How to Recover Data From the Hard Drive of a Crashed Computer

So, your computer has crashed? Chances are that you have files on your computer that you want to recover. Well depending on the reason your computer crashed, those files may be recoverable. This guide will take you through a process to recover those files.

Instructions

1. You must realize there are two reasons for your computer to crash. There was either a software malfunction (i.e. Windows is broken) or a hardware malfunction (i.e. your hard drive is broken). So, your first step is to determine if the problem is caused by your hardware or software. Chances are if your computer starts to boot but fails somewhere in the process, you have a software problem. If it's a hardware problem, your computer won't boot at all or the boot will fail early in the boot process.
   Try booting the system an alternate way, to determine if the problem is software related. For example try starting Windows in safe mode. If that doesn't work, try booting the computer with a boot disk or alternate operating system. Try using a boot disk like the Windows boot disk, Ultimate Boot Disk, Bart PE or an alternate operating system like a Linux Live disk. If the system boots into one of the above, then you have a software problem and you'll want to follow steps 2-5. If it's a hardware problem then start at step 6.

2. If the problem is software related, your operating system is having problems. You picked up a nasty virus, a program/driver you installed is causing conflicts, or something else bad happened. Your first step is to try to fix the problem. If you fix it great, you're done, your computer works again. If you can't fix it, go to the next step.

3. Use a boot disk or an alternate operating system to access the files. I recommend using Bart PE, UBCD4Win or a live version of Linux because you'll get a nice graphical user interface (GUI) to work in. Once you boot up your computer, you can navigate to your files just as you would in Windows.

4. Back up your files. Once you find your files your next step is to back your files up. For this step there are many options and you'll have to do some research if you don't already know how to back up your files. Copy and paste your files, use a back up tool or whatever to move the files to a safe and secure location like a CD/DVD, separate hard drive or a hard drive partition, a USB drive, or whatever you prefer.

5. Re-install your operating system. Once you have backed up your files, you need to get your computer working again. So, re-install your operating system and all should run well.

6. If you think the problem is hardware related your first step is to get your hard drive onto a working computer. You can do this one of two ways.
   Option 1--Some part(s) in your computer decided to quit. Replace/fix the broken part(s) and take any necessary steps to get the computer running again.
   Option 2--Install your hard drive as a slave (secondary drive) on another working computer.

7. Now that you have your hard drive on a working computer, do a little prayer to the computer gods and hope your hard drive is still working enough that you can simply access your files. If that's the case, simply back up your files immediately in case your hard drive decides to quit all together. If you can't simply access the files you have a real problem and may be out of luck, but there are a couple of options.

8. Try to use a data recovery program. There are a variety of tools, designed to recover data from failed hard drives.

9. This may sound odd, but try freezing your hard drive. Put your hard drive in a Ziploc bag, and put it in the freezer overnight. Although I'm not sure why, many people report this to work great. However, it usually only works for a short period of time (until the hard drive warms back up). So, once you pull the hard drive out of the freezer, immediately put it into a working computer and immediately start to back up your files. Repeat the process until you get all your files. If this doesn't work you only have one real option left.

10. Go to a professional. If all else fails, and your files are really important, a professional may be able to help. Make sure that you choose your "computer guy" wisely because some professionals will just do what you've already done. You'll want a professional that has experience in this area, and he may even need specialized equipment.