It may be beneficial to put a hard drive in the freezer. This can provide a quick fix in case a hard drive fails and the computer user needs to recover data. Putting a hard drive in the freezer is said to cause its parts to shrink and snap back into place for a short period of time. When this works, it can allow the user of the computer to get up to 20 extra minutes of life with it. In most cases, this solution is only used to recover data from a hard drive that is no longer spinning.
HDD.
The best method to recover data from a failed hard drive may be to seek the help of a computer professional. However, it is possible that placing a hard drive controller in the freezer will cause it to spin up enough for a person to recover at least some of their data. This solution usually only applies in cases where the hard drive has stopped spinning, which could mean the damage is physical. However, if the drive continues to spin, a person might do well to try a different method to fix it.
Hard drive with the case removed to show the platters and read/write head.
Typically, a person who wants to try this solution places their hard drive in a plastic bag that they seal before putting it in the freezer. This helps prevent moisture from further damaging the hard drive. A person may also consider using an anti-static bag to enclose the hard drive before placing it in the zipper bag. This extra step can also help keep your hard drive safe. Once well packaged in a resealable plastic bag, the computer user can place the hard drive in the freezer for a few hours.
After leaving a hard drive in the freezer for a few hours, the computer user usually takes it out of the freezer and immediately installs it on his computer. It is essential that a person attempting this solution back up their data as soon as possible, as the hard drive will likely only work for a short time. In some cases, a person using this method can run their hard drive for about 20 minutes, but this is not always the case. A person may also try to freeze their hard drive for a little longer in an effort to make the hard drive spin longer and ensure more time for data recovery. For example, placing a hard drive in a freezer for 24 hours can sometimes provide additional data recovery time.
Solid state hard drives boot up and run faster than traditional computer hard drives.
