Common Laptop Computer Failure Symptoms
Did Your Hard Drive Crash Or Is It Just Your Laptop?
If you believe your laptop hard drive has crashed and you have important data you don't want to lose, you need to power off your computer, stop messing with your hard drive and get it to us immediately to give yourself the best possible chance of a successful recovery of your data. However, if you believe your hard drive is fine but your laptop has failed..... You may want to start the process of recovering your data yourself or with your trusted local computer shop. Below is some basic information that might help you determine what your laptop computer symptoms mean and what you need to do to recover your files successfully.
Laptop Failures range from physical, machine or component failures to logical or physical hard drive failures. This basic list of laptop failure symptoms is designed to help you determine what type of failure your dealing with and what you need to do next to ensure successful recoverability of your important files.
These Are The Most Common Failures of Laptop Computers
Physical laptop component problems
Common Laptop Computer Failure Symptoms:
Laptop won't power on:
This could be related to your power supply, a dead battery or a bad or failed power connector on your laptop. Your computer either needs to be repaired or your data needs to be transferred. You should make this decision based on the age of your laptop. It would be wise to transfer the data off an older laptop but it may be smarter to have a newer laptop repaired. We can recover your data to a new 500 Gigabyte USB external hard drive for you for only $299 if the laptop is not failed. Price includes the new drive.
Laptop boots in a loop:
This is likely related to your hard drive. This can be caused by a logical failure or a physical failure of your hard drive. A logical failure might be caused from a virus attack or some kind of operating system damage. A physical hard drive failure of this symptom is usually caused by bad sectors. Bad Sectors are physical damaged areas that are no longer able to be accessed on your hard drive. This damage is likely located in the system area. Bad sectors are like cancer, they will often spread, leading to catastrophic failure that can completely destroy your data. We recommend that you power off your laptop and get the hard drive to us immediately for data recovery so we can give you the best chance of a full restoration of your files.
Laptop blue screens "Blue Screen of Death":
Blue screen symptoms are usually caused by the same types of things that cause a computer to boot in a loop. Logical failures can include virus attacks or operating system corruption. Physical failures are usually caused by bad sectors in the system area.
There is really no way to differentiate between a logical or physical failure without pulling the hard drive and attempting to transfer the data off it. If the drive is suffering from physical problems, attempting to transfer the data from the drive adds additional stress to a failing drive and you can completely destroy any chance of recovering your data. If your hard drive is suffering from bad sectors, powering on your drive will continue to make the problem worse spreading the bad sectors and can make your data unrecoverable. We recommend that you power off your laptop and get the hard drive to us immediately for data recovery so we can give you the best chance of a full restoration of your files.
Laptop crashes randomly or when you attempt to access a specific file or folder:
This is usually related to bad sectors on your hard drive. At this point, your data is in serious risk because the bad sectors are located in the data area and will likely spread quickly. You need to call us immediately so we can get you the best chance of a full restoration of your files.
Laptop black screens:
A black screen on a laptop usually indicates that the boot device can not be found or is not recognized which usually means your hard drive is failed or the boot record is damaged. Again, this could be a logical failure or a physical failure of your hard drive. If the drive is physically failed, powering on your computer could permanently destroy your data. If the drive is not recognized in BIOS, it usually indicates a physical hard drive failure that absolutely requires our help to recover your data. Do not continue to power on your laptop if your computer does not recognize the boot device or hard drive.
Laptop Black Screens and Makes Clicking Sounds " Click of Death":
Clicking is usually the sound that a hard drive makes when the heads that read and write the data to the platter fail. Head failure is the most serious failure a hard drive can have because when the heads fail, they nearly always leave serious damage on the platter surface where your data is stored. Head failure is the number one cause of an unrecoverable hard drive. This is very serious and you need to power off your computer and call us immediately.
File folder with question mark:
This is a symptom that Mac/Apple laptop's give when it no longer recognizes the hard drive or boot device. This is almost always related to a serious physical hard drive failure. Power off your laptop and call us immediately.
Laptop does not recognize the hard drive / bootable device:
This usually means the hard drive is physically failed. You need to power off your laptop and do not continue to power it on. Call us for data recovery so we can provide you with an accurate quote.
Laptop screen stops working:
This one depends on what caused your laptop screen to stop working. If your laptop was dropped, run over, or seriously physically damaged then we may be dealing with a serious physical hard drive failure as well. If your laptop screen stops working all by itself, then you may just need the data transferred from your damaged laptop to your new laptop or to an external hard drive that can be accessed by any computer. We offer this service for $299 and that includes a brand new 500 gigabyte USB external hard drive.
Laptop crashes when you attempt to open a file or files:
This is usually related to a physically failing hard drive or bad sectors in the user area. Hard drives do not get better by themselves so you need to transfer the data off the drive as quickly as possible. If it won't let you pull the data off at its normal fast speeds, you are probably dealing with a hard drive that is seriously failing or that contains lots and lots of bad sectors. Power off your laptop and call us immediately.