How do I recover data from a crashed hard drive for free?
You can often recover usable data from a "crashed" drive at home if the damage is mild. Below is the exact ddrescue method we've recommended for years: grab the easy parts first, then carefully retry the hard parts. If it beeps, clicks, or isn't detected - stop and talk to a lab.
It's not "game over" just because your drive stopped booting. Many failures are limited to bad sectors or a weak area on the platters. With the right approach you can clone the readable parts to a healthy drive and then recover files from that clone.
Important: This only applies to mild failures. If the drive clicks, beeps, screeches, or isn't detected, powering it repeatedly can make recovery harder or impossible. In those cases, leave it to a lab.
Never open a hard drive at home! Opening a hard drive exposes it to microscopic dust particles and fingerprints that can destroy your data permanently. This is what happens when you attempt DIY disassembly.
Recover a dying drive at home -- without paying us
We'll use SystemRescue (a free Linux toolkit) and ddrescue to clone your failing drive (source) onto an equal-or-larger good drive (target). You'll then work from the clone, not the original.
What You'll Need
Gather these tools before starting the recovery process
Failing Hard Drive
Your source drive with the data to recover
Target Drive
Empty drive, equal or larger capacity
Cables/Adapter
SATA/USB dock or enclosure for connection
Step-by-Step Recovery Guide
Follow these steps carefully to maximize your chances of successful data recovery
1. Boot into SystemRescue
Plug in your SystemRescue USB drive and reboot your computer. On most PCs, press F12 or F11 during boot to access the boot menu. On Macs, hold the Option key and select the USB stick.
Select the default SystemRescue environment when prompted. You'll be dropped into a Linux command line interface.
2. Identify your source and target drives
Linux names drives differently than Windows. Use these commands to identify your drives. The source is your failing drive, and the target is your empty good drive.
Triple-check these drive names before proceeding - there's no undo! Writing to the wrong drive will destroy data.
3. First pass: grab the easy parts fast
This initial pass copies all the data that reads quickly and skips slow/bad regions. Replace /dev/sdX with your source drive and /dev/sdY with your target drive.
-n = no scraping yet (fast pass)-a 5120000 = skips regions reading slower than ~5 MB/slogfile.log = tracks progress for resuming4. Second pass: retry the hard areas
After the fast pass completes, we revisit the problematic areas with more patience. This command uses the same logfile to know what was already copied.
-d = direct disk access (bypasses cache)-r3 = retry up to 3 times on bad sectorslogfile.log = continues from where the fast pass left off5. Mount the clone and copy your files
Once ddrescue completes, safely remove the failing source drive. Mount your target drive (the clone) and copy your data to a third healthy drive. Always work on the clone, never the original.
Success! Mount the clone read-only if possible. If the file system appears corrupted, run repair tools on the clone only, not the original failing drive.
Critical Warnings
Read these carefully before proceeding
Drive Size Matters
Your target drive must be equal to or larger than the source drive. A smaller target will truncate your data.
Never Repair the Original
Do not run CHKDSK, Disk Utility "repairs," or any write operations on your failing drive. Work only on the clone.
Know When to Stop
Clicking, beeping, or "not detected" drives need professional clean-bench work. Repeated powering can destroy data.
Didn't work? We can help.
If ddrescue can't complete your cloning, you may have failed heads, firmware issues, or severe physical damage. Our Austin lab performs clean-bench head swaps and advanced recovery using professional equipment.
Heads-up: DIY attempts do add wear to the drive. If you plan to hire a professional lab, it's better to stop early than to grind the drive into the ground trying to recover it yourself.
See Professional Data Recovery in Action
Curious how we handle complex cases professionally? Here's a deep dive into recovering a Seagate Rosewood drive with head damage.