FAQ
The specialists answer to you
FAQ
Feel free to contact us to ask some questions or share a comment.
FAQ Hard drive
- put your hard drive in the fridge. It may bring dampness into it.
- hit the disk on the side or on the top. You may damage the reading heads and the platters.
- open the hard drive by your own. Open the disk in a non-sterile environment may bring some particles into the disk and damage the platters' surface.
- in case of shock, don't try to fix it yourself, you may damage the disk. Appeal to a professional !
A noise such as a jingle, « clac-clac-clac », shrill noise, or a dull sound are probably due to a physical problem involving the reading heads.
This noise is typical of a reading head's problem. Either one or more heads are defetcive and can't read the disk, or the platter's surface is damaged, so the reading heads can't read it.
What to do ?
If your hard drive makes that kind of noises, you're facing a big problem that you won't be able to solve on your own. Don't use your hard drive and bring it to a specialist who will be able to deal with the problem.
Your hard drive isn't detected by the operating system anymore, it may be a physical problem. It can also be a simple software problem if the operating system itself is defective.
What to do ?
If it's an external drive, verify connections, then reboot the drive. You can also try to plug the disk on another computer. If it's an internal hard drive, it may mean that the masterboot record is defective (message « no system found »). Then check if the hard drive is detected by the BIOS.
To access the BIOS, press F2 or F9 or F12 or DEL, etc. You will then see if it's detected or not.
When it doesn't appear in the BIOS, it can be a firmware problem, a connector problem, a System Area problem or the surface of the platters is damaged.
What to do ?
Check if all the connectors are correctly plugged. If not, plug your HDD on another computer and if your hard drive is still not detected, You're facing a serious physical problem. You should then contact a specialist.
If Windows seems to start but stops while the starting process, it may mean that you're facing a hard drive problem involving a defective platters' surface.
What to do ?
Try to plug your HDD on another computer and try to access the data. If it doesn't work, you're facing a defective surface problem and we recomand you to contact a specialist.
If the disk falls, its surface or reading heads can be damaged. If the hard drive doesn't start, don't try to start it over and over because you may damage the disk more seriously.
What to do ?
If you hear a noise such as a jingle, the problem is probably involving the reading heads. If you don't hear any noise, but your drive don't start due to a fall, it may be another physical problem. At any rate, bring it quickly to a professional and don't try to fix it yourself.
Your circuit board is defective due to a failure or an overvoltage, then your hard drive isn't detected anymore.
What to do ?
Don't try to open your HDD on your own. Contact a specialist who will be able to find if the problem comes from your circuit board.
Inadvertently or following an error message from your computer, you formatted your hard drive. Then you can't access your data and you're facing a software problem.
What to do ?
First of all, don't save or install anything on that hard drive, it will increase your chances to recover your data. Secondly, don't use a data recovery software on your own because, a wrong use may lead to a definitive loss of your data.
After the reinstallation of your Operating System, you notice that you can't find your data on the drive anymore.
What to do ?
It's most probably a partition problem and thus, a software problem. Don't format your HDD and don't try to reinstall the Operating System again, or you may lose your data definitively.
To recover your data, you must call a professional.
If your hard drive has been through flood or fire, you'll have to face a physical problem. Many problems can ensue from fire/flood, such as melting of components, dampness into the disk, defectiveness of the electronics.
What to do ?
Don't dry your HDD with a hairdryer, and don't open it to clean possible soot stains. Don't try to repair or plug your hard drive on your own.
Contact a specialist who will be able to determine the problem and to act consequently in a suitable environment.
FAQ RAID
If your RAID system isn't detected on your computer, it may mean that your RAID controller is defective or the configuration has been lost by the RAID controller.
What to do ?
It may be dangerous to attempt recreate the RAID by submitting new parameters. If you don't choose the right values, you may lose everything. For more security, ask a data recovery specialist to do that.
The RAID controller indicate that the RAID system is in failsoft mode. Nevertheless, the controller can still be functional. You should solve the problem quickly.
What to do ?
Define why the RAID system is in failsoft mode. Most probably a hard drive is defective and so the RAID system can't function properly. If this is the case, then change the defective hard drive as soon as possible, as far as the RAID system allows you to do so.
Your RAID system isn't detected on your computer anymore, so you can't access to the data beacause the controller that manage the RAID access is defective.
What to do ?
It may be dangerous to attempt recreate the RAID by submitting new parameters. If you don't choose the right values, you may lose everything. For more security, ask a data recovery specialist to do that.
Your RAID 5 system has at least 3 HDDs. If a HDD is defective, your RAID 5 system is in failsoft mode but still working.
What to do ?
You should change the defective drive as soon as possible. Normally, the RAID controller will integrate the new HDD and recreate the data, so your RAID system will be completely secured again. This operation may last a few hours.
Your RAID 5 system can take a single HDD breakdown, not more. Your RAID system isn't functional anymore.
What to do ?
You should ask a data recovery specialist to repair the defective device in order to repair and recover the data with the other functional HDDs.
Your RAID 6 system has at least 4 HDDs. If a HDD or two are defective, your RAID 6 system is in failsoft mode but still working.
What to do ?
You should change the defective drive as soon as possible. Normally, the RAID controller will integrate the new HDD and recreate the data, so your RAID system will be completely secured again. This operation may last a few hours.
Your RAID 6 system can take two HDD breakdowns, not more. Your RAID system isn't functional anymore.
What to do ?
You should ask a data recovery specialist to repair the defective device in order to repair and recover the data with the other functional HDDs.
The RAID 0 system is an aggregate of a few HDDs. Each file is divided into parts on every HDDs of the RAID 0 system. If a HDD is defective, there will be missing file parts so you can't access to the data anymore.
What to do ?
You should ask a data recovery specialist to repair the defective device in order to repair and recover the data with the other functional HDDs.
The JBOD system is an aggregate of a few HDDs. Unlike the RAID 0 system, the data is written on the first HDD. Then, when the first one is full, the data is written on the second HDD. And so on.
What to do ?
If the defective HDD doesn't contain any data and the JBOD system is built with two HDDs, you should be able to plug the first HDD on a computer and recover your data.
Should the opposite occur, you should ask a data recovery specialist to repair the defective device in order to repair and recover the data with the other functional HDDs.
With a RAID 1 system, all the HDDs are like mirrors of the others.
What to do ?
If all the HDDs are defective, you should ask a data recovery specialist to repair the defective device in order to repair and recover the data with the other functional HDDs.
Should the opposite occur, it means that the copy HDD is still intact. So, you can plug it on a computer and recover your data.