Hard Disk Replacement and Copy

Note:  This option requires that your original disk is functional during the procedure.

Occasionally, your disk drive will warn you if it's about to fail.  Warnings of permanent failure can occur in several forms.  An example would be intermittent start failures, where you find that you need to power-on more than once to get your computer to start successfully, often after your computer has been shut down for several hours.  Another case could be that you experience an increasing number of errors when you check the disk for errors (scandisk.exe) or if you get indications of corrupted, unreadable, or missing files.

Despite the fact that these situations are stressful, they are actually among the best things that could happen.  Considering that hard disk drives have a life expectancy of 3-5 years, temporary warnings like these allow you the chance to get your data onto a new disk before the old one fails permanently.  Even with backups in existence, reconstructing your disk from scratch is a situation to be avoided whenever possible.  While not all disk failures feature the luxury of early warnings, they should be viewed as rare opportunities.

 The procedures for Hard Disk Replacement and Copy involve configuring a new disk alongside your old one.  The data is transferred sector-by-sector in standalone mode to the new disk.  If this is successful, the old disk is removed and the new one (which can be larger) is reconfigured to take its place.

Non-functional disks:  Should you find yourself with a disk that has failed permanently which had data that was not backed-up and you must try to retrieve, there is one possible option for you:  Hard Disk Recovery.  While there is no guarantee that your data is recoverable, it sometimes can be, although it is expensive.  A few companies specialize in this, and you can find many of them by searching the internet with the words, disk recovery.  These companies will attempt to recover data by dissecting your drive and, as long as your disk platters are undamaged, often succeed in doing so.  They usually return your data on a new disk drive.  Be warned that the process can take weeks and cost many hundreds of dollars.  Nevertheless, it is the only option if your lost data is vital..