The Hard drive plays an important part in every computer. It holds all the data that you use to do your jobs. Unfortunately, sooner or later your hard drives will die.
You will not able to access your files when your hard drive fails. The OS doesn’t load up, programs and app will become useless.
When your hard drive crashes, you might lose all your important data. Hard drive failure can happen at an unexpected moment and for apparently no good reason. If this occurs, what actions can you do?
Probably, you have heard the hard drive freezer method somewhere in the Internet forum, blogs, videos, social media etc. Learn more about this method, know the reasons why some people consider it as a method for data recovery and why experts do not recommend to do it.
Hard Drive Freezer Method
This method is also known as “freezer trick”. It can be done by sticking the hard drive in a waterproof plaster bag, then placing it inside the freezer. The temperature of the freezer would cool the metal down if you left the drive alone for a few hours.
How Does the Hard Drive Freezer Method Works
It is said that the cold can help the hard drive metal to tighten it up. In some cases, it allows the disk to spin again. The purpose of this freezer trick is to save the data from the hard drive, then quickly copy it to another device before another lockup happened.
Steps to Perform a Hard Drive Freezer Method
Step #1. Place the damaged hard drive inside of a ziplock freezer bag. In that way, no moisture can get in. Try to use two or even three bags. Remember that the bags do not need to be isotherm.
Step #2. Place the wrapped hard drive inside the freezer.
Step #3. Leave the hard drive in the freezer for at least 12 hours
Step #4. Connect the drive to the computer and start copying important data
Step #5. Sometimes, the hard drive will fail again. If this happened, repeat the procedure until all important data is copied or the drive permanently dies.
Four Reasons Why Hard Drive Freezer Method is a Bad Idea
#1. Changes in Temperature & Humidity
Any changes in temperature and humidity can affect the hard drive. It may cause damages because platters on hard drives are sensitive. Wrapping it in a towel or putting in a ziplock bag can’t do anything about it.
#2. Hard Drive Freezer Method is Out-of-date
Freezing old hard drives would only move parts to a small degree. Hard drives today are built with more specific standards. Freezing it might lead to an incorrect spacing between the reader head and platter. It can cause to an unreadable hard drive.
#3. The Expected Result Doesn’t Last Long
If ever you get the spindle to start working by freezing it, it won’t likely last for long. The purpose of freezing is to get the hard drive work, enough to copy the data on it and transfer to a new hard drive. Try not to test and twist the hard drive when it’s creating clicking noises.
#4. The Issue May Not Be Physical
Keep in mind that hard drive failure is not always about a physical issue. In any situation, the logical issue is the main cause of hard drive failure. If that’s the case, freezing your hard drive won’t help and may cause more problems.
If your damage drive comes out of the freezer and works again, we can say that it’s only a matter of luck. Freezing it will not restore a dead sector’s magnetic field or even fix a corrupted partition table.
If you really want to diagnose the issue with your hard drive and start to do an action to recover your data, you need to consult to a data recovery professional.
TTR Data Recovery Inc. is a professional Hard Drive recovery company with locations across the U.S from the east coast to the west coast that provides proprietary data recovery services to individuals, corporations, government and non-government entities, and small businesses.
TTR Data Recovery holds certifications that represents the quality assurance. It includes ISO 9001:2008, IACRB, SOC Type II, GSA, and more.