Question: I have got a hard disk with problems. HD Tune shows a lot of bad blocks and CHKDSK fix it, but the disk isn’t accessible via Windows Explorer. I will replace that disk, but I need recover some files first. I tested Recuva, and happily it can see deleted files in the damaged disk. But it’s my question, I didn’t need deleted files, but the current files in “Users” folder. If Recuva can access deleted files, surely I can use another software to access the actual data. But I don’t know that software I can use in that level.
Summary:
- I can view the HD via BIOS;
- I cannot access the HD via Windows Explorer, but it is list there;
- I can access the HD via Piriform Recuva;
I thank you for any help.
Answer: There’s a difference between physical corruption (bad blocks, surface errors, wear out due to age, etc) and logical errors, where the hardware is perfectly fine but the data structure to the files is damaged and the system can’t read the files. Files deleted by accident can be considered to be in the second category.
Any data recovery software will be of use only in the second case. Nothing can help you if your HDD is physically damaged (well, there are some extreme measures, such as replacing the logical board, but it’s stuff not to be done at home).
In your case, your seem to be having both physical and logical issues. I recommend you use Recuva (or another data recovery tool) to copy the files to a second, separate HD – remember, never perform data recovery saving the files to the same HDD.
As for your specific case, in order to use Recuva to recover files that weren’t deleted but just unacessible, mark the “scan for non-deleted files” checkbox, see image below:
