will simply overwrite this "not in use" space. A traditional hard disk drive is able to overwrite data in one single operation, but a solid state drive first has to erase all data in this "not in use" space before it is able to record the new data.

The NAND flash memories are commonly used as the memory storage medium in SSDs. NAND flash is organized into Pages and Blocks. Each Block contains a specified number of Pages, which in turn contain a specified amount of data (2 to 8KB).  Unlike traditional rotating hard disk drives, data in NAND flash can’t be directly overwritten. While data can be read and written at the Page level, erase can only happen at the Block level. In other words, you can read or write any number of Pages from a Block or to a Block, but if you want to erase any part of that Block, you have to erase the whole Block.

What this means is that data must be constantly moved around in order to free up Blocks for reuse, which slows down the entire read/write process. What's more, due to the finite read/write cycles of NAND memories, the constant shuffle of data will fasten the deterioration and reduce the lifespan of the SSDs.

The Introduce of TRIM

This is where TRIM steps in. The TRIM command is designed to enable the operating system to notify the SSD which pages no longer contain valid data due to erases either by the user or operating system itself. During a delete operation, the OS will mark the sectors as free for new data and send a TRIM command to the SSD to mark them as not containing valid data. After that the SSD knows not to preserve the contents of the block when writing a page, resulting in following benefits: 

1. Lowered write amplification. Less data is re-written and more free space is available during Garbage Collection.

2. Higher throughput. During the time the SSD is doing Garbage Collection, the drive has to stop some of the data transfer from the host while it moves data around. This is why it’s beneficial for the SSD to know which data is invalid so it doesn’t have to be moved during GC.

3.Improved lifespan. Because unnecessary data shuffling is prevented, the drive is writing less to the flash memory which in turn improves the lifespan of the SSD.

How to Enable TRIM in Windows

TRIM has been supported since Windows 7 and will be automatically enabled if the OS detects SSDs. But if you want to be sure, here's how to check and enable TRIM in Windows7, 8, and 10.


1. Open a Command Prompt window (run as administrator)

2. Type the following at command prompt and press enter:

fsutil behavior query DisableDeleteNotify

3. There are two possible outcomes:

DisableDeleteNotify = 0 : TRIM is enabled and working in Windows
DisableDeleteNotify = 1 : TRIM is not enabled

4. To enable SSD TRIM support in Windows, type the following at command prompt and press enter:

fsutil behavior set DisableDeleteNotify 0

How TRIM Affects Data Recovery

On an SSD with TRIM enabled, if you delete a file, the system will erase it and you’re most likely not going to get your data back. However, there are several exceptions.

• TRIM is not effective in RAID environments.
• Trim is not effective in external SSD drives with USB connection cables.
• Older Operating system and older types of SSDs doesn't support TRIM. 
• Not all file systems support TRIM. (In Windows, only NTFS)

Besides, different SSD drives handle TRIM differently. If you ever lose data on TRIM enabled SSDs, don't panic yet. Choose a professional data recovery software to see if any useful data can be salvaged.

Things You Need to Know About Data Recovery

What is Data Recovery?

Date recovery is the process of restoring data otherwise inaccessible from storage media that have suffered data loss situations like accidental deletion, hard drive formatting, partition table corruption and more. Recovery of lost data can be performed on a variety of storage media including hard disk drives, solid-state drives, USB flash drives, computer internal hard drives, SD cards, etc.

What Are the Causes of Data Losses?

1. Data loss situations can be caused by the inaccessibility of storage devices. 

• Logical failure

Logical failure includes file system corruption, operating error, registry damages and so on. This kind of problem prevents users from accessing files stored within the storage devices. However, the data, as well as the internal file structure are undamaged and can be recovered with professional data recovery software.

• Physical failure

Physical failure, especially damaged storage units (platter in HDD or NAND flash memories in SSD) means potential permanent data loss. This kind of failure requires you to take it to data recovery experts with proper tools and environment (class 100 clean room) if your data is too valuable to lose.  

2. Data loss situations can also mean the files are no longer where they should be.

It is revealed that human error is accountable for at least 12% of the causes of data loss. This may include accidental deletion, partitioning, formatting or overwriting without backups etc. 

The battle between virus and anti-virus are constantly evolving. Data loss could be a side effect or main purpose of a virus infection. Even anti-virus software might sometimes falsely delete perfectly secure files.

How Does Data Recovery Work?

When we deleted a file, the system just modifies the first two bytes in the file header of this file and marks the sectors containing the file’s data as available. The modifying will be mapped to the FAT of this file, and a deleted tag also will be added to the file so that we can't see this file anymore. So it means that this file is still stored in our disk. From the file system’s point of view, the file is no longer present on your hard drive and the sectors containing its data are considered free space.

However, until Windows actually writes new data over the sectors containing the contents of the file, the file is still recoverable. A file recovery program can scan a hard drive for these deleted files and restore them. If the file has been partially overwritten, the file recovery program can only recover part of the data.

Therefore, the principle of data recovery is searching and analyzing the file header in the disk to find out the files that have been marked, and then try to rewrite the two codes.

Conclusions

1. Before they are partially or completely overwritten by newer data, files we consider permanently deleted or lost can actually be recovered with the right tools.

2. Viruses targeting and modifying the file headers will cause the deleted files undetectable. You can try with H Data Universal Scan feature or contact data recovery services for professional assistance.

3. Since we cannot delete files with common means, we can only erase them to make them disappear permanently. This is very important before you consider donating or recycling your old computer or hard drives. Erasing means dumpling 1s or 0s to overwrite latent files. 
We can shred files or wipe the whole drive with erasing method.

Information stored on the storage drives can be gone at any point in time. You might get no clue about how and why this has happened to you. Data recovery would be your last resort to quickly and easily recover them. Creating a backup and distributing it across different storage media can increase the chances of data availability even if the primary source becomes inaccessible or fails permanently. 

Recover Data from Clicking Hard Drives

After finding your hard drive is making an unusual clicking noise, you should stop using it immediately, except for necessary operations to achieve data recovery. Avoid any changes that could bring secondary damage to your valuable data on clicking drives and start recovery immediately by following the tutorials.

Under normal working conditions, hard disk drives make clicking sound every now and then. The read/write head of a hard disk drive is mounted on the actuator arm and moves back and forth to access files across sectors of the platter. Different models of HDD make different clicking sounds and if your HDD has been making clicking sounds and appears to be functioning correctly then these clicking sound may be the natural working sound of your drive.

There are 2 cases where the clicking sound should be taken seriously:

1. Frequent loud clicking sounds. 

Although your hard drive is still visible in Windows or Mac, it shows symptoms of response lag and random freezes.

In this case, you should transfer data from the clicking hard drive immediately while you still can access the data. The clicking sound problem will only get worse with time and eventually lead to sudden unexpected failure. That is why this problem is called "click of death". 

"Click of death" is the sign that the HDD is failing as the malfunctioning read/write head is unable to access data correctly and will move back to its original position to try again. This process rapidly repeats thereby making the clicking noise.

2. Your hard drive can't be accessed anymore. 

There could be a number of reasons for this to happen

• Read/Write Heads Problems
• Preamplificator is dead
• SA corrupted or scratched
• Firmware issue on the PCB

When the clicking hard drive cannot be detected by the computer, you should first check if it still shows up in Disk Management.

Follow this tutorial to finish failed hard drive recovery with H Data Recovery: 

Step 1: Free download H Data Recovery 

Step 2: Launch this software and choose "Hard Drive Partitions Lost or Crashed" from the main window. 

Step 3: select the target drive to scan by clicking on "Next" button. 

Step 4: View the list of the Scanned files and pick out the ones you need to recover. Then, press "Next" button and choose a safe storage path for them. You should alway store the recovered files on another drive or partition when recovering files to avoid data overwriting.

Bottom Lines

In conclusion, when you begin to hear sudden loud clicking noises, you could try to copy data off hard drive quickly to rescue important files. But when you hear a lasting clicking noise accompanied by scratching and screeching sound, you'd better stop using that hard drive and turn to H Data Recovery to do a complete file recovery.

The worst case scenario is that the clicking problem gets so bad that it damages the platter (the physical storage medium) and the drive will not be recognized by computer system.Then you should make a decision between rescuing the hard drive by turning to professional data recovery teams (with an amount of fee) or give up the hard drive and all the data within it.This requires you to balance between the value of the data and the amount of fee you are willing to pay.

In no case should you open the drive case and change parts on your own.The problem is we can hardly find a proper environment (clean rooms) and tools to finish this operation. Therefore, irreversible damage will be generated, making both data recovery and further use of hard disk impossible.