hard disk: How to repair hard disk?

hard drive: A hard Drive/disk is one of the most delicate components of a computer, as well as one of the most likely to be damaged more easily. I am obviously talking about the classic mechanical discs, the most modern ones SSD they are much more physically resilient, but they are also prone to software problems that can cause crashes, error screens, and other problems with your computer’s operating system.

If you find yourself dealing with situations like this and if you suspect that your PC’s hard drive – be it a mechanical drive or an SSD – has failed, don’t immediately think about the worst. Before thinking about replacing the Hard drive, you can in fact try to repair it and see if the problems you encounter are due to software errors.

hard drive: How do you say? Do you think you don’t have the necessary computer skills? Do not fear! By resorting to the use of special solutions available “standard” on Windows and macOS and using them following the instructions I am about to give you, succeeding is not impossible quite the contrary. Read on and put my directions on how to repair the Hard drive, hard disk of the computer to see if you can solve it yourself. In case of hardware problems, alas, the only way you can go will be to contact authorized centers. I wish you a bit of big good luck with everything!

How to fix a hard drive on Windows?

hard drive: If you are interested in understanding how to repair a hard drive and you are using Windows, know that you can use two solutions integrated into the famous Microsoft operating system for your purpose. In this case, I am referring to the error checking utility and to the “historian” ScanDisk, which has a user interface that facilitates disk repair work. Alternatively, you can use the Command Prompt, using specific commands. Let’s take a closer look at all three solutions.

Error checking utility

hard drive: How to repair hard drive ©Aranzulla

If your PC is equipped with Windows 8 or later Windows 11be aware that the disk check is done completely automatic directly from the operating system and, therefore, there should be no need to act manually (both in the case of mechanical disk and SSD).

However, nobody forbids you to manually check your PC’s hard drive. To do this, you simply need to start the file Explorer Windows, by clicking on the relevant icon (the one with the yellow folder) placed on the taskbar.

In the window on the desktop, open the menu This PC is located on the left bar by clicking on the button (⌵)right-click on the unit name that you want to consider (eg. Local Disk C:) and select the item Property from the menu that appears.

Finally, click on the tab Instruments located in the new window that is shown to you, click on the button Check it out and then click on the item Analyze units present in the box that opens. Now, all you have to do is wait for the operation to complete and for any errors detected by the control utility to be repaired.

ScanDisk

hard drive: How to repair hard drive ©Aranzulla

If, on the other hand, your computer is stopped at Windows 7 or previous versions of the Microsoft operating system (bad! These are obsolete and unsafe products!), the error checking utility available is called ScanDisk and it is very simple to use.

To be able to use it, click on the Start button (the one with the Windows logo) that you find on the taskbar and select the item Computer from the menu that opens.

Then right-click on the drive icon that you want to check and possibly repair (eg. Local disk (C 🙂) and, in the displayed menu, click on the item Property.

Now, select the tab Instrumentsclick the button Run ScanDisk and check the boxes Automatically fix file system errors And Look for bad sectors and attempt recovery.

To start the error search procedure and their eventual repair, click on the button Start and wait for the operation to complete. I already anticipate that the analysis procedure could take several minutes, so be patient. Ok?

Command Prompt

hard drive: How to repair hard drive ©Aranzulla

You can try to repair the hard drive on Windows also using the Command Prompt and, in this case, the command CHKDSK (short for CheckDisk, which in Italian can be translated as “check the disc). This command allows you to customize the execution of the disk check with some variables that can be useful if certain problems are encountered in repairing the disk.

To use it, start the Command Prompt: type the term “cmd” in the search bar Windows, right-click on the application name select the item Run as administrator from the menu that opens and confirm the operation by pressing the button Yup in the window that appears.

Once you have started the Command Promptgive the commands CHKDSK C: /F /R or CHKDSK C: /spotfix (only on Windows 8 and later) and press the key Enter keyboard. Then confirm the start of the disk check procedure when the PC restarts by typing the letter first S. and pressing the key again Enter.

As I told you before, there are also some variables that allow you to customize the execution of the disk check. Here are some that may be useful for solving any problems encountered during the hard disk repair procedure.

• /F – to repair errors on the disk.
• /R – to locate the bad sectors of the disk and recover the information present in them. To use it you have to use the variable / F.
• /V – to view the name and full path of all files on the disk (only for disks formatted with the FAT or FAT32 file system).
• /X – to forcibly unmount volumes. To use it, also in this case the use of the variable / F is required.
• /scan – to fix fixable errors without restarting the system (on Windows 8 and later versions only).
• /spotfix – to fix disk errors at the next system restart (on Windows 8 and later versions only).

If you would like more information on the use of these and other variables and, more generally, on the use of the CHKDSK command, I suggest you take a look at my specific guide. I am sure this reading will also be useful to you.

How to fix hard drive on Mac

Let us now pass to the world Mac and let’s find out how to fix the hard drive in that case. It’s that easy, don’t worry. To do this, you can use the default tool Disk Utility which also comes with a user interface, or you can act via the Terminal, then intervene from the command line. The choice is yours!

Disk Utility

hard drive: How to repair hard drive ©Aranzulla

To try to fix hard drive on Mac, be it mechanical or SSD, you can first use Disk Utility “standard” application available on macOS almost always and thanks to which it is possible to create and format disks, create disk images, and verify (as well as correct) the permissions of the hard disk.

To be able to use it, the first thing you need to do is start the utility, opening the Launchpadby clicking on the relevant icon (the one with I colored squares) that you find on the Dock brand selecting the icon utility (the one with the disc and the stethoscope).

Once the Disk Utility main window appears, click the hard disk name present on the left (if it is not visible, to fix it, click on the button View located at the top left and select the item Show sidebar from the menu that opens) and click the button SOS located at the top. Then press the button Run to start the procedure that allows you to analyze and verify the integrity of the hard disk.

Now, wait for the disk analysis procedure to complete (it may take a while, don’t be discouraged!), After which the tool will check for errors and, if found, repair them. If you wish, you can also expand the menu Show details to view in detail which errors have been identified and possibly repaired.

In the unfortunate event that Disk Utility fails to repair the disk by correcting the errors found, try repeating the operation. If the problem persists, I invite you to do the backup of the data saved on the disk, format the disk e reinstall macOS perhaps by helping you with the guides that I have just linked to you.

Terminal

hard drive: How to repair hard drive ©Aranzulla

You can try to fix the hard drive on Mac via the Terminal, then act from the command line. How do you do it? I’ll explain it to you immediately.

For starters, log into the Launchpadby clicking on the relevant icon (the one with I colored squares) located on the Dock burthen start the Terminal, selecting the relevant one icon (the one with the black window and the line of code) that you find in the screen now visible.

In the window that now appears on the desktop, types the following command: diskutil verifyVolume "/Volumes/[nome volume]" or that diskutil verifyVolume / to check the primary volume directly. Then, press the key Enter on the keyboard and enter the admin password of the Mac.

Then wait for the disk analysis to finish and if at the end you are not shown any messages it means that no problems are found.

In case you are notified of errors, to try to fix them enter the command diskutil repairVolume "/Volumes/[nome volume]". To repair the main disk directly you can use the command instead diskutil repairvolume /.

How to repair hard drive mechanical parts

hard drive: How to repair hard drive ©Aranzulla

Have you tried to repair your computer’s hard disk and, despite having followed to the letter all the instructions I have given you in the previous lines, you continue to encounter problems? In this case, I’m sorry to tell you so coldly, but the difficulties you are having could be traced back to a problem of nature. hardware.

Under the circumstances, you can try taking your hard drive to a specialized repair center and see if they can solve your problem there, by replacing the damaged parts if necessary. To find a specialized center in your area, do one Google search.

And if you are bothered by the idea of ​​trying to repair or in any case if you have already made this attempt but it has not been successful, the best suggestion I can offer you is undoubtedly to substitute the damaged hard disk with a new one. Before rushing to a new album, however, I invite you to read the buying guides in which I explain which hard drive to buy and which SSD drive to buy: I am sure that these insights will allow you to make the purchase that best suits your circumstances and your pocket.

Before starting to use a new disk, if you want to avoid losing all the data on the damaged hard disk, I also suggest you try to extrapolate and save the data on it elsewhere, using the appropriate data recovery software like the ones I pointed out to you in my specific guides on the damaged hard drive data recovery.