Dealing with a crashed hard drive – physical and logic crashes discussed
When we refer to what is known as a crashed hard drive, we invariably think of a clicking clacking smoking device hidden somewhere deep inside our computer. While this may have been true twenty years ago, today, a crashed hard drive is more likely the result of lost data and is better named as a logic crash. This means that files in your computer’s operating system that are needed to access the stored files on your hard drive have been damaged and will no longer allow your operating system to load. In what could easily be referred to as a “Catch 22″ scenario, the damaged files which are needed to access your hard drive are also on the hard drive itself.
A crashed hard drive usually manifests itself as a Windows error message set on a bright blue background. Should you see this message, it is almost a good sign, as it informs you that your computer is not physically damaged, it merely needs to have Windows reloaded. Remember, before you can reload Windows, you must use a program for file recovery to access the faulty drive and save your files to a safe external location.
