iDriveRepair Software download free

iDriveRepair™ is a utility for remote hard drive repair (Internet-based repair). It's non-invasive and we resurrect your drive so your system BIOS can see the drive again. Repairing a failed hard disk drive allows you to recover the data without the need of sending the disk in for professional data recovery service.

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Disk Checker Download

Disk Checker is a hard drive monitoring/repairing tool for Windows. It is even more of a suite of tools that allow you to scan your hard disks for errors. Disc Checker will even tell you what files are located on sectors with errors, so you can delete or maybe save them. Furthermore, the application has the ability to create disc images in an array of formats.

Pros:

• S.M.A.R.T support.
• Works locally and on network shares.
• Good reports.
• Gives you file names corresponding to damaged sectors.

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IsoBuster Download

ISOBuster is intended to recover lost data from multiple types of storage media, including discs, memory cards, external hard disks, etc. Its main advantage over similar tools is that it supports practically all file systems. In fact, it is said to use its own method to retrieve data independently of the file system supported by a particular operating system.

Pros:

• It is very easy to use.
• It is very effective.
• It works independently of the file system.
• It can save the recovery results as an image file.

Cons:

• During installation, it prompts you to download other applications.

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SoftAmbulance Partition Doctor

Rescue as much data as possible from seriously corrupted file systems and hard drives in dangerous conditions without requiring any specific skills. Automatically fix and restore files, folders, partitions and records such as NTFS, FAT, MFT and MBR.

EASEUS Data Recovery Wizard Professional

EASEUS Data Recovery Wizard Professional is a powerful yet easy to use solution that allows you to recover almost any type of lost files from servers, desktops, laptops, iPods etc. This incredible application enables you to retrieve any file from devices with unknown file systems including Hard Disk, external ZIP/USB drive,removable SmartMedia, etc.

Pros:

• Easy to use.
• Simple and intuitive user interface.
• Especially designed for corporate and business users.
• Recovers EXT2 and EXT3 files or files from Dynamic Disk

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How to repair damaged hard disks?

WARNING THIS METHOD EVENTUALLY DESTROYS THE DRIVE
-------------------------------------------------

If the drive spins up or makes some funny noises (even in some cases where it dont spin up).

I would try this as a last resort once you have got another hard drive.
1. Place the affected HDD in the freezer and leave for several hours. This causes certain metal parts that could cause the drive to jam to contract.
2. Boot up the computer with both the new HDD and the cold hdd. Start copying files quickly, the old HDD will run for about an hour at maximum. Afterward the drive is likely to be useless afterwards, but it will give you a chance to get your data off the drive.

I personally have not used this method, but I have a friend who did, it was meantioned in a copy of PCgamer and a UK computer magazine. I will try to dig up the article if you need it.

Seagate HDD Now With Disaster Recovery Services

By Douglas PerryAugust 9, 2011 7:00 AM - Source: Seagate

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Seagate is bundling two years of data recovery services with is new GoFlex Turbo Performance Drive models.

The new GoFlex is available in two flavors, with 500 GB capacity for $120 and with 750 GB capacity for $140. The "Performance" part of the name stems from the fact that these USB 3.0 drives rotate their platters with 7200 RPM, and not with 5400 RPM as their USB 2.0 siblings do.

However, the big news in those drives is Seagate's decision to bundle them with SafetyNet, which is a 2-year subscription to a data recovery service. Seagate considers the service as a bonus that provides "peace of mind" as far as the data security is concerned. I am not sure how much of a buying incentive the recovery service really is, but could be bringing in fence sitters who are storing valuable data on those drives - even if the SafetyNet program may not be exactly what you would want to have access to in the case of sudden data loss. According to the terms of the program, customers have to call Seagate, talk to a tech rep, who then determines if the case is eligible for data recovery service and whether any data is likely to be recovered. The drive may have to be shipped to Seagate and you may have to wait two weeks until you get your drive and data, if it is recoverable, back.

A hard drive can fail at any time, but the industry tells us that the risk of a failure dramatically increases after about five years of operation, at which a data recovery service may really be something you would want to invest in (or buy a new hard drive). Personally, I always found hard drive failures (I had plenty of them over the past 15 years) a pain in the neck to deal with and the more recent ones ended up at a local data recovery service, which was able to recover my data (not always in its entirety) within a few hours and less than $100 per case.

iMac 1TB Seagate Hard Drive Replacement Program

Apple has determined that certain Seagate 1TB hard drives used in 21.5-inch and 27-inch iMac systems may fail. These systems were sold between October 2009 and July 2011.

Apple or an Apple Authorized Service Provider (AASP) will replace affected hard drives free of charge.

Apple is contacting affected iMac owners who provided a valid email address during the product registration process to let them know about this program. If you have not been contacted, but think you have a 1TB Seagate hard drive, you can enter your serial number below to see if it's part of this program. 

Replacement Process

If your iMac has an affected hard drive, please choose one of the options below to get it replaced:

• Apple Retail Store - Set up an appointment with a Genius.
• Apple Authorized Service Provider - Find one here.
• Apple Technical Support - Contact us for local service options.

Apple recommends replacing affected hard drives as soon as possible. Before you go in for service, please back up your data. Learn more about backup options.

Additional Information

You will need to have the original OS installation discs that were shipped with your product in order to re-install your operating system, other applications and any backed up data after your hard drive is replaced.

If you believe you have paid for a repair or replacement due to this issue, contact Apple regarding a refund.

This worldwide Apple program does not extend the standard warranty coverage of the iMac.

The program covers affected iMacs for three years after the first retail sale of the unit or until April 12, 2013, whichever provides longer coverage for you. Apple will continue to evaluate service data and will provide further updates to this program as needed.

Government Most Data Recovery Program

Because of the US Government's high security demands, Hard Disk Recovery Services follows all mandate procedures to assure security during our data recovery services. As an additional benefit to Government Organizations, we offer the ability to pay via GSA Schedule. We also accept most major credit cards.

Your Data Recovery Options

Every data recovery situation is unique, and Hard Disk Recovery Services understands that there are solutions that best suit each situation. We offer our advice and let the customer decide which option is best for them.

Perhaps our customized software will suit for data recovery needs. Complete with thorough, user friendly instructions our software offers an effective and efficient method by which to solve most minor problems.

Remote or Software Data Recovery

Other situations may call for a remote link or internet connection with one of our technicians to enter your system from our own labs. This option guarantees timely and accurate results, and avoids the nuisance of dismantling your system or removeing your hard drive. And finally, in severe circumstance send your hard drive to our clean room labs and we will use all our state-of-the-art technology and experience to solve your crisis.

Advanced Computer Data Services

For our Government clients, HDRS offers a number of data recovery related service solutions. Media and Data Conversion With this service, old data can be transferred or converted to updated or alternative formats. These conversions allow data to be accessed faster and easier saving you time and money. Both your system speed increases and storage space is increased by using our secure conversion services.

Hard Disk Declassification and Data Destruction

Hard Disk Recovery Services technicians take great measures to ensure that sensitive data on discarded and non-functioning disk drives and other media is effectively and completely destroyed, enabling clients to reuse, discard or return their drives under warranty.

Computer Forensics

Hard Disk Recovery Services is a leader in the data recovery and computer forensics industry. Our computer forensic specialists are highly trained in collecting, analyzing, organizing, and producing electronic evidence for use in civil or criminal cases.

Data recovery solutions

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.

Data recovery is the process of salvaging data from damaged, failed, corrupted, or inaccessible secondary storage media when it cannot be accessed normally. Often the data are being salvaged from storage media such as internal or external hard disk drives, solid-state drives (SSD), USB flash drive, storage tapes, CDs, DVDs, RAID, and other electronics. Recovery may be required due to physical damage to the storage device or logical damage to the file system that prevents it from being mounted by the host operating system.

The most common "data recovery" scenario involves an operating system (OS) failure (typically on a single-disk, single-partition, single-OS system), in which case the goal is simply to copy all wanted files to another disk. This can be easily accomplished using a Live CD, many of which provide a means to mount the system drive and backup disks or removable media, and to move the files from the system disk to the backup media with a file manager or optical disc authoring software. Such cases can often be mitigated by disk partitioning and consistently storing valuable data files (or copies of them) on a different partition from the replaceable OS system files.^[1]

Another scenario involves a disk-level failure, such as a compromised file system or disk partition, or a hard disk failure. In any of these cases, the data cannot be easily read. Depending on the situation, solutions involve repairing the file system, partition table or master boot record, or hard disk recovery techniques ranging from software-based recovery of corrupted data, hardware-software based recovery of damaged service areas (also known as the hard drive's "firmware"), to hardware replacement on a physically damaged disk. If hard disk recovery is necessary, the disk itself has typically failed permanently, and the focus is rather on a one-time recovery, salvaging whatever data can be read.

In a third scenario, files have been "deleted" from a storage medium. Typically, the contents of deleted files are not removed immediately from the drive; instead, references to them in the directory structure are removed, and the space they occupy is made available for later overwriting. In the meantime, the original file contents remain, often in a number of disconnected fragments, and may be recoverable.

The term "data recovery" is also used in the context of forensic applications or espionage, where data which has been encrypted or hidden, rather than damaged, is recovered.^[2]

Contents

• 1 Physical damage
  • 1.1 Recovery techniques
    • 1.1.1 Hardware repair
• 2 Logical damage
  • 2.1 Corrupt partitions and filesystems, media errors
  • 2.2 Overwritten data
• 3 Remote data recovery
• 4 Four phases
• 5 See also
• 6 References
• 7 Further reading
• 8 External links

Physical damage

A wide variety of failures can cause physical damage to storage media. CD-ROMs can have their metallic substrate or dye layer scratched off; hard disks can suffer any of several mechanical failures, such as head crashes and failed motors; tapes can simply break. Physical damage always causes at least some data loss, and in many cases the logical structures of the file system are damaged as well. Any logical damage must be dealt with before files can be salvaged from the failed media.

Most physical damage cannot be repaired by end users. For example, opening a hard disk drive in a normal environment can allow airborne dust to settle on the platter and become caught between the platter and the read/write head, causing new head crashes that further damage the platter and thus compromise the recovery process. Furthermore, end users generally do not have the hardware or technical expertise required to make these repairs. Consequently, data recovery companies are often employed to salvage important data.

Recovery techniques

Recovering data from physically damaged hardware can involve multiple techniques. Some damage can be repaired by replacing parts in the hard disk. This alone may make the disk usable, but there may still be logical damage. A specialized disk-imaging procedure is used to recover every readable bit from the surface. Once this image is acquired and saved on a reliable medium, the image can be safely analyzed for logical damage and will possibly allow much of the original file system to be reconstructed.

Hardware repair

A common misconception is that a damaged printed circuit board (PCB) may be replaced during recovery procedures by an identical PCB from a healthy drive. While this may work in rare circumstances on hard drives manufactured before 2003, it will not work on newer hard drives. Each hard drive has what is called a System Area. This portion of the drive, which is not accessible to the end user, contains adaptive data that helps the drive operate within normal parameters. One function of the System Area is to log defective sectors within the drive; essentially telling the hard drive where it can and cannot write data. The sector lists are also stored on various chips attached to the PCB, and they are unique to each hard drive. If the data on the PCB does not match what is stored on the platter, then the drive will not calibrate properly. ^[3] In most cases the hard drive heads will click, because they are unable to find the data matching what is stored on the PCB

Logical damage

Result of a failed data recovery from a hard disk drive.

The term "logical damage" refers to situations in which the error is not a problem in the hardware and requires software-level solutions.

Corrupt partitions and filesystems, media errors

In some cases, data on a hard drive can be unreadable due to damage to the partition table or filesystem, or to (intermittent) media errors. In the majority of these cases, at least a portion of the original data can be recovered by repairing the damaged partition table or filesystem using specialized data recovery software such as Testdisk; software like dd_rescue can image media despite intermittent errors, and image raw data when there is partition table or filesystem damage. This type of data recovery can be performed by people without expertise in drive hardware, as it requires no special physical equipment or access to platters. Sometimes data can be recovered using relatively simple methods and tools; more serious cases can require expert intervention, particularly if parts of files are irrecoverable. Data carving is the recovery of parts of damaged files using knowledge of their structure.^[4]

Overwritten data

See also: Data erasure

When data has been physically overwritten on a hard disk drive it is generally assumed that the previous data is no longer possible to recover. In 1996, Peter Gutmann, a computer scientist, presented a paper that suggested overwritten data could be recovered through the use of magnetic force microscope.^[5] In 2001, he presented another paper on a similar topic.^[6] Substantial criticism has followed, primarily dealing with the lack of any concrete examples of significant amounts of overwritten data being recovered.^[7][8] Although Gutmann's theory may be correct, there is no practical evidence that overwritten data can be recovered, while research has shown to support that overwritten data cannot be recovered.^{[specify][9][10][11]} To guard against this type of data recovery, Gutmann and Colin Plumb designed a method of irreversibly scrubbing data, known as the Gutmann method and used by several disk-scrubbing software packages.

Solid-state drives (SSD) overwrite data differently than hard disk drives (HDD) which makes at least some of their data easier to recover. Most SSDs use flash memory to store data in pages and blocks, referenced by logical block addresses (LBA) which are managed by the flash translation layer (FTL). When the FTL modifies a sector it writes the new data to another location and updates the map so the new data appears at the target LBA. This leaves the pre-modification data in place, with possibly many generations, and recoverable by data recovery software.^[12]

Remote data recovery

It is not always necessary for experts to have physical access to the damaged drive; where data can be recovered by software techniques, they can often be used remotely, with an expert using a computer at another location linked by an Internet or other connection to equipment at the fault site.

Remote recovery requires a stable connection of adequate bandwidth. However, it is not applicable where access to the hardware is required, as for cases of physical damage.

Four phases

It is important to understand the four phases of data recovery. Each phase stands for different level and range of data recovery capabilities, each phase requires different hdd repair tools and data recovery tools to work with and each phase must be treated properly to make sure the maximum data is finally to be recovered.^[13]

• Phase 1: Repair the hard drive
• Phase 2: Image the drive to a new drive.
• Phase 3: Logical recovery of files, partition, MBR, and MFT.
• Phase 4: Repair the damaged files that were retrieved.

See also

• Backup
• Cleanroom
• Computer forensics
• Continuous data protection
• Data archaeology
• Data loss
• Error detection and correction
• File carving
• Hidden file and hidden directory
• Knowledge extraction
• List of data recovery software
• List of default file systems
• SystemRescueCD
• Windows To Go
• Undeletion

References

1. ^ "Data Recovery Solutions". R3 Data Recovery. Retrieved 13 October 2012.
2. ^ "Computer Forensics Schools and Training". Legal-Criminal-Justice-Schools.com. Retrieved 13 October 2012.
3. ^ Swapping PCB's on Data Recovery Report
4. ^ Zeno, Keneth (27 September 2011). "How Does Data Recovery Work?". Data Recovery Box. Retrieved 29 February 2012.
5. ^ Secure Deletion of Data from Magnetic and Solid-State Memory, Peter Gutmann, Department of Computer Science, University of Auckland
6. ^ Data Remanence in Semiconductor Devices, Peter Gutmann, IBM T.J. Watson Research Center
7. ^ Feenberg, Daniel (14 May 2004). "Can Intelligence Agencies Read Overwritten Data? A response to Gutmann.". National Bureau of Economic Research. Retrieved 21 May 2008.
8. ^ Data Removal and Erasure from Hard Disk Drives
9. ^ "Disk Wiping - One Pass is Enough". Anti-Forensics. 17 March 2009.
10. ^ "Disk Wiping - One Pass is Enough - Part 2 (this time with screenshots)". Anti-Forensics. 18 March 2009.
11. ^ Wright, Dr. Craig (15 January 2009). "Overwriting Hard Drive Data".
12. ^ "Data Recovery Possible on Securely Erased SSDs". Retrieved 22 November 2011.
13. ^ "Four Phases Of Data Recovery". datarecoverytools4u.com. Retrieved 18 March 2013.

Further reading

• Tanenbaum, A. & Woodhull, A. S. (1997). Operating Systems: Design And Implementation, 2nd ed. New York: Prentice Hall.

External links

• Data recovery at the Open Directory Project

Three common hard drive problems and you can fix this problem

If any hard drive fails, many users have a pretty simple knee-jerk reaction: how can I fix it?

The trouble is, hard drive problems usually can't be fixed by their owners. That's why data recovery companies exist. But many users don't listen to this; they try crazy stuff with hard drives, and end up ruining their chances of data recovery.

Here are some common hard drive problems that a typical computer user might face-and why the typical computer user has absolutely no chance of fixing them.

-: Head Crash :-
 

What it is: When a drive fails, sometimes the heads the read the information come into physical contact with the platters which contain the information. This is called a "head crash", which is where the term "hard drive crash" comes from. It's one of the more common problems a hard drive experiences and typically is accompanied by a clicking sound or a scraping sound. It's really important that if this happens, you don't try to run the drive any further, as that may cause additional damage.

Why you can't fix it: Head crashes require either the heads being manually reset or replaced (which requires a lot of training and a clean room, as the slightest contaminant will make the drive unrecoverable) or tinkering with the firmware on the board in very rare cases. Either way, a standard home computer isn't up to the job; just to attempt this on a single drive, you'll have to shell out tens of thousands of dollars, and even then the chances of a successful recovery are infinitesimal compared to the chances a professional data recovery company would have.

-: Electronics Damage :-

What it is: Exactly what it sounds like. Physical or electrical damage to the electronic PCB board of a hard drive.

Why you can't fix it: A common misconception is that the PCB boards of two similar drives are the same, but the PCB often contains a drive's specific firmware. Therefore, a PCB swap requires some soldering, a very precise knowledge of PCB components, and occasionally even some work with microcode; and that's if the board failure didn't cause any other problems with the drive (board failures usually do). Data recovery companies can handle this.

-: Stuck Spindle :-

What it is: The spindle of a hard drive, which spins the platters under the heads, locks up and won't move. Usually you hear a whining sound of some sort. This can be a very dangerous problem, because the chances of the platters being damaged are very high.

Why you can't fix it: There's an old data recovery myth that says that putting the drive in a freezer can help the spindle get unstuck, and actually, it does occasionally work. However, there are far more instances of the "freezer method" causing irreparable damage to hard drives, either through condensation, platter damage, or a variety of other problems. Plus, if it's the type of error that can be solved with a Kenmore refrigerator, a data recovery company that has any sort of reputability isn't going to cost very much.

The one hard drive problem you can fix is data loss. To quote your company's tech guy: back everything up. Don't stop backing your data up. Get into the habit. All of these drive problems cost hundreds and even thousands of dollars if you need a data recovery company to pull your data for you; if you just need the drive replaced, however, it's usually going to be less than a hundred bucks (depending on the size, make, and model of the hard drive, of course).

The moral is not to try do-it-yourself methods with hard drive data recovery; the technology just isn't user serviceable.

Hard Drive Failure, Warnings and Solutions

Sooner or later, all hard drives crash. It is only a matter of when. When it happens, the degree of sweat and tears you experience is directly related to how prepared you were for it to begin with. Backing up your data is important. I even have two computers which are set up almost identically so that if the drive on one of my machines dies, I don’t lose any work time or data. Preparation is the best medicine, but this stuff happens anyway.

-: Warning Signs :-

In some cases, you start to see signs of a problem before the drive up and dies on you. Early warning signs include:

1. Computer freezes often. When it happens, the mouse cursor is unmovable and keyboard input is ignored. Nothing works and a restart is required to recover the computer.
2. Files Mysterious disappearing.
3. Frequent lock-up during booting. I say “frequent” because all computers will freeze every now and then and it doesn’t necessarily mean the drive is failing. You’re looking for a pattern here.
4. File access mysteriously slows to a turtle’s pace. Saving files or open files simply takes forever.

These are typical warning signs of a pending drive failure. When you start to see a noticeable increase in these patterns, backing up your data needs to take top priority. Otherwise you really are playing Russian roulette with your hard drive.

-: Signs of Real Failure :-

When the drive actually fails, it is a mechanical failure. Many times you will actually hear the drive making strange metallic noises. This is the read/write head thrashing around aimlessly and indicates failure. When your system has a crashed hard drive, it will not be able to boot. You may even get a blue screen of death.

Hard drive failure is a black and white thing. If the drive is working at all, you have a drive which is about to fail and is exhibiting the above warning signs in varying degrees. Once actual failure occurs, it just doesn’t work.

-: Diagnostics :-

The first thing to do is run through some inspection of the computer to see if this is indeed a drive failure. Here is a basic checklist. Now, if the PC was working fine and then just stopped working, chances are these items are not the case.

1. Check to ensure the power cable is properly connected to the drive.
2. Check to be sure the data cable is properly connected to the drive.
3. If it is an IDE drive, ensure the ribbon cable is aligned properly. Red edge of the cable is aligned with Pin 1 of the connector on the drive. Pin 1 is closest to the power plug, typically.
4. Master/slave assignment is correctly set if this is an IDE drive.

Once the physical connections have been verified, it’s good to see if the computer can even see the drive at all. If this is an IDE drive, go into the computer’s BIOS and have it auto-detect the drive. If it can detect it, then we know we have a solid connection. It doesn’t mean the drive is good, just that the BIOS can see it.

Using a bootable diskette for your anti-virus program, reboot and run a scan on the drive. It will scan the drive, including the boot partition, for viruses. If it finds anything, let it do it’s job. If it is able to successfully scan the drive at all, the drive is at least still working.

Use a third-party disk management program or simply FDISK to view the partitions on the drive. If no active partitions are found, then you know the partitions are screwed up. Unfortunately, that would be bad news. You can try a data recovery utility (see below) to recover the data. Otherwise, you will need to re-partition the drive and lose your data in the process.

You may want to run a ScanDisk or Check Disk on the drive. This is best if the drive is functioning partially. If you have a full mechanical failure, nothing will work. If some data is retrievable but others are not, then we have a partial failure. Try running Scandisk or Check Disk to scan the drive. Allow it to perform a full scan and fix anything it finds.

-: Yep, It’s Gone. Now What? :-

Well, first off, my heart goes out to you. If you didn’t use backups, you just lost a bunch of data. If you did, you are minimally looking at the annoying experience of having to set up the entire computer again.

Either way, you will need a new hard drive. Once installed, you set up the new hard drive as usual and re-install all your software. You then restore all your backups and you (hopefully) are good to go. Just trash the old drive. The data is not retrievable in most cases which means that throwing it away with your data on it is not really a risk.

-: Data Recovery :-

Too commonly people lose a hard drive that had data on it that was not backed up. These are the people who are then scrambling for ways to recover the data from a crashed hard drive. In some cases, this can be done. You should know up front, though, that it is going to cost you some money. Perhaps a lot of money. As of now, a quick Google search shows typical price ranges between $300 and $400. It isn’t cheap and you need to weigh out the cost of the service versus the cost of losing the data.

The art of data recovery depends solely on the nature of the drive failure. For example, if the electronics of the drive died but the mechanics are OK, then replacing the electronic board can revive the drive. Also, if the read/write head died but the platters still spin and are intact, then the data is still there. A new read/write head is needed to get the data.

The first thing would be to have your drive evaluated by a data recovery service. Since data recovery is very custom to the nature of the failure, prices vary.

-: Software Options :-

And since I know people will ask, no, there is no software utility out there that can recover data from a crashed hard drive. If the drive is not really crashed, then perhaps a disk utility can help you recover something. But, a true crash is a problem with the drive itself, and no software can overcome that one.

The data recovery software one finds when searching for it is designed to recover from accidental deletes or corrupted file structure. If these thing happen, there is a chance you can recover it on your own. Once the drive actually dies, though, your only option is to use a data recovery service.

External harddisk problem solving solutions

External harddisk problem solving solutions

-: Issue :-

My external hard disk's one folder is not accessible, when I click that folder one message box appear & some message written there such as - "Software" (a folder) is not accessible. The file or directory is corrupted and unreadable". This problem was happened when I was scanning my hard disk by an antivirus & that time my computer was not responding, so that time I opened directly the USB connection of hard disk from CPU. Then this problem is occurred and now that folder is showing that it is empty. 

 

-: Solution :-

I had this problem since last week, and I thought that I lost all my data which was on my Ext HDD. So... the solution is to easy just right click on your dead drive and go to the properties you must click on Scan and fix errors then restart your computer ( don't unplug your Ext HDD or Dead drive let it be connected ) it will fix everything automatically. It is not something to worry.

Resolving hard disk drive problems

Note: The RAS storage node menus can be useful for identifying the correct disk for maintenance. For additional information, refer to the IBM SONAS RAS menus

 

• Follow the suggested actions for a Symptom in the order in which they are listed in the Action column until the problem is solved.
• All components are field replaceable units (FRU) and all steps must be performed only by a trained service technician. 

A hard disk drive has failed and the associated amber hard disk drive status LED is lit.

Replace the failed hard disk drive. See Removing a hot-swap hard disk drive and Installing a hot-swap hard disk drive.

An installed hard disk drive is not recognized.

1. Observe the associated amber hard disk drive status LED. If the LED is lit, it indicates a drive fault.
2. If the LED is lit, remove the drive from the bay, wait 45 seconds, then reinsert the drive, ensuring that the drive assembly connects to the hard disk drive backplane.
3. Observe the associated green hard disk drive activity LED and the amber status LED:
   • If the green activity LED is flashing and the amber status LED is not lit, the drive is recognized by the controller and is working correctly. Run the DSA hard disk drive test to determine whether the drive is detected.
   • If the green activity LED is flashing and the amber status LED is flashing slowly, the drive is recognized by the controller and is rebuilding.
   • If neither LED is lit or flashing, check the hard disk drive backplane (go to step 4).
   • If the green activity LED is flashing and the amber status LED is lit, replace the drive. If the activity of the LEDs remains the same, go to step 4. If the activity of the LEDs changes, return to step 1.
4. Ensure that the hard disk drive backplane is correctly seated. When it is correctly seated, the drive assemblies correctly connect to the backplane without bowing or causing movement of the backplane.
5. Move the hard disk drives to different bays to determine if the drive or the backplane is not functioning.
6. Re-seat the backplane power cable and repeat steps 1 through 3.
7. Re-seat the backplane signal cable and repeat steps 1 through 3.
8. Suspect the backplane signal cable or the backplane:
   • If the server has eight hot-swap bays:
     1. Replace the affected backplane signal cable.
     2. Replace the affected backplane.
   • If the server has 12 hot-swap bays:
     1. Replace the backplane signal cable.
     2. Replace the backplane.
     3. Replace the SAS expander card.
9. Run the DSA tests for the SAS controller and hard disk drives:
   • If the controller passes the test but the drives are not recognized, replace the backplane signal cable and run the tests again.
   • Replace the backplane.
   • If the controller fails the test, disconnect the backplane signal cable from the controller and run the tests again.
   • If the controller fails the test, replace the controller.
   
   
   Multiple hard disk drives fail.
   
    Ensure that the hard disk drive, SAS RAID controller, and server device drivers and firmware are of the latest version.
   Important: Some cluster solutions require specific code levels or coordinated code updates. If the device is part of a cluster solution, check whether the latest code version is supported before you update the code. Refer to Upgrade provider information.
   Multiple hard disk drives are offline.
   
   
   Review the storage subsystem logs for indications of problems within the storage subsystem, such as backplane or cable problems.
   A replacement hard disk drive does not rebuild.
   
   
   1. Ensure that the hard disk drive is recognized by the controller (the green hard disk drive activity LED is flashing).
   2. Review the SAS RAID controller documentation to determine the correct configuration parameters and settings.
   
   A green hard disk drive activity LED does not accurately represent the actual state of the associated drive.
   
   
   1. If the green hard disk drive activity LED does not flash when the drive is in use, run the DSA disk drive test. Refer to the "Diagnostics" or “Running the diagnostic programs” section in Troubleshooting the System x3650 server.
   2. Use one of the following procedures:
      • If the drive passes the test, replace the backplane.
      • If the drive fails the test, replace the drive. 
   
   An amber hard disk drive status LED does not accurately represent the actual state of the associated drive. 
   
   If the amber hard disk drive LED and the RAID controller software do not indicate the same status for the drive, complete the following steps:
   1. Turn off the server.
   2. Re-seat the SAS controller.
   3. Re-seat the backplane signal cable, backplane power cable, and SAS expander card (if the server has 12 drive bays).
   4. Re-seat the hard disk drive.
   5. Turn on the server and observe the activity of the hard disk drive LEDs.

How to repair hard disk drive? How to eliminate displayed hard disk problems?

There are different kind of hard disk problems you may experience. At first, if Hard Disk Sentinel shows suggestions about improving the situation (for example by changing/improving the data and power cables and connections, verify power supply, improve cooling) it is recommended to do it prior any further steps.

Then it is important to verify if the hard disk status is stable and there are no further problems with the hard disk surface which would need to be corrected. Please check How can I perform a deep analysis? section for details about using the tests in Hard Disk Sentinel (PRO) software to reveal and fix hard disk problems and making the hard disk surface more stable.

If the hard disk surface test completes successfully, without reporting any errors (even if the health is lower than 100% and bad sectors are displayed in the text description), these bad sectors are no longer used by the hard disk. Instead, a spare area is used for all reads and writes targeting those bad sectors. This means that disk surface tests (even the tests in Hard Disk Sentinel) does not access those sectors, but tests the remaining data area and the spare area - this is why only "green" (perfect) blocks reported:

By using the test, you verified that the currently used data area is error-free, there seems no further errors reported (no weak, damaged sectors, no further problems).

Clearing reported errors

In this case, you can manually acknowledge the reported problems in Hard Disk Sentinel, to clear the error(s) reported from the text description and restore the health to 100%. That way the software will no longer display these problems, just reports any possible new problems, errors (if will happen in the future).

To do this, please open the S.M.A.R.T. page of the hard disk in Hard Disk Sentinel. Locate the attribute(s) marked with yellow exclamation mark (!) and check the number reported in the "Data" field (or the number of errors displayed in the text description). Please enter the same value but with negative sign to the "Offset" column in the appropriate row. It is possible that two or more attribute(s) are marked, then you would need to perform these steps with all affected attributes.

For example, consider the text description of the following hard disk drive (90% health):

There are 8 bad sectors on the disk surface.
The contents of these sectors were moved to the spare area.

And it's SMART. panel-

On the S.M.A.R.T. panel, you may see that attribute "5 Reallocated sectors count" is marked and the data column is 0008, then you should specify "-8" in the offset column for that attribute. Also the attribute "196 Reallocation Event Count" is affected, there you should specify "-4" in the offset column, like on this image:

Notice that the yellow exclamation marks are eliminated, the current health restore to 100%, and the text description changes as well:

The hard disk status is PERFECT.
Problematic or weak sectors were not found and there are no spin up or data transfer errors.

Please note that the "Data" column is displayed as hexadecimal, so you may need to right click and select "Decimal data field" prior using the offset. For example if you see "0022" (hexadecimal value) in the Data column, you should enter "-34" (in this case "34 bad sectors found ..." reported in the text description).

You may use Report -> Send test report to developer option, then we can check and advise about the proper values should be used for the different attributes.

If the offsets are set properly, the hard disk health should increase (and finally restore to 100%) and the reported errors will be cleared from the text description.

Hard disk problems

It is important to know that this is a "virtual" clearing of problems. It is not possible to completely eliminate (clear) the error-counters of a hard disk by any means, because the affected hard disk component (read/write heads, surface, etc.) not really replaced, just the working conditions are changed.

It is possible that (because of the errors were previously reported) in the future new problems may be reported. So it is recommended to use Hard Disk Sentinel for constant monitoring on these repaired hard disks and make backup and full testing again if the reported health start to decrease again (even with 1%).

For more information about bad sectors, please click on the "?" next to the text description and check I have bad sectors... and How can I perform a deep analysis? sections. You may also consider checking Hard disk cases about typical and special hard disk problems, their solutions.

Please note that if the hard disk has really high amount of problems (and the health % displayed is 0%) then the hard disk can't be repaired. When 0% health displayed, should ask for warranty replacement of the hard disk.

Is it possible to repair SSD, restore SSD health ?

In general even if the SSD is perfect (the text description shows no errors, no bad sectors/bad memory cells or similar problems), the health of the SSD may slowly but constantly decrease. This is caused by writes to the SSD and the fact that the memory cells tolerate only limited amount of overwrite passes.

The wear-leveling feature of the SSD tries to minimise this effect - but can't be totally eliminated.

Most SSDs have model-specific S.M.A.R.T. attribute(s) to indicate the general "health" of the SSD memory cells. For example, "209 Remaining Drive Life", "231 SSD life left" and so. (just select that attribute on the S.M.A.R.T. page, you can check how it changed over time on the graph below the list). These are identified by Hard Disk Sentinel and used to determine the actual health of the SSD.

If the health of the SSD decreases, it is possible that the data stored in the memory cells will become damaged or lost.

Because this is expected behaviour, it is not possible to "repair" or restore the health (the memory cells are not replaces with new ones).