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A Samsung Portable SSD external drive box held in two hands

FeaturedHard Drive2026-07-03

Windows 11's Disk-Eating Bug (CapabilityAccessManager.db-wal): What It Is and How to Fix It

A Windows 11 bug let the CapabilityAccessManager.db-wal file balloon and never flush, eating tens of gigabytes of disk space. Here is what it is, how to tell if you are affected, and how to fix it with the official KB5095093 update.

5 min readRead the article

An opened hard disk drive showing its mirrored platter, central spindle hub, and actuator arm

Hard Drive

2026-06-297 min

GNU ddrescue: Clone a Failing Drive Before You Lose the Data (2026 Guide)

How to use GNU ddrescue to clone a dying hard drive to a healthy disk or image, why it beats dd, the exact commands with the mapfile, and how to recover files from the clone with testdisk and photorec.

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Hard Drive

2026-06-287 min

How to Recover a Deleted or Lost Partition (2026 Guide)

A partition that vanished - deleted, showing as unallocated or RAW - usually still holds your data. Learn why, the one rule that protects it, and how to recover a lost partition with recovery software, TestDisk, or a lab.

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Hard Drive

2026-06-264 min

Drive shows as RAW? Recover a RAW drive without formatting (2026)

Your drive shows as RAW and Windows asks to format it? The data is usually still there. How to recover a RAW drive without formatting - TestDisk, PhotoRec and recovery software, step by step, recovery first.

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A USB flash drive on a desk next to a computer

Hard Drive

2026-06-223 min

How to Fix a Corrupted USB Drive (and Recover the Files) 2026

A corrupted USB drive that won't open, shows as RAW or asks to be formatted is often fixable - and the files recoverable. Step-by-step: safe checks, chkdsk, drive letter and format fixes, and recovery software before you reformat.

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Hard Drive

2026-06-155 min

External Hard Drive Not Showing Up? Fix It Step by Step (2026)

Your external hard drive doesn't appear when you plug it in. Before assuming the worst, work through these checks - cable and port, power, drive letter, Disk Management on Windows and Disk Utility on Mac - and know when it's a hardware failure that needs recovery.

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Hard Drive

2026-06-145 min

What Is a NAS? Network-Attached Storage Explained (2026)

A NAS is a small storage server on your own network - several disks, often in RAID, that every device can reach for backups, files and media. What a NAS is, how it works, what it's for, and the honest truth: RAID is not a backup.

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A stack of hard disk drives, one showing its circuit board

Hard Drive

2026-06-144 min

What Is a Hard Drive? How HDDs Store Your Data (2026)

A hard drive (HDD) stores data magnetically on spinning platters read by a moving head. What a hard drive is, how it works, its parts, how it differs from an SSD, why it fails - and what that means for recovering your data.

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Hard Drive

2026-06-145 min

SSD vs HDD in 2026: Speed, Lifespan, Price and Data Recovery Compared

SSD vs HDD: SSDs are far faster and shock-resistant with no moving parts; HDDs are cheaper per terabyte for bulk storage. How they differ in speed, lifespan, price and - crucially - how recoverable your data is when each one fails.

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Hard Drive

2026-06-144 min

Repair a Corrupted Video File: Fix MP4/MOV That Won't Play (2026)

A video file won't open, freezes, or plays only audio. This guide separates recovering a lost video from repairing a corrupted one - VLC transcode, re-muxing, reference-file repair, and recovery software - without making the damage worse.

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Close-up of a white USB Type-A connector on a wooden desk

Hard Drive

2026-06-137 min

USB Flash Drive Repair: Recover Files From a Dead or Corrupted Drive (2026)

Your USB flash drive isn't recognized, asks to be formatted, or shows 0 bytes. This guide walks through every repair path - connection checks, fixing a corrupted filesystem, recovery software, and write-protection - without destroying your files.

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Hard Drive

2026-06-1112 min

Hard Drive Failure: Signs, Diagnosis, and What to Do Before It's Too Late

Hard drive failure warning signs: unusual noises, slow reads, corrupted files, bad sectors, SMART alerts. How to diagnose logical vs mechanical vs electronic failure, recover your data, and prevent total loss.

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Hard Drive

2026-06-1112 min

External Hard Drive Recovery: Complete Step-by-Step Guide (2026)

Your external hard drive stopped working - won't show up, asks to be formatted, or makes noise. This guide covers every scenario: diagnosis, software recovery step by step, and when to call a lab.

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