Top 10 Damaged Hard Drive Recovery Software Free 2024

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2. Wise Data Recovery

(https://www.wisecleaner.com/wise-data-recovery.html)

Introduction: Wise Data Recovery software is by WiseCleaner, and is a product that works well in many situations. This free downloadable software is highly recommended by users and will help you in times of technological trouble. This software works in recovering all kinds of media such as documents, videos, emails, and much more. Wise Data Recovery also works with recovering your system after a virus or corrupted disk formation. While this program does have issues recovering video content. Most complaints by users state that audio is not recovered or the videos will no longer play once the scan is completed. So you may want to invest in a backup system for videos just to be safe if this is the software you choose to rely on.

Pros:

• Comes with a lot of recovery tools
• Offers user manual

Cons:

• Doesn't perform well on audio/video recovery

3. Disk Drill

(https://www.cleverfiles.com/disk-drill-windows.html)

Introduction: Disk Drill is a free downloadable software recovery system for Windows and has been touted as one of the best free damaged hard drive recovery software systems available for 2023. With powerful data recovery algorithm, Disk Drill can help you recover data from damaged hard drive no matter it is physical damage, data corruption or malware attack. It is a trustworthy data recovery software if you happen to need recover damaged hard drive.

Pros:

• Additional layer of protection for your Recycling Bin: Recovery Vault
• Powerful data recovery algorithms

Cons:

• Free version doesn't work with Mac

4. Recuva

(https://www.ccleaner.com/recuva)

Introduction: This damaged hard drive recovery tool restores files from all types of sources, including DVDs, CDs, Memory cards, and external drives. A perk of this particular software is how well it recovers photos and items from hard drive devices. Most of this system works by searching for referenced data on your device. What makes it even better is that it only needs to pay if you're using it for commercial purpose.

Pros:

• Deep scan to ensure that all the files will be covered
• Supports new, damaged, and formatted devices recovery
• Supports FAT and NTFS file systems.

Cons:

• Windows systems only
• Deep scan takes long time

5. DoYourData

(https://www.doyourdata.com/)

Introduction: This basic scanning software works well for lost data or accidentally deleted files. Whether you are worried that you deleted a picture or a file did not save properly, this software will help you recover what is missing.

Pros:

• Compatible with both Windows and MacOS
• Easy to use
• Supports quick and advanced recovery settings
• Scan data list can be exported for feature recovery use

Cons:

• No other features apart from data recovery as other software does

6. Stellar data recovery

(https://www.stellarinfo.com/)

Introduction: Formerly known as stellar phoenix windows data recovery software, this is a great data recovery tool developed by stellar for windows users.

The data recovery software is used to recover deleted documents or any other files from your hard drives. It comes in four powerful recovery modules. One thing you will love about this tool is its ability to recover raw data that had been previously corrupted due to implications like viruses. You can even see the preview of your recovered data from your interface

Pros:

• Ability to select which folder you want to recover
• Has great recovery quality as well as preview

Cons:

• Free version can only recover 1GB of data
• Very expensive especially for the premium version

7. Orion File Recovery

(https://www.nchsoftware.com/data-recovery/index.html)

Introduction: This is a great recovery tool especially for deleted files on your drive. It works well by scanning your drive and showing you the available files so that you can choose from them.

This is a great free data recovery tool that helps you recover your data by using only keywords.

Pros:

• The recovered files are of great quality
• Easy to navigate and use interface

Cons:

• The features are minimal
• Results might be different sometimes

8. Data Rescue

Introduction: This is a great recovery tool especially for people who have minimal knowledge about data recovery. One thing you will love about it is its power. The fact that it can even recover data when your windows it's not running makes it an even better recovery tool.

Pros:

• Works well even when windows aren't running
• Requires minimal knowledge on the topic

Cons:

• Require a network connection
• Only the paid version comes with a better quality of recovered data

9. R-Studio Windows data recovery tool

(https://www.r-studio.com/)

Introduction: If you are looking for a free data recovery software that is more advanced then this is the tool for you.

This recovery tool comes with advanced functionality making the data recovery process easier and brings in quality to your recovered files.

Pros:

• The tool has advanced features
• High-quality data recovered
• Easy to navigate interface

Cons:

• Required advanced knowledge in data recovery

10. Restoration

(https://www.snapfiles.com/get/restoration.html)

Introduction: This data recovery program is a classic, maybe it looks clearly something old, but it is effective and does not run around, when you open it you will see quickly and easily that you select the unit and with the press of a button you will begin to search for deleted files. It is very easy to use.

Pros:

• It comes in a very simple version
• The app is both installable or portable
• Support large drives as big as 3Tb

Cons:

• Requires other programs to be installed in your pc

How do you Repair your Corrupted Hard Drive? Here are Some Solutions:

1. Repair using CHKDSK

CHKDSK (short for check disk) is a Windows utility that checks the integrity of a hard disk. If the hard drive has several bad sectors and errors, it can get corrupted very easily. Running a CHKDSK command in the computer will effortlessly fix file system errors. It is suitable for the storage drive. It is even advisable to run it once in a while. It marks bad sectors preventing data corruption. Below are some of the instructions you can follow for a successful running of a CHKDSK scan and repair.

• First of all, open an elevated Command Prompt window on your computer.
• Ensure that the corrupted hard drive is connected to the system
• Then, if it doesn't have one, assign a letter to this corrupted drive through the Disk Management tool
• Type chkdsk /r/: where the drive letter is X. Replace the X with the letter that you assigned your corrupted drive, then press ENTER
• Give it time to finish.

You might see a warning message. In such a scenario, press 'Y' followed by entering. Also, if the corrupted drive is a boot disk, the system will ask you if you want to run this command before the next time you boot the computer. If you type YES and press ENTER, the computer will gain full access to your disk and repair it, and the command will run moments before your OS loads. This way, it will

2. Using Windows File Manager

Here are the steps that you can follow to fix your corrupted non-system drive.

• Firstly, press Win and E so as you can open File Manager.
• After opening File Manager, right-click on the corrupted drive from the left pane.
• Select Properties on the hard drive and click on Tools, then click on 'Check under Error Checking. The scan will run
• Here you will see a 'Repair This Drive' option. Click on it after the scan has completed fixing the errors on the drive.

You will have successfully recovered all the data from the corrupted disk and fixed it.

3. Running a thorough disk check

Here are some of the steps that you can follow to run a rigorous Disk Check.

• First, open the affected PC or computer. On the hard drive, right-click and select properties.
• After that, click on Tools, then Tab Error checking. An option of 'Check now' will appear. Click on it.

• Here you are now required to click on Check local disk followed by Start.
• After that, close all the programs that were previously running or open. After that, select the 'let system check upon the next boot' option.
• After all, this, restart the computer or PC.

One thing to note and take seriously is that Windows can display a prompt to format the corrupt drive if it is unable to connect it or turn on the system. If this appears, always click CANCEL and never click FORMAT since this will result in a permanent data loss, as discussed earlier.

Conclusion

Corruption and damage to the hard drive are among the most common reasons why data is lost all across the globe. It is a logical issue. However, safeguarding your hard drive from this corruption by following the given guidelines. As we have also seen, you can be able to get back crucial data without formatting the drive. Also, good data recovery software such as RECOVERIT DATA RECOVERY, have been availed to ensure that your data is always safe and cant be lost. It is easy to use and can recover all your data and files safely and completely. Isn't that amazing?