{"id":358,"date":"2013-04-19T19:21:59","date_gmt":"2013-04-19T19:21:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/help.cleverfiles.com\/?p=358"},"modified":"2025-06-12T23:01:11","modified_gmt":"2025-06-12T23:01:11","slug":"scanning-empty-hard-disk-space","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cleverfiles.com\/help\/scanning-empty-hard-disk-space\/","title":{"rendered":"Can I Deep Scan the Entire Disk Instead of Just the Free Space?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\r\n<\/i>\r\nDownload Disk Drill data recovery app\r\nDownload now<\/a>\r\n
<\/div>\r\n<\/div>

\n

By default, Disk Drill\u2019s Deep Scan only searches your drive\u2019s free space for traces of lost data. But if your disk isn\u2019t readable in the usual way\u2014due to partial file system corruption, a missing partition, or uncertainty about which partition held your files\u2014you can\u2014and should\u2014scan the entire disk to maximize recovery results.<\/p>\n

To do this, open Disk Drill and go to “Preferences\u2026<\/b>“, then uncheck “Deep-scan free space only<\/b>” option. Disk Drill will treat the whole drive as a raw volume, analyzing every sector (both occupied and unoccupied) as one continuous binary chunk. It will first look for lost partitions, then perform a full-disk Deep Scan.
\n
\nA full-disk Deep Scan generally means:<\/b><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Extended scan duration<\/b> \u2014 because Disk Drill\u2019s Deep Scan analyzes every sector instead of only free space, the overall scan takes longer.<\/li>\n
  2. More files to review<\/b> \u2014 you\u2019ll see both deleted and existing files in the results.<\/li>\n
  3. Broader recovery scope<\/b> \u2014 you can recover files from non-empty areas and detect files in lost or corrupted partitions.<\/li>\n
  4. Higher chance of finding your data<\/b> \u2014 exhaustive scanning ensures no sector is skipped.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
    💡 Tip<\/b>: If you know exactly which partition contained your lost data, start by Deep Scanning that partition only. It\u2019s much faster, and often just as effective. However, when you\u2019re unsure or need the best possible recovery, scanning the entire drive gives you the most thorough results.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    By default, Disk Drill\u2019s Deep Scan only searches your drive\u2019s free space for traces of lost data. But if your disk isn\u2019t readable in the usual way\u2014due to partial file system corruption, a missing partition, or uncertainty about which partition […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-358","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-recovery"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nCan I Deep Scan the Entire Disk Instead of Just the Free Space?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Learn how to deep scan your entire disk with Disk Drill\u2014beyond just free space\u2014for comprehensive data recovery, including from lost or corrupted partitions.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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