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How to Perform Disk Photo Recovery

Wondershare Recoverit Authors

Jan 15, 2024 • Filed to: Photo/Video/Audio Solutions • Proven solutions

"I think my external hard disk has been corrupted as I can’t retrieve my saved photos. Someone please helps me perform a disk photo recovery!"

These days, a lot of people suffer from unexpected loss of their data, particularly photos. Since your photos can be one of the most important kinds of content, you should know how to perform the lost image recovery. To do it, you need to understand what causes data loss on a hard drive. In this post, we will cover the same and also provide a stepwise solution to perform disk photo recovery.

Part 1: Free Download Recoverit Photo Recovery

If you are looking for a secure and reliable way to perform disk photo recovery, then give Recoverit Photo Recovery a try. As the name suggests, the application is developed by Wondershare and provides a complete data recovery solution.

Recoverit Photo Recovery - Versatile Disk Photo Recovery Tool

  • The tool can perform disk photo recovery under different scenarios like virus attack, corrupt drive, lost partition, resized partition, inaccessible data, and so on.
  • It can recover photos of all the popular formats like JPG, JPEG, PNG, GIF, BMP, PSD, TIFF, and so much more. It can also recover videos, audios, files, etc.
  • You can perform photo recovery on both HDD and SSD hard drives. Furthermore, it supports photo recovery on all kinds of file systems like FAT, NTFS, HFS, APFS, etc.
  • You can perform photo recovery on the internal as well as an external hard disk or any other connected source like SD card, pen drive, and many other devices.
  • The application features a fast and sophisticated photo recovery and supports different recovery modes (like normal and deep scan).
  • It provides a preview of the recoverable photos so that you can restore them selectively.

Part 2: How to Restore Photos from a Hard Drive

You can download it on your Windows or Mac from here. To perform a lost image recovery using Recoverit Photo Recovery, you can simply follow these easy instructions.

Now, you need to simply select the location where you wish to perform lost image recovery. Select the hard disk and click on the "Start" button to commence the process.

select a disk for photo recovery

1Sit back and wait for a while as the disk photo recovery software would start scanning the selected location. Just make sure that the application is not closed during the process.

2If you are not satisfied with the results of a normal scan, then click on the "All-Around Recovery" option instead. While it will take more time, the results would also be better.

disk photo recovery scan process

Once the scanning is finished, you will be notified. Now, you can just preview the recovered photos on the interface. Select the ones you wish to get back and click on the "Recover" button to retrieve them.

disk photo recovery

It is recommended to restore them to a safe location. For instance, if your hard disk has been corrupted, then restore them to any other secure location instead.

Explore the complete recovery process for lost photos on camera: Recover lost pictures from the camera.
- 2 minutes to read it.

Part 3: How Are Photos Stored on Hard Disks?

After taking the assistance of Recoverit Photo Recovery, you would be able to perform lost image recovery like a pro. However, if you want to learn more about disk photo recovery, it is important to understand how data is stored on a hard disk first.

1. Common Types of Hard Drives

Ideally, hard drives can be distinguished in different ways. For instance, you can categorize them by how it is connected to the system or the way it is encoded.

Based on connectivity
  • Internal Hard Disks: An internal hard disk is the one that is connected to a system internally and is considered as its primary storage.
  • External Hard Disks: As the name suggests, it is connected externally mostly via a USB cable to a system. It is often used to expand a system’s storage or take data backup.
Based on its construction
  • Hard Disk Drives (HDD): It consists of several magnetic disks mounted one over another with a reading/writing head. They are cheaper and slower in processing.
  • Solid State Drives (SSD): Instead of magnetic disks, they have flash chips (like a pen drive). While they are more expensive, they have a faster processing speed.
Based on encoding
  • Most of the hard drives depend on RLL (Run Length Limited), but the encoding method might vary.
  • The encoding method can be Serial ATA, RAID, Serial Attached SCSI, PATA (Parallel Advanced Technology Attachment), and so on.
Based on the file system
  • The way hard drives store data can also be different.
  • Some common file systems are FAT, exFAT, NTFS, HFS, APFS, etc.
  • This would majorly depend on the operating system too.

hard disk construction

2. How do Hard Disks work?

Ideally, the working principle of a hard disk would vary in its construction. For instance, an SSD consists of various flash drive storage units. When we try to write data on an SSD, a particular location is allocated to it and later it is extracted.

Though, HDD (Hard Disk Drives) is quite different. Since they are pretty cheap, they are mostly used as a primary storage unit in computers. An HDD consists of various magnetic disks that are mounted one over another. The data isn’t stored randomly but in a well-arranged manner.

how do hard disks work

Each disk is divided into different concentric tracks and equal sectors. Their intersection makes clusters. Therefore, data is written into these clusters in such a way that its retrieval would be easier.

3. How are Photos Stored on Hard Disks?

When it comes to an SSD, photos are usually stored in a basic linear format. Though, in HDDs, photos are stored in the data clusters. The disk has a reading and a writing head. While storing a photo, the writing head encodes the data on the disk as the spindle rotates it.

Also, once the actual data is written on the hard disk, its location is stored in a memory table. When we try to access the photo, the computer will first lookup its memory table so that the reading head will know where the data is stored.

how are photos are stored on hard disks


Part 4: How Do Photos Get Lost from Hard Disk?

While performing disk photo recovery, you can see that there could be different ways for your photos to become corrupt or inaccessible. Before you perform a lost image recovery, try to diagnose the problem first.

Here are some common reasons for photos to get lost or become inaccessible from hard disks.

Malware attack: This is one of the most common reasons for causing data loss in a system. A virus or malware can attack your data or the storage unit and make it inaccessible. To avoid this, it is recommended to use an anti-malware tool.
Input/output device error: Sometimes, the system is not able to read or access the hard disk. It usually happens when the file system becomes outdated or has been corrupted.

device error

Corrupt or lost partition: It happens when a particular partition of the hard disk is damaged. At times, the entire partition is lost as well and all the data stored in it becomes inaccessible.
Physical damage: Needless to say, if the hard disk has been physically damaged, then it can lead to unexpected data loss as well. A magnet can also cause data loss on magnetic disks/tapes too.
Drive not recognized: This usually happens when we try to connect an external hard disk to the system. There could be a problem with your system’s firewall, hard disk encoding, the port, or even a BIOS dysfunction. Try to connect the disk to any other system to further diagnose this.

hard drive not recognized

Corrupt file system or data: As you know, a hard disk can be based on different file systems. While it might be rare, but a file system can get corrupt at times. Also, a third-party application or the abrupt halting of the data processing can make certain files corrupt too. For instance, if you are copying your photos and the system has been restarted in between, then it can make your data corrupt. (Check the solutions to repair corrupted files.)
Problems during repartitioning: A lot of users repartition their disk to retrieve photos. If the repartitioning process is halted in between, then it can cause serious damage to your hard disk and make it inaccessible.
Hard Drive Errors: Besides that, numerous other hard drive errors can cause damage to it. A processing unit crash, corrupt partition table, bad sectors, logical issues, mechanical problems, etc. are some of the major reasons for these errors to take place.

hard drive error


Part 5: Why Can Disk Photo Recovery Be Done?

After getting to know so much about hard disks and file systems, you must be wondering the same question – how disk photo recovery works? To understand this, remember how data is stored on a hard disk.

As stated above, the data is not directly accessed via its physical storage. There is a logical address table that stores the physical location of the data. While processing, the system will first access the location through a virtual storage table. This will let the computer know where to look for the data on the hard disk.

do disk photo recovery

When data is lost, deleted, or becomes inaccessible, it isn’t erased from the hard disk right away. Instead, its corresponding entry in the logical address table becomes accessible. This indicates the system that the particular location is now free to be overwritten while the existing data on it remains intact.

Therefore, if you act fast, then you can easily retrieve this data using a photo recovery tool. This is where Recoverit Photo Recovery can help you. It will extensively scan your hard disk and will retrieve all the data that might not be present in the logical table, but can still be accessed.

By following this guide, you can easily learn how to perform lost image recovery using Recoverit Photo Recovery. It is the best disk photo recovery tool for Windows and Mac out there. Since the application supports all kinds of file systems and disk types, it will come in handy to you on different occasions. It doesn’t matter if you have lost your photos on an internal or external hard disk, NTFS, or APFS – Recoverit will help you retrieve your lost data in no time without undergoing any unwanted hassle.

Follow the complete solutions on Camera video recovery.
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Eleanor Reed

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