What is Logical Drive Failure Recovery?

Data loss can be the result of either physical or logical hard drive failure. Physical drive failure can be the result of electrical problems, physical damage, mechanical wear or electronic component failure. Data lost by this type of failure will need to be recovered by a reputable data recovery service.

When data is lost through logical failure, however, it may be possible for the computer owner to recover some, if not all of the missing files. A data recovery company will still be needed in some cases. Logical drive failure causes data loss through damage to the file system structure or corruption of the data. Data can also be lost through accidental deletion, which is considered a logical failure.

Logical drive failure can be the result of one or more factors:






• Accidental deletion is usually the easiest problem to solve. Often the file is still in the recycle bin and can be recovered from there. If the bin has been emptied, a software solution will be necessary.






• Accidental deletion of critical system files will render the hard drive unbootable or unable to be recognized or to mount properly. This has often come about from heeding the advice of a hoax e-mail that instructs the reader to remove a file that is "dangerous." What actually happens is that a critical file is deleted and system problem occur.






• Attacks from malware, viruses and worms can corrupt important operating system files and render the user’s data inaccessible. All too often, this happens because anti-virus software is not kept current. Important: if a user is still running a pre-installed anti-virus program, he or she should make sure that it has not passed the trial period, usually30 to 90 days. If the software has not been paid for and/or registered after that date, the user may not be fully protected.






• Improper shutdown of the computer may cause corruption of the system. Critical updates to the system are often installed during the shutdown process; consequently, removing power to the computer before completion can cause system file corruption.

A software solution can be effective in many cases of hard drive crash recovery. The software, however, must be designed to recover the file structure that is native to the system. A Windows-based PC will require software designed for NTFS file recovery or data recovery in the FAT structure for older systems.

If the drive will not boot or mount, a bootable CD or DVD will allow the machine to boot, enabling recovery of inaccessible files. Data recovery should be made to a secondary drive or external storage media before repair to the file system is attempted. This will prevent further damage to the data or permanent, unrecoverable loss.