How To Repair Hard Drive and Restore Data in Windows 10/8/7 Free

Step-by-step guide for disk repair and data recovery in Windows 10/8/7. Hard disk errors may cause data loss in your hard drive. Learn how to repair disk in Windows 10/8/7 with CHKDSK, sfc /scannow, best hard disk repair software, etc. Get MiniTool Power Data Recovery to restore lost data from hard disk with ease.

Hard disk errors often come along with data loss. Any suggested best disk repair and data recovery solutions in Windows 10/8/7?

To deal with this issue, you can firstly check if it is the logical error that prevents you from accessing the hard drive. If so, you can check and repair the hard disk errors, and recover your lost data from hard disk with best free hard disk drive data recovery software.

This tutorial focuses on how to repair disk in Windows 10/8/7 by using CHKDSK, sfc /scannow, best hard disk repair software, etc. It also introduces how to easily restore hard drive lost data in Windows 10/8/7 by providing a step-by-step guide.

Tip: If the hard drive is not working due to physical damage, then you may send it to a professional disk repair store or replace it with a new one.

Hard Drive Data Gets Lost? – Take These 2 Moves

What to do if you suffer data loss because of hard drive corruption?

The first move you can take is to use Windows own disk repair tools or some other top disk repair software to fix hard disk errors.

The second move is to utilize the most reliable hard disk drive data recovery software – MiniTool Power Data Recovery – to easily recover the lost data from corrupted hard drive.

If you like, you can exchange the order of these two moves, namely, recover lost data first. Need to mention that MiniTool Power Data Recovery supports restoring data from deleted, formatted, corrupted hard drives, SSD, external hard drives, USB and almost all storage devices.

MiniTool Power Data Recovery TrialClick to Download100%Clean & Safe

Download/Use Microsoft Support and Recovery Assistant (SaRA)

Download and use Microsoft Support and Recovery Assistant (SaRA) tool to diagnose and fix problems with Windows system, Office 365, Outlook, etc.

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4 Free Ways to Repair Hard Disk Errors in Windows 10/8/7

At the beginning, as for disk repair Windows 10/8/7, we introduce the 4 free methods below.

Fix 1. Repair Disk in Windows 10/8/7 with CHSDSK Command

Generally, CHKDSK repair is the most common free way to repair disk in Windows 10/8/7.

  • Press Windows + R key on the keyboard at the same time to open Windows RUN window.
  • Type cmd in the box and click OK. And run Command Prompt as an administrator.
  • In the Command Prompt window, you can type chkdsk followed by a space (the space is important in command lines), and then type the corrupted disk drive letter followed by a space, and then type /f /r parameters separated by a space of each. Like this: chkdsk *: /f /r.
  • Finally hit Enter.

The /f parameter of CHKDSK can fix any errors it finds, and /r parameter can find bad sectors on the hard disk and try its best to recover readable information from it.

After CHKDSK repair process is finished, you can type Exit to close the Command Prompt window. Then check if the hard drive can be accessed and work well now.

Fix 2. Hard Drive Repair in Windows 10/8/7 with MiniTool Partition Wizard

Another top free way to repair hard drive errors in Window 10/8/7 is using MiniTool Partition Wizard. You can use this best free hard disk repair software to easily check and fix file system errors on hard drive, fix and rebuild MBR, test disk surface to check bad sectors.

You can get this professional disk partition manager for Windows 10/8/7 and run it on your PC. Then you can right-click a partition on the target corrupted hard disk and click Check File System -> Check & fix detected errors -> Start.

Fix 3. Repair Disk in Windows 10/8/7 with sfc /scannow

You can also follow the operation in Fix 1 to open and run Command Prompt as an administrator. Then type the following command sfc /scannow in Command Prompt window and press Enter. There is a space between sfc and /scannow, please do not miss it.

The System File Checker will begin to scan and fix corrupted system files on your Windows 10/8/7 hard drive. The whole process may take some time, please wait patiently.

Fix 4. Repair Disk in Windows 10/8/7 with Windows Startup Repair

Windows Startup Repair can also help you fix some hard disk errors in Windows 10/8/7. To run Windows Startup Repair, you need to have a Windows recovery/repair disk. If you don’t have one, learn how to create Windows recovery USB/repair disk first.

  • Plug in the bootable USB drive to your computer, and boot your Windows 10 PC.
  • Usually you can press F12 to enter into the Boot Menu. Next you can press the Up/Down Key on the keyboard to choose the bootable USB drive or system repair disk, and hit Enter.
  • Click Repair your computer on Windows setup screen. Then click Troubleshoot -> Advanced Options -> Startup Repair.

Then you can check if you can successfully start your PC and access the hard drive data.

If some data is lost and can’t be found, you can continue to check how to restore hard drive lost data for free with MiniTool hard disk repair software for Windows 10/8/7.

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3 Steps to Recover Hard Disk Lost Data with Best Hard Drive Recovery Software

MiniTool Power Data Recovery is an extremely easy-to-use free hard drive recovery program which is compatible with Windows 10/8/7. You can use this tool to easily restore lost data and files from corrupted or formatted hard disk for free.

Key features:

  • Recover lost data from damaged, formatted, RAW or lost partitions/drives (caused by OS crash, system update, virus attack, etc.)
  • Recover deleted or lost photos, songs, videos or any other media file from removable storage devices, incl. external hard drive, SSD, USB flash drive, SD memory card, digital cameras, camcorders, etc.
  • Successfully recover wrongly deleted data/files from Windows 10 PC hard disk, even if you cleaned computer recycle bin.
  • Support restoring data from damaged or scratched DVDs/CDs.
  • Show Lost Files, Find, Filter, Preview, Export Scan Result, Load previous or all history recovery result options are provided.
  • WinPE Bootable Media Builder function is available in Personal Deluxe or higher versions.

Download and install MiniTool Power Data Recovery on Windows 10/8/7 PC, and follow the 3 steps below to retrieve lost hard drive data with ease.

MiniTool Power Data Recovery TrialClick to Download100%Clean & Safe

Step 1 – Choose a Partition or Drive to Scan

Launch this best free hard disk data recovery software – MiniTool Power Data Recovery – in Windows 10/8/7. Click This PC and select the partition or hard drive which has some data loss.

Step 2 – Scan the Corrupted Hard Drive

Then you can click Scan button to start scanning the lost files in the hard disk. It will list all existing files and lost files.

Step 3 – Recover Hard Disk Lost Data for Free

You can open and browse the folders in the left column to find and tick your needed files. After you find all your lost files in the hard drive, you can click Save button and set a new path to recover and store the lost files.

Note: It’s recommended to store the recovered files to another new drive, to avoid the lost data being overwritten.

If your Windows 10 PC can’t boot, you can check: How to Recover Data When PC Won’t Boot

How to Fix an External Hard Drive without Losing Data

External hard drive repair and data recovery can also be easily achieved with MiniTool Power Data Recovery. Check the guide below.

MiniTool Power Data Recovery TrialClick to Download100%Clean & Safe

Step 1. Connect the corrupted external hard drive to your Windows 10/8/7 PC. Run MiniTool Power Data Recovery.

Step 2. Click Hard Disk Drive option and select the target corrupted external hard drive, then click Scan.

Step 3. After this hard drive recovery software completes the scan, it will list all partitions in the hard drive which may contain lost files. You can browse and check all your desired files and click Save to store the lost data to a new directory.

After you get all your data back from the external hard drive, you can reformat the external hard drive for free in NTFS/FAT32 for reuse, and store data again.

How to Repair Bad Sectors in Hard Drive in Windows 10/8/7

If there are bad sectors on hard disk, the hard drive will run slower than before. If there are many bad sectors on the hard drive, it may stop work. You have some ways to repair bad sectors in hard disk.

  • Use Windows CHKDSK to scan and repair hard disk bad sectors. The operation is introduced in Fix 1 of this tutorial.
  • Use MiniTool Partition Wizard to copy disk to a new hard drive.
  • Use professional HDD bad sector repair software. But physical damaged hard drive cannot be repaired with software, you need to turn to data recovery software.

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How to Avoid Hard Drive Data Loss

To protect your hard drive from data loss, you’d better frequently backup your important data. You can copy them to a USB, external hard drive, etc.

What’s more, keep your computer away from malware or virus infection.

If you suffer some data loss in hard disk, please use professional data recovery software and follow the guide in this tutorial to timely restore lost data. Remember not to store new data into the hard drive in case the old data is overwritten by new data. If the hard drive data is overwritten, then your lost data can’t be recovered.

To Sum Up

If your hard disk has some errors and can’t work normally, you can check the hard disk repair and data recovery solutions in this post to help you solve this issue.

Still have questions about disk repair and data recovery in Windows 10/8/7? Please contact support@minitool.com.

Disk Repair FAQ

Is bad sector repairable?
Bad sectors on hard drive are those clusters of data on the hard disk that can’t be read. Bad sector has two categories: hard bad sector and soft bad sector. If a hard disk is physically damaged, then it may cause some physical bad sectors and they can’t be repaired. If the bad sector is caused by logical errors, you can use Windows CHKDSK or third-party disk repair tools like MiniTool Partition Wizard to check and repair bad sectors. You can check the detailed guide above in this tutorial.
How do you fix a hard disk error?
For logical hard disk errors like file system corruption, logical bad sectors, etc. you can use Windows built-in free tools like CHKDSK, SFC, or third-party hard disk repair and recovery software to repair hard drive errors for free.
How do I fix a corrupted hard drive without formatting?
  1. You can firstly run an antivirus scan to remove possible malware or virus.
  2. Next you can run a disk checking by using Windows CHKDSK tool.
  3. Third, you can use Windows SFC utility or MiniTool Partition Wizard to detect and repair corrupted system files.
  4. At last, you can use a top data recovery tool to retrieve data on the corrupted hard drive. You can check the detailed guides in this tutorial.
Is it possible to recover data from corrupted hard disk?
Yes. You can easily recover data from a corrupted hard disk or formatted hard drive with MiniTool Power Data Recovery. You can check how to use MiniTool Power Data Recovery to restore data above. Need to mention that if your hard disk is physically damaged and can’t use data recovery tool to retrieve data on it, you should send it to professional disk repair store.

Also read: Discover the essential steps for successful hard drive recovery in this informative article.

About The Author

Alisa

Position: Columnist

Alisa is a professional English editor with 4-year experience. She loves writing and focuses on sharing detailed solutions and thoughts for computer problems, data recovery & backup, digital gadgets, tech news, etc. Through her articles, users can always easily get related problems solved and find what they want. In spare time, she likes basketball, badminton, tennis, cycling, running, and singing. She is very funny and energetic in life, and always brings friends lots of laughs.