Do-it-yourself hard drive repair. DIY hard drive repair

In this article you will find the answer to the question "". Hard drive failure is inevitable. When this happens, the first question that comes to mind is: “is it repairable?”

What about your important files stored on your hard drive? Is it possible to restore them? Good questions, aren't they...

This guide will help you answer these questions, recover important data from a bad hard drive, and ultimately restore your hard drive if possible.

Hard Drive Repair Guide

Below is a tried and tested method for repairing an HDD in the following hard drive condition:

• Hard drive that won't boot
• Dead hard drive
• Broken hard drive
• Damaged hard drives
• Failed to detect hard drive through Windows
• Hard drive cannot be detected through Disk Management
• Hard drive is not detected in BIOS

However, in some cases, which are represented by mechanical problems (the hard drive "pancakes" do not spin or there is strange noise), the methods described below are less successful.

Does this mean you shouldn't try to repair your hard drive? Of course not, there is no harm in trying and the possibility of recovering the hard drive is still high. Let's start.

You see a pop-up message from Windows: Hard Drive Problem Detected, Windows has detected a problem with your hard drive.

If nothing happens, the solution may not apply to your situation. Let's move on to the next step. To continue, I need you to check out the hard drive recovery tools below.

Hard Drive Recovery Software/Tools

• Ideally, you need to create either a boot disk or a bootable USB flash drive:

1. Create live CD/DVD
2. Creating a live USB

Hard Disk Low Level Format Tool is a simple utility for working with hard drives. It will format the hard drive at a low level, erasing partitions and wiping the MBR.

This makes your hard drive the same as the manufacturer's default state. (Note: Using this tool will make your data unrecoverable).

At this point, I assume that you now have enough knowledge about the hard drive recovery software/tools that I mentioned a while ago.

First, even if you suspect that your hard drive is damaged, it is still wise to do the hard drive diagnostic procedure below:

Make sure the molex connector/SATA hard drive power cable, IDE/SATA cable are properly connected.

Make sure the IDE/SATA cable on the motherboard is properly secured. Check again to see if the problem is resolved. If nothing works, it's time to check the health of your hard drive.

Ideally, you need to run the Victoria hard drive program from a bootable flash drive.
Scan the entire HDD sector by sector and see the result: if there are a lot of green ones, it’s still tolerable.

If there are a lot of yellow ones, the speed of the computer will be slow because of these sectors. If there are a lot of red ones, the hard drive “dies”. There are blue ones - you need to restore this disk or buy a new one.

Hard drive recovery

We need hdd ll format tool. Install and run “as administrator”.

Click Continue for Free. Select the damaged hard drive and click Continue. Hard Drive - Low Level Format Recovery

Wait a few minutes or hours for the process to complete. It may vary depending on the speed of your hard drive. Patience is our everything. After this, restart your computer.

On the Windows desktop, right-click “My Computer” → “Manage” → “Disk Management”. Click on the unallocated hard drive → select “new simple volume” → follow further instructions until “Finish”.

The result of low-level formatting is different for all disks. You can succeed or fail. In fact, some experts do not recommend using this program to recover hard drives.

However, based on my experience (I'm not an expert, just a general technician), the low-level format has saved several of my own and my clients' hard drives.

My advice: whenever you are lucky enough to recover your hard drive after a low-level format, do not store important data on it again.

Repairing a hard drive by replacing the circuit board on it

Is the circuit board damaged? If your hard drive is inaccessible in Windows, but is detected in the BIOS, parted magic, disk management and diskpart command can help you.

Get the appropriate tools; hex screwdriver. Loosen the screws one by one and slowly remove the PCB.

Replace it with a new one. (Note: You must replace it with the exact same one. Replacing or modifying the circuit board may delete all saved data and cannot be restored.)

Now you can try to start your hard drive. If this "" guide solved your problem, Congratulations! If not, buy a new hard drive.

Many people try to fix all problems with equipment themselves in order to avoid unnecessary financial costs, without understanding this or that design. If you intend to repair your hard drive yourself, you must take into account that all data will be deleted from the media. For this reason, it is permissible to repair information media yourself only after creating copies of valuable information that should not disappear.

Reasons why external hard drives may need to be repaired

We list the most common situations:

The media has impact marks or dents;

The pancakes don't unwind;

Noisy rotation;

Loud clattering of disk heads.

Checking the hard drive

Evidence of a serious malfunction of the hard drive, which must be eliminated as soon as possible, can be a variety of sounds atypical for the device that are heard during its operation. The end of the service period or weak fragmentation may be the cause of noise.

If BOIS does not recognize the hard drive, there is nothing wrong with that. To fix the problem, simply delete all data from the media. Repair and restoration of hard drives occurs as follows. There are special bootable media with the Diskedit program. After rebooting, the computer should work normally.

Search for parts

If repairing a laptop hard drive involves replacing the head, you will need a donor device. This is another drive, parts of which can be installed instead of non-working ones. It must match the hard drive model and be in good working order.

It is necessary to correctly remove the drive from the laptop and unscrew the corresponding screws, if this model has them. The cover is removed from the disk. Do not damage the gasket located in this place. First of all, you need to remove the magnet and then unscrew the screws.

After removing the magnet, you can see the VCM coil. Behind it are the heads, which will be very easy to remove. The discs need to be rotated from side to side so that they do not stick to the magnet. You will need to put something between the heads to prevent them from sticking together. Paper or fabric will do. Repairing Seagate hard drives requires installing the magnet in its original place after securing the heads. The lid closes and the disk is inserted into the laptop. Everything is done correctly if the device information is displayed on the screen during boot.

Surface damage

A clear sign of damage to the surface of the disk drive is an increase in its operating temperature or strange sounds. Such malfunctions occur as a result of a laptop or removable hard drive falling. Repairing external hard drives and integrated devices requires replacing damaged components. In such situations, it is usually impossible to recover the information stored on the drive.

Fixing Data Corruption

The consequences of such a breakdown can be various software failures. The malfunction can be characterized in the following way: it is not possible to determine the volume of the drive, the computer does not recognize the hard drive, and during operation you can hear an unfamiliar sound.

Such malfunctions arise as a result of failures in the software shell itself, surface defects in the service area, or a malfunction of one of the many heads. It is necessary to rewrite service information using a specially designed program. If the head is damaged, it will be difficult to fix the problem. The problem can be resolved by reducing the storage capacity of the drive.

Seagate repair

All hard drive manufacturers have weaknesses, for example, repairing Seagate hard drives quite often involves the need to eliminate the breakdown of protective diodes located as part of the +12V chain.

This component protects the device from power surges. The case itself does not have visible signs of a diode malfunction, so it is not possible to visually determine such a problem.

The resulting breakdown may damage the power supply. This is a common problem. It is not recommended to connect a damaged hard drive to another power supply.

To determine the presence of a short circuit, specialists at service centers check the entire electrical circuit. It is not recommended to repair the hard drive yourself in such situations.

Repair for incorrect reading

This type of malfunction can be identified using specialized diagnostic software. The causes of damage may be an error in the operation of control components, failure of the disk surface, or poor quality of the channels transmitting information in the hard drive itself.

Conclusion

The hard drive is the most important device in modern computers. Repairing a hard drive yourself is extremely risky. Rash decisions can cause not only the loss of important information, but also the final failure of the device. Each hard drive consists of a case, disks, a head, an electronics unit and a spindle drive. A sufficiently qualified specialist will always be able to extend the life of your hard drive.

Often, in order to repair a hard drive with your own hands, components of other working devices are used. Naturally, hard drives with less memory are selected as a donor. Why ruin good equipment to repair a lower quality model?

Hard drive repair is a procedure that, in some cases, allows you to restore the drive to functionality. Due to the nature of this device, serious damage is usually impossible to fix on your own, but minor problems can be fixed without calling a specialist.

You can return the HDD to working condition even if it is not visible in the BIOS. However, it is not often possible to repair a drive due to the complexity of its design. In some cases, repairs may require you to pay an amount several times greater than the cost of the hard drive itself, and it only makes sense to do this to restore extremely important data stored on it.

It is necessary to distinguish between repairing a hard drive and restoring it. In the first case, we are talking about restoring the device’s functionality, and in the second, we are talking about returning lost data. If you need to recover files that were deleted or lost as a result of formatting, check out our other article:

Read more: The best programs to recover deleted files from your hard drive

You can also replace the hard drive yourself, and, if possible, copy files from the old HDD to the new one. This is suitable for those users who do not want to contact specialists and prefer to simply get rid of the failed drive.

Lesson: Replacing the hard drive on a PC and laptop

Problem 1: Bad sectors of the hard drive

Bad sectors can be divided into software and physical. The former can be easily restored using various utilities, and as a result the HDD operates stably and without failures.

Read also: 2 ways to eliminate errors and bad sectors on your hard drive

Treatment of physically damaged sectors does not involve the use of programs. At the same time, the drive itself may begin to make unusual sounds: clicks, creaking, rustling, etc. Other manifestations of problems include system freezes even when performing simple tasks, disappearance of files or folders, or the appearance of empty unallocated space.

It is impossible to fix such a problem on the hard drive of a computer or laptop manually. Therefore, the user can either replace the hard drive with a new one and, if possible, transfer important data to it, or use the services of specialists who restore data from a physically damaged surface under special conditions.

You can understand that there are problems with sectors using the following programs:

1. Crystal Disk Info;
2. HDD Regenerator;
3. Victoria HDD.

If the device is still working, but is no longer stable, you need to think about purchasing a new drive as soon as possible. At the same time, it is strongly recommended to minimize the use of a PC with a damaged HDD.

After connecting the second hard drive, you can clone the entire HDD or just the operating system.

Lessons: How to clone a hard drive Transferring the system to another hard drive

Problem 2: Windows doesn't see the drive

A physically healthy drive may not be detected by the operating system even when connected to another computer, but may be visible in the BIOS.

There are several situations in which Windows does not see the device:

1. The drive letter is missing. It may happen that the volume will be left without a letter (C, D, E, etc.), which is why it will no longer be visible to the system. Simple formatting usually helps here.

   Lesson: What is disk formatting and how to do it correctly

   After this, if you need to return deleted data, use special programs.

   Read more: Programs for recovering deleted files

2. The disc received a RAW format. Formatting will help resolve this situation, but it is not the only way to return to the NTFS or FAT file system. Read more about this in our other article:

   Lesson: How to change the RAW format of HDD drives

3. Windows does not see the new hard drive. A HDD just purchased and connected to the system unit may not be detected by the system, and this is absolutely normal. To start using the device, you need to initialize it.

   Lesson: How to initialize a hard drive

Problem 3: BIOS does not see the drive

In more serious cases, the hard drive may not be visible not only in the operating system, but also in the BIOS. Typically, the BIOS displays all connected devices, even those that are not detected in Windows. This way you can understand that physically they work, but there are software conflicts.

When a device is not detected in the BIOS, in most cases this is due to one of two reasons:

Problem 4: The hard drive is knocking under the cover

If you hear a knock inside the hard drive, then most likely the controller has been damaged. Sometimes the hard drive may not be detected in the BIOS.

To fix this problem, you will need to completely change the controller, but doing this yourself is almost impossible. Specialized companies carry out such repairs, but it will cost a lot of money. Therefore, it makes sense to contact the experts only if the information stored on the disk is very important.

Problem 5: HDD makes strange noises

Under normal conditions, the drive should not make any sound other than noise while reading or writing. If you hear uncharacteristic squeaks, cracks, clicks, knocks or even scratches, then it is very important to stop using the damaged HDD as soon as possible.

Depending on the severity of the damage, the drive may not be detected in the BIOS, stop abruptly, or, on the contrary, unsuccessfully try to start spinning up.

In this case, it is very difficult to diagnose the problem yourself. A specialist will need to disassemble the device to determine the source of the problem. In the future, based on the inspection results, replacement of the damaged element will be required. This may be a head, cylinder, plate or other elements.

Read also: Reasons why your hard drive clicks and their solution

Repairing a drive yourself is a very dangerous task. Firstly, you will not always be able to understand for yourself what exactly needs repair. Secondly, there is a huge chance of the drive being damaged. But if you want to try your hand, then you should start by properly disassembling the hard drive and becoming familiar with its main components.

Read more: How to disassemble a hard drive yourself

Disassembly will be relevant if you are prepared for a complete failure of the device, are not afraid of losing stored data, or have already made a backup copy.

Problem 6: The hard drive began to work slowly

Reduced performance is another common reason why a user will think that the hard drive has some kind of problem. Fortunately, HDDs, unlike solid state drives (SSDs), do not tend to slow down over time.

Low operating speed usually appears as a result of software factors:

• Garbage;
• High fragmentation;
• Unoptimized HDD parameters;
• Bad sectors and errors;
• Outdated connection mode.

How to eliminate each of these reasons and increase the speed of the device, read our separate article:

Lesson: How to increase the speed of your hard drive

A hard drive is a fragile device that is very easily damaged by any external physical impact, be it shaking or falling. But in some cases it can break even with careful use and complete isolation from negative factors. The stated service life of an HDD is about 5-6 years, but in practice it often fails 2 times faster. Therefore, you, as a user, need to take care of the safety of important data in advance, for example, have an additional HDD, flash drive, or use cloud storage. This will protect you from the loss of personal information and additional financial costs aimed at restoring it.

We are glad that we were able to help you solve the problem.

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lumpics.ru

How to fix a hard drive

Today, a computer has become an integral part of the life of any family, and its malfunction can simply be a disaster for its owners. It's like a family member who contains a lot of information we need and comes to the rescue at the most needed moment. But there are times when the main source of computer data storage - the hard drive (hard drive) - fails, or makes working on the computer very problematic, or even completely destroys it. We will write how we can help our computer, namely how to fix a hard drive if it stops working.

How to repair a hard drive yourself?

This article will help you find out:

1. How to diagnose a hard drive failure. 2. How to repair a hard drive yourself.

Very often, when diagnosing a problem with the hard drive of a computer (or laptop), we think that we can fix everything ourselves, but we don’t know the intricacies of the work of the craftsmen and we get into it, poking around with the help of improvised means. In this way we will only make the situation worse. You need to remember: you should never disassemble your computer’s hard drive yourself! It will not be possible to return the hard drive to working condition in this way, but you will be able to completely break it.

How to diagnose a breakdown?

The main symptoms of a hard drive malfunction may be:

1. The system does not find the computer's hard drive. 2. The system freezes or reboots. 3. Problems when reading information from the disk.

4. Problems with starting the operating system.

If something matches the description of our problem, we proceed to the second phase of self-treatment of our hard drive. However, you should remember that in cases of self-repair of the hard drive, all responsibility will fall on our shoulders and no warranty applies to this. Therefore, think about how to repair a hard drive yourself and whether it is advisable to undertake this at all, or is it easier to take the entire computer for diagnostics and repair to a specialized service center.

If you are still wondering how to fix your computer’s hard drive, then you need to try the simplest:

1. Checking contacts.

First of all, if the hard drive is not working, you need to check for a good connection between the hard drive and the computer’s motherboard, that is, perform repairs in Russian. Perhaps you just have a bad connection and if you fix it, everything will return to working condition. If, after checking the contacts, you are again wondering how to repair the hard drive yourself, but it still does not work, then you should move on to the next step.

2. External inspection and cleaning of contacts.

At the next stage, you need to begin external inspection and cleaning of the contacts. During the cleaning process, you may need to replace the SATA or IDE cable. If after replacement the hard drive works, then the repair is completed, but if not, then you should examine the hard drive very carefully. If after inspection you are convinced that there is no mechanical damage to the hard drive or connecting cables, then you should proceed to the next step.

3. Checking the motherboard.

One of the reasons for a hard drive’s inoperability may be voltage surges in the network, which lead to the failure of some components of the computer’s motherboard. If, during the inspection of the motherboard, malfunctions, burnt areas, etc. are noticed, then it is necessary to replace the burnt board and the hard drive will work again. But there is one caveat: the chips on the board are calibrated for a specific hard drive, so there is no guarantee that replacing will help, even though it is the cheapest option.

4. Hard drive recovery using special programs.

If you have carried out all the steps described above, but the hard drive still does not work, then most likely there has been a logical failure of your computer’s hard drive. This can be corrected using special programs that will help “bring back to life” your hard drive: MHDD or Viktoria. These programs can run outside the operating system. To use them, you will need to either create a boot disk or use a flash drive. The interface of these programs is almost identical. You will only need to select the required disk with which you can perform any manipulations, as well as the type of action to be performed.

The programs listed above, in addition, will help to completely clean the disk from the data stored on it, as well as scan the surface for bad sectors and restore or highlight bad sectors as inactive.

5. Disk freezing.

There are also extreme measures to repair a hard drive, or simply: how to repair a hard drive in Russian. To do this, you need to freeze the hard drive. This is an extreme measure, but it will help get your computer's hard drive back online for a short period of time so you can copy important information and transfer it to another device. In order to use this “life hack” you need to:

Place the disc in a vacuum bag (without air) and leave it in the freezer for several hours. Connect the hard drive to your personal computer and start it.

If the hard drive does not work right away, turn off the computer, remove the hard drive, then lightly hit it on the table or floor. Reconnect it to your computer and turn it on. If this method does work on your device, copy the files you need, and then you can recycle this hard drive. In the worst case scenario, you will need the help of a qualified specialist.

Finally, I would like to add once again that the question of how to repair a hard drive yourself is a very serious one and its solution must be approached very carefully. There are many service centers, companies and workshops that carry out such repairs. But before you take your equipment to any service, do not be lazy and find out as much information as possible about this service, read reviews on the Internet or talk to people who have used their services. Among such services, there are often those that do not solve the problem, but take money from you.

ruinfocomp.ru

DIY hard drive repair

All information that exists today can be stored on special devices called a hard drive or hard drive. Their choice is large, and the capacity allows you to store thousands of photos, movies, games, documents and other files necessary for the user. However, like any complex device, a hard drive can fail, which will require troubleshooting and subsequent corrections.

How to diagnose and test your hard drive

External hard drive repair

External drives have gained popularity due to their compactness - a person can carry a huge amount of information with them. Such devices are reliable, but they are not immune to breakdowns. If the failure is not associated with mechanical damage, then you can repair the external hard drive yourself.

Repairing a hard drive after a fall or other physical impacts is difficult to do at home.

1. You will need to open the magnetic head unit, which can only be done in a clean, sterile room. Any dust is dangerous for the magnetic insides of the device.
2. Repairing mechanical damage requires specific knowledge and tools to find the broken element and replace it. The most rational solution is to contact a service center.

It’s a little easier to deal with software failures, which, according to statistics, bother users of external hard drives even more often than defects resulting from physical impacts. This is due to frequent cases of incorrect shutdown.

We begin diagnostics and repairs by checking the serviceability of the USB cable that connects the drive to a PC, TV, etc. You can connect the cable to another device and see if it is working.

If a laptop or PC detects a connected external hard drive, but working with it is accompanied by freezes, crashes, and errors, then it’s a good idea to check it for viruses, some of which are quite capable of disrupting the operation of the hard drive.

The next step is formatting. Be sure to do the full one, not the quick one. There are a lot of programs for this procedure: Acronis Disk Director, HDD Low Level Format, etc.

Overview of programs for formatting hard drives

Formatting can be started through the command line, Disk Management or My Computer.

The main thing is to select the NTFS file system in the settings.

If the computer sees the external hard drive, but it is impossible to extract information from it, then it is a good idea to determine which part of it is severely damaged and which files can be extracted and restored. The programs Recuva, Partition Recovery and others are suitable for this. By launching one of them, you will see a list of files that can be returned, and “broken” information can simply be deleted, returning the hard drive to its previous performance.

Back to contents ^

First of all, we pay attention to extraneous sounds in the operation of the hard drive when turning on the laptop. This may be clicking, tapping, accompanied by slowing down and freezing. There are many reasons: from simple dirt and dust to damage to the drive, jamming or misalignment of the spindle.

If the laptop no longer sees the hard drive, then you can try to determine the cause of the problem and fix it yourself. To do this, there are instructions, taking into account which you must follow each point sequentially:

1. Remove the hard drive from the laptop case.
2. Next, unscrew the controller board - you will need a star screwdriver. Please remember that this will void your warranty. In some HDD models, the elements are located on the outside and can be seen without additional actions.
3. We carefully inspect the board for damage. Often, due to overheating, swelling or carbon deposits form on microcircuits. You can also use a magnifying glass and inspect the soldering joints of the connectors: even one leg that falls off can seriously disrupt the operation of the entire device. If you find such signs, then you can calm down - the repair will not be delayed. It is enough to find on the Internet the article number or name of the board that is suitable for your hard drive. Then buy it and replace it.
4. Do not forget that dust on the contacts can also cause the hard drive to fail or interfere with the flow of signals coming from the motherboard and vice versa. Blow or clean the inputs and cables of the hard drive. To clean the electrical board, a regular eraser, alcohol and cotton swabs are suitable. Try not to flood the contacts - otherwise the disk will stop working altogether.
5. If the results of cleaning the cables and the controller board are positive, it is recommended to defragment the hard drive and registry.

Back to contents ^

Do-it-yourself hard drive repair video

There are quite a lot of videos on the Internet that clearly demonstrate several ways to troubleshoot a hard drive. They are mainly associated with disassembling the hard drive case and cleaning the board elements. This is explained by the fact that almost 90% of hard drive failures occur due to oxidation of electrical contacts.

It is not difficult to identify areas that require removal of oxide and dirt. Such contact paths appear darkened. To begin, carefully go over the eraser until a light shine appears. Be sure to clean the group of contacts going to the drive (usually there are 3 of them). Next, take alcohol and an old toothbrush - with their help we additionally wash the contact paths.

Now you need to protect the board elements from further oxidation. In principle, you can even coat it with silicone grease. It does not allow current to pass through, but protects against corrosion. However, it is best to treat contacts with special aerosol products. For example, Kontakt 60. When using a laptop in an office or home, we recommend that you perform similar cleaning of the hard drive boards at least once a year.

If the described tips and methods for repairing a hard drive with your own hands did not help solve the problem, then the best option would be to contact a specialized center. The main thing is not to get carried away with troubleshooting yourself and under no circumstances listen to recommendations on various forums about how heating the hard drive or keeping it in a microwave oven will help. This will only damage the device and waste your time.

Winchester hard drive repair

onlineotvetchik.com

DIY laptop hard drive repair

In computer technology, HDD (hard drive) is the storage place for all information. But, like any equipment, over time this device can also break down. Most often, laptop computers suffer from this disease. And before you repair a laptop hard drive with your own hands, you need to understand what the operating principle of this mechanism is.

In case of minor damage, you can repair the laptop hard drive yourself.

What is Hard Disc Driver

The HDD or hard drive of a laptop is a 2.5-inch magnetic disk. There can be several such “pancakes”, enclosed in a solid body. It rotates all the time and the faster this happens, the greater the data transfer speed.

And when the hard drive breaks down, the operating system stops loading or freezes and reboots when accessing files. According to company statistics, manufacturers provide a 12-month warranty on this device, but this does not mean that it will break in a year. Typically, the average hard drive “lives” for about 4 years.

Diagnosis and causes

When determining problems with a hard drive, you should first listen to the operation of the computer, then visually examine the outer and inner sides of the disk. The main cause of hard drive failures in the first year of life is manufacturing defects. And only after 3 years of service can we talk about wear and tear of the mechanical parts.

The disk head is faulty.

The disk surface is faulty

When such a failure occurs, the HDD becomes very hot and can make a dull, loud grinding noise. This usually occurs when the laptop is dropped or the disk is scratched. Here you can also repair the hard drive by replacing its heads.

Oxidation of contacts

This problem is a fairly common cause of failure of this mechanism. To correct the situation, you should also disassemble the laptop case and remove the hard drive. Carefully remove the cover and carefully handle the board elements:

Chip problems

This problem can also completely stop the hard drive from working. When it overheats, carbon deposits appear on the chip, and a broken leg (can be seen with a magnifying glass) may be the reason for purchasing a new disk.

Damage to information

In this case, the laptop does not detect the hard drive or does not see the amount of its information. This is where the disk program crashes. It can also make a characteristic unpleasant sound, which means that one of the heads has failed, and therefore the information can only be partially restored by reducing the storage capacity. If the heads are in good condition, you can rewrite the data using certain programs, for example, Acronis Recovery Expert or Activ Partition Recovery Pro, etc.

Half-living disc

If the hard drive periodically turns off, is not detected by the operating system, or failures occur when writing and reading files, first of all, you should copy important information to removable media. Then check the disk surface with programs such as Victoria (HDD Regenerator).

The program will determine in which sectors the failure occurred and you can either try to restore it yourself or do a full formatting. In general, such a hard drive can still work for some time, but in the future it will become increasingly destroyed.

You should know that repairing a laptop hard drive is a very delicate process. If there is a warranty on the equipment, then it is better to contact the service center of the store where it was purchased. Well, if you still decide to repair the hardware yourself, you need to understand that information from the hard drive will most likely be lost.

NastroyVse.ru

How to fix a laptop hard drive

How to fix a laptop hard drive? All information existing in the laptop is placed on a special device - the hard drive. The capacity of the hard drive allows you to store a lot of photos, games, movies, documents and other files. Unfortunately, like any complex device, the hard drive is not immune to breakdowns, which requires immediate diagnosis of the malfunction. So is it possible to repair a laptop hard drive? Of course, but you should understand that when repairing a laptop hard drive, information from the disk is completely deleted, so you can do it yourself You can start repairs if the information has been copied or there is no need for it.

How to fix a laptop hard drive - Checking the laptop hard drive

You need to think about a serious failure of the hard drive if it begins to make extraneous sounds - clanging or grinding. There can be several reasons for their occurrence: weak fragmentation, expiration of the disk, and others. It happens that the BIOS on a laptop cannot detect the hard drive - in this case, the operating system does not start, and the user sees a corresponding message on the screen. How to fix a kettle? or sound on a laptop?

This is easy to check - by clicking on the frame that describes the equipment and appears at the time of initial boot. To fix the problem, you should clear the disk of information. To do this, use a bootable CD with a special program called Diskedit. After rebooting, the laptop usually returns to normal operation.

Do-it-yourself hard drive repair or How to repair a laptop hard drive

If the laptop does not read the hard drive and the above program did not help, you can try to determine the cause of the failure and fix it. It must be remembered that independent actions will void the manufacturer's warranty. The sequence of actions is as follows:

1. Remove the hard drive from the laptop.
2. Unscrew the controller board using a torx screwdriver. In some hard drive models, the elements are located on the outside, so they are accessible without any manipulation.
3. Inspect the board for damage. The result of overheating is carbon deposits and swelling on the microcircuits; fallen off legs at the soldering points of the connectors also disrupt the operation of the device. To repair, you need to find a suitable part number or name of the board on the Internet, purchase the part and replace it.
4. Blow or clean the inputs and cables of the hard drive with an eraser or cotton swabs soaked in alcohol - the cause of failure of the hard drive or failure of the flow of signals coming from the motherboard and back may well be dust on the contacts. You cannot fill contacts - the disk may stop working.

How to fix a disk head

If the hard drive on a laptop is broken and you need to repair the head, you will need a donor drive, which is installed in place of the damaged one. The main condition for replacement is that the hard drive is in working order and matches the model. How to properly remove a hard drive from a laptop? Actions are carried out in stages:

1. Unscrew the screws and carefully remove the cover from the disk without damaging the gasket.
2. Remove the magnet and then unscrew the screws.
3. Having removed the magnet, you can see the VCM coil, behind which the heads are located - getting them out is not difficult.

On which you can hold anything. Hard drive malfunctions do not happen often, but they always worry users very much, because there is a risk of losing a huge amount of important data and valuable files. In this article we will look at how to repair a hard drive yourself. Let's figure it out. Go!

First of all, you need to understand that repairing a hard drive does not imply restoring data from it, and recovery, in principle, is not always possible, it all depends on the degree and nature of the failure. First, let's figure out what prerequisites exist for repairing an external HDD:

• The hard drive makes unusual sounds during operation. This may be a creaking, rustling or crackling sound.
• Sudden, causeless disappearance of files and folders.
• “Brakes” and “glitches” when accessing the disk.

It is worth noting that the railways themselves fail quite rarely and the reason for this can only be a manufacturing defect. In other cases, responsibility for the breakdown rests with the user himself. It is incorrect operation that brings the hard drive to an inoperative state. Periodically you should check for bad sectors and bad blocks, run defragmentation and diagnostic procedures, and also monitor the temperature of the operating device. Failure to comply with any of these points will sooner or later lead to device failure.

So, if your external hard drive makes some strange sounds during operation, then most likely the problem is in the recording head, which, unfortunately, cannot be replaced on your own. But you can take the necessary measures and make a disk backup so as not to lose all your data. Keep in mind that the hard drive does not have to be silent. We are talking only about unusual and suspicious sounds.

Diagnostics and repairs should begin by checking the serviceability of the USB cable. You can connect the cable to another device to determine its functionality.

If the computer sees a connected external hard drive, but while working with it various kinds of freezes, crashes and errors appear, then you need to run a scan of the hard drive for malicious software, in other words, for viruses.

After this, the disk must be formatted. Please note that formatting must be complete and not quick. The choice of utilities that allow you to do this is quite large: Acronis Disk Director, HDD Low Level Format and others. Of course, in this case, all files stored on the disk will be deleted. You can start formatting in several ways:

If the PC detects an external hard drive, but cannot extract information from it, check which part of it is severely damaged and which part can be restored. To do this you will need the Recuva, Partition Recovery utility. After launching this program, you will see a list of files that can be recovered. All “broken” data can simply be deleted.

If you decide to disassemble and repair the hard drive yourself, here are instructions that will help you do it correctly:

1. Unscrew the controller board. To do this you will need a Phillips screwdriver. Please note that this voids your warranty. On certain models of hard drives, the elements are located on the outside so that they can be viewed without unscrewing the board.
2. Study the board carefully. Look to see if there is any damage on it. Quite often, deposits or swelling can be found on microcircuits, which are formed due to overheating. Use a magnifying glass to examine in detail the solder joints of the connectors. Keep in mind that even one detached leg can have an extremely negative impact on the operation of the entire hard drive. If you find anything like this, you don’t have to worry as it can be fixed easily and quickly. You just need to find the article number or name of the board suitable for your device on the Internet. Then buy it and install it.
3. Remember that dust on the contacts can damage the hard drive or disrupt the flow of signals that come from the motherboard and vice versa. To clean the electrical board, take an ordinary eraser, alcohol and cotton swabs. Be careful not to flood the contacts, as this can lead to complete failure.
4. If cleaning the cables and the controller board was successful and brought results, defragment the disk and registry.

Now you know how to repair an external hard drive with your own hands at home. Write in the comments whether you were able to successfully repair your hard drive, share your own experience and advice with other users, and also ask your questions if you don’t understand something.

Most existing digital information is stored on a variety of storage media. A hard drive is the most common example of such media, since almost every home has at least one personal desktop computer or laptop. The component that we started talking about is a very important integral part in the design of a PC, because it contains all the data and files that are of particular importance to us. But what to do if this part fails and ceases to demonstrate its former performance? How to repair a laptop hard drive yourself? To answer this question correctly, you need to read several detailed instructions.

We carry out HDD repairs at home

It is common for a person to try to fix any problem on his own, even if he is not a qualified specialist in this field. If we are talking about HDD from a laptop, then it is worth understanding that absolutely all data will be deleted from the media.

Important! Use your own recovery procedure only in cases where the information has been copied or is no longer needed.

Typically, users undertake repairing a laptop hard drive with their own hands for the following reasons:

• There are traces of mechanical damage on the case.
• “Pancakes” stopped spinning up.
• The disk head makes an incomprehensible noise.
• The disk itself rotates very loudly.

If you see any symptom that is also present on your device, we recommend that you check your device.

Diagnosing the hard drive on a laptop

How to repair a laptop hard drive with your own hands? Before moving on to answering this question, it is better to try to carry out diagnostics, because there is a possibility that you do not need any restoration work at all:

• If your screw makes any extraneous sounds (clanging, grinding), then your HDD probably has a serious breakdown that needs to be repaired as soon as possible. The reason for such a failure may lie in the expiration of the component's service life, its weak fragmentation, or improper use.
• Solving the problem becomes a little more complicated if you cannot track the presence of a component through the BIOS. In order to do such a check, you need to click on the frame with a description of the device that appears on the screen during initial boot.
• If you still can’t track the disk, then don’t be alarmed right away. To troubleshoot problems, you can try clearing the media of all existing information.

Important! You can also use a special bootable CD on which the Diskedit utility will be preinstalled, which can restore its former functionality immediately after a reboot.

Repairing the disk head

How to fix a laptop hard drive if its head is broken? First, you need to prepare for repairs and get a donor for your component. The donor is a new drive that can be installed in place of the previous “inhabitant”.

Important! The new selected component must match the model of your hard drive and be working!

First you need to understand how to remove the HDD itself from the laptop case. To remove a component, do the following:

• First you need to loosen all the screws on the surface of the part. Unfortunately, such fastening elements are not available on all device models.
• Next you will need to remove the HDD cover. Perform these steps with extreme caution as there is a risk of damaging the disc spacer.
• Then you need to remove the magnet and unscrew the screws. You should see a VCM coil in front of you. Immediately behind the last component are the heads, which you will need to remove.
• You will have to twist the components sideways with light movements so that they do not stick to the magnet.

Important! It is best to use some material in the form of a piece of fabric or paper to insert it into the space between the heads.

• Next, you need to remove the heads themselves and install new parts in their place. It is best to carry out such actions using tweezers and be sure to use rubber gloves.
• Then you will need to install the magnet in its place, close the whole thing with a lid and secure it with bolts. All that remains is to place the hard drive inside the laptop, and you can start checking the work done.

If all the steps were performed correctly and after the reboot data about the new device appeared, then you are done.

Defects on the surface of the hard drive

How to repair a computer hard drive if there is mechanical damage on its surface? To begin with, it is worth determining whether such damage exists at all. Their presence is accompanied by the following symptoms:

• Strong heating of the equipment.
• Incomprehensible sounds.
• Loud work.

If you have anything from this list, then your laptop most likely fell on a hard surface or the disk itself simply received a scratch.

Important! In case of mechanical damage, the magnet heads fail and will need to be replaced according to the instructions described above. But in this case, restoring existing information located on the media will be impossible.

Damage to data on storage media

If the hard drive was damaged and all information became inaccessible, then the defect can be identified by the following signs:

• The operating system does not display your component.
• You cannot estimate the amount of storage space on the device.
• During operation, strange noises and sounds occur.

Typically, such a failure is the result of a failure of the disk software or a failure of one of the heads. For the latter case, information recovery is only possible if the storage capacity is reduced.

Important! If all the heads are intact, then you will not need to resort to reducing the size of the disk. For this case, you will have to use backup using a variety of third-party HDD utilities.