What is the difference between physical and logical failures?
Logical failure typically refers to corrupt or lost data on a disk with no physical problems. This can be caused by operating system failure, virus infection, unintentionally formatting of drive, accidental deletion of files, and rarely static damage. If BIOS can still recognize the hard drive there is a good chance for recovery. Physical failure is when the device itself is damaged and needing repair or replaced components. Damaged Head Disk Assemblies, spindle motors, failed circuit boards, corrupted firmware, and damaged platters are a few examples of physical damage. When a physical failure has occurred typically the hard drive will make strange noises (e.g., clicking, beeping, grinding)., or not be recognized by the BIOS. If there are any noises or sounds, or you suspect a physical failure, stop using the drive right away and contact a specialized data recovery company before a critical loss occurs.
