Okay when your computer crashes, does all the memory and stuff on the hard drive just like in a sense delete its self?So when your computer crashes all the information on the hard drive is gone?
2007-08-04 05:30:04 · 7 answers · asked by crazyxblondex 1 in Computers & Internet ➔ Other - Computers
Usually not...if you were in the middle of working on something though and it crashes, any of that new info may be lost though.
2007-08-04 05:37:20 · answer #1 · answered by John K 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Actually, no. But that depends on the way in which you are using the term "crash."
If you mean that your computer crashed and therefore in someway locked up, and then will not boot, then in a sense, your operating system crashed, and you need that to run your computer and access data. In this case, your data is still there. The problem comes in when you try to fix the problem. In most cases, it is necessary to reformat the computer. By doing this, even though the data is still there, the computer's directory on where to find this data is deleted, and so as far as the computer is concerned, that space is no longer occupied and free for the taking to write new data. And that's exactly what it does. It formats your hard drive and erases it. But this only happens when you begin the recovery process.
The other type of crash is when the hard drive fails. This is the true meaning of "crash." As time goes on, the hard drive weakens and will eventually fail due to simple wear-n-tear. This is the same thing that happens to parts in a car. When this happens, the hard drive does not have the ability to spin, and therefore, it won't function. Data recovery is still possible, but usually requires special equipment and can get to be very expensive.
In either case, you may be able to recover the data, but you will need to use another computer. There is software available that can help you if your operating system crashed, and you will need to hook the hard drive up to another computer to find it.
There are also services that will do this for you regardless of the type of crash, but be prepared to pay a lot of money.
2007-08-04 12:44:34 · answer #2 · answered by pooky254 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It would depend on which component "crashed" on the computer. If the motherboard or processor burned out, then the info would still be on the hard drive and you could still connect it to another system to retrieve the info. If the hard drive crashed, the info might still be on the HD in some form, but it would be difficult to retrieve and you'd probably have to pay someone a lot of money to get it. Well, unless you know a lot about data recovery, which I doubt since you're asking about it on yahoo answers.
2007-08-04 12:39:29 · answer #3 · answered by Connor 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No, the hard drive info is safe.
You lose any data that you have been working on that hasn't been saved to the hard drive yet.
PS: unless it was the hard drive itself that broke. Then you may lose the data, or pay for a retrieval company to get it back.
Hard drives hardly ever break though.
2007-08-04 12:37:53 · answer #4 · answered by powhound 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Depends what you mean by "crash" ?
Unless the drive starts on fire and melts, the data is still 99% retrievable.
2007-08-04 12:39:15 · answer #5 · answered by wikkedskaterboy 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Depends what part crashed.
If it's the HD, the data can be retrieved, you just have to be willing to pay for it.
2007-08-04 12:37:20 · answer #6 · answered by ? 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It all goes to the FAR SIDE! No, seriously it's still there. Right on each of the platters inside your harddrive. You just have corrupted, or missing registry files, but your personal documents will be there.
2007-08-04 12:38:38 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋