How to Recover Files from a Failing Hard Drive or SSD

Losing data is a threat that haunts almost all computer users. The consequences can range from losing a few personal photos to the catastrophic loss of critical business documents. In the modern era, where storage has transitioned from mechanical platters to lightning-fast flash memory, the strategies for recovery has evolved significantly.

This guide explores the technical realities of data recovery for both Hard Disk Drives (HDDs) and Solid State Drives (SSDs), providing a roadmap for diagnosing failures and safely retrieving your information.

What is Hard Drive Data Recovery?

Data recovery is the process of retrieving inaccessible, lost, corrupted, damaged, or deleted data from secondary storage, removable media, or files, when the data stored in them cannot be accessed in a normal way. While we often use “hard drive” as a catch-all term, modern recovery techniques must account for the fundamental differences between mechanical and electronic storage.

The Problem: Why Drives Fail

Storage devices are some of the only components in a computer with a “guaranteed” failure date. Whether through mechanical wear (in HDDs) or electron leakage and cell degradation (in SSDs), all drives eventually stop working.

Common failure triggers include:

• Logical Errors: Software-level issues like file system corruption, accidental formatting, or malware.
• Physical Wear: Mechanical components in HDDs (motors and heads) wearing out over time.
• Electronic Failure: Controller failure or power surges damaging the PCB.
• Environmental Factors: Heat, moisture, and physical impact (especially for laptops).

According to Backblaze’s Drive Stats, drive failure rates can vary significantly between brands and models, but the overall trend is clear: preparation for failure is mandatory, not optional.

How it Works: HDD vs. SSD Architecture

To understand recovery, you must understand how data is stored.

Hard Disk Drives (HDD)

HDDs store data on rapidly rotating circular platters coated with magnetic material. Read/write heads hover nanometers above these platters.

• Mechanical Nature: Data remains physically present on the magnetic surface even if the file system “forgets” where it is.
• Recovery Advantage: Unless the magnetic surface is physically scratched (head crash), data is often recoverable even after years of neglect.

Solid State Drives (SSD & NVMe)

SSDs store data in NAND flash memory cells. There are no moving parts; instead, electrons are trapped in “gates” to represent bits.

• TRIM and Garbage Collection: Modern operating systems use the TRIM command to tell an SSD which data blocks are no longer needed. The SSD then actively wipes these blocks to maintain performance.
• Recovery Challenge: Once TRIM has been executed on a deleted file, the data is physically purged from the NAND cells, making software-recovery nearly impossible.

Failure Components and Diagnosis

Understanding the type of failure is critical before attempting recovery. Using the wrong method can lead to permanent data loss.

Use Cases for Data Recovery

• Accidental Deletion: The most common home use case. Usually solvable with “undelete” software if caught early.
• System Corruption: After a Windows Update or power failure, the drive might be “RAW.” Recovery involves rebuilding the partition table.
• Legacy Hardware Migration: Pulling data from an old laptop’s hard drive to move it to a new machine.
• Forensic Recovery: Deep-level scanning used by professionals to find remnants of data that has been overwritten multiple times.

Practical Guide: Steps to Recover Data

If you suspect your drive is failing, stop writing any new data to it immediately.

Step 1: Check Drive Health (SMART)

Before running intensive scans, check the hardware’s self-reporting health status.

# Install smartmontools
sudo apt install smartmontools

# Check health of drive /dev/sda
sudo smartctl -H /dev/sda

# View full health attributes (Look for Reallocated_Sector_Ct)
sudo smartctl -a /dev/sda

Step 2: Image the Drive (Avoid Working on the Original)

Never run recovery tools directly on a failing drive. Instead, create a bit-for-bit clone using ddrescue, which is designed to handle bad sectors gracefully.

# Copy data from failing drive (/dev/sda) to a new drive (/dev/sdb)
# -d: direct disk access, -r3: retry 3 times on errors
sudo ddrescue -d -r3 /dev/sda /dev/sdb recovery.log

Step 3: Use Software Recovery Tools

Once you have an image or a clone, use tools like TestDisk for partition recovery or PhotoRec for file-level carving.

Common Misconceptions

• The Freezer Trick: Placing a clicking HDD in the freezer is a legacy myth. While it occasionally “shrank” components enough to get one last spin in the 90s, modern drives have much tighter tolerances and this usually results in moisture damage and permanent loss.
• SSD “Undeleting”: Many users expect to recover files from an SSD as easily as an HDD. Due to TRIM, “deleted” on an SSD often means “gone forever” within minutes of the operation.
• Software Can Fix Clicking: No software can fix a broken motor or a crashed head. If it clicks, software won’t help; it will only make it worse by forcing the broken head to scrape the platters.

Related Articles

If your drive is still healthy, learn how to maintain your hard drive to extend its lifespan. For specifically recovering deleted files (logical recovery), check our guide on how to recover lost files. If you are using an SSD, it is vital to understand SSD endurance and wear leveling to predict when it might fail.

For cases where DIY methods aren’t enough, we recommend consulting Seagate Data Recovery Services or a local professional lab.