Common Windows generated hard disk drive error messages:
• "Serious Disk Error Writing Drive
<X>"
• "Data Error Reading Drive <X>"
• "Error Reading Drive <X>"
• "I/O Error"
• "Seek Error - Sector not found"
• "Hard Disk Drive Failure"
• "Primary Hard Disk Failure"
Other symptoms of hard disk drive failure / corruption:
• The hard disk does not appear in My
Computer or Windows Explorer
• The PC runs slowly, file access may take a long time or not
be possible, the PC may hang or bluescreen
• The hard disk drive is not recognised when the computer is
powered on
• The hard drive makes a regular ticking noise
Data Recovery Information:
Data loss on hard drives that run the Windows operating system will typically exhibit one or more of the symptoms above. In all cases it's important that the hard disk problem is diagnosed correctly, as an incorrect diagnosis can lead to the wrong procedures being followed when the recovery of data is attempted. This can lead to perfectly recoverable data being made unrecoverable.
Whether your data is recoverable depends on a number of factors including the nature of the hard disk problem, how much damage the data has sustained and if any previous recovery attempts have been made.