How Do I Retrieve My Files From a Crashed Hard Drive?

Hard drive crashes can be mild or severe, resulting in no visible damage to the drive's contents whatsoever or resulting in a completely "wiped" drive. Where you have been unfortunate enough to suffer from a hard drive crash resulting in data loss, retrieving your data means first repairing the drive so that the data on it is accessible. This can be done using the hidden tools in your operating system to repair drive errors.

Instructions

1. Click "Start," press "Run," type in "cmd" and press "Enter."

2. Type in "chkdsk x: /f" and press "Enter," replacing "x" with the letter of the crashed drive. This will scan and repair your drive.

3. Right click on the "Start" button and select "Explore."

4. Click on the drive letter of the crashed drive. Drag and drop the drive's contents to another location on your computer to retrieve your files.

References

• Microsoft: Chkdsk