Freeze Your Drive for Better Data Recovery


Data recovery has been around since the age of the first computer. Even in the awe of all the fans of the first computer ever built, it catapulted a whole new age of losing important data and the people who desperately search for ways to get it back. Data recovery searches on the Internet have found that many myths have popped up over the years. Some have been around since the 1980’s when the first computer was built, while others have mysteriously popped up as popular suggestions on message forums and blog sites. Before jumping on the data recovery bandwagon of other myth fanatics, consider that most of these methods will cost you more data loss than before you tried them.


The Freeze the Hard Drive Myth


This myth has slowly popped up on the Internet, and it is probably one of the most popular one since it has some truth to the science behind it. While it may give initial turnaround for hard drive repair or data recovery, the end result of freezing your hard drive is ultimate failure and corruption of the inner working components.


The fact is that components of a hard drive are manufactured and placed within the structure with precision. Each spindle head is precisely positioned to retrieve data while you type away on your computer. The myth suggests that when these heads get stuck or misplaced, freezing the drive will shrink the components. The end user then warms the hard drive back to room temperature where they will return to normal size and back in their correct position. While the science behind freezing, shrinking, warming, and expanding is correct, it does not mean it will miraculously fix your hard drive to proper working condition.


Freezing the hard drive can replace heads and components back to their original position, but only for a few minutes while you desperately try to get the data off the hard drive before it permanently stops working. Freezing the hard drive may fix the mechanical workings, but freezing it also causes irreparable damage to the hard drive’s platters. The freezing causes severe damage to the magnetic portion of your drive, so your data can be lost to that big black hole in space.


Additionally, everyone knows that electronic components and water and condensations don’t go well with one another. The same can be said for the freezing method that causes your components to snap back into place, but they have accumulated moisture within the drive. Moisture can cause permanent failure the next time you turn on your computer, which costs you money to find a professional to pull the data off the hard drive. Unfortunately, if you freeze the hard drive, you can make it impossible for even a seasoned data recovery professional to recover your data if enough damage has been done to the reading disks.


When searching for the best way to recover data, don’t fall into the trap of these hard drive data recovery myths. Speak to a professional before attempting to recover data.