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How to resolve hard disk errors 303 and 305?

As computer users, we know how important a hard disk is. That is why encountering a problem with it can put dark clouds over your blue sky – completely ruining your day.

The diagnostic Error Codes Hard Disk 1 Quick (303) and Hard Disk 1 Full (305) probably brought you to this article. You might wonder what to do.

What Is the Hard Disk Error 303 and Hard Disk Error 305?

When your computer displays the Hard Disk Quick 303 and Hard Disk Full 305, it means that the life of your hard drive has come to an end. It is no longer functional and needs to be replaced at once with a new HDD or SDD. Unfortunately, there is no other way around it.

How to Deal With the Hard Disk 1 Quick (303) Error and Hard Disk 1 Full (305) Error

What if the hard drive fails with the ‘Hard Disk 1 Quick 303’ or ‘Full 305’ errors? Although you have to get a new hard drive, you do not have to worry about losing your important files.

Here is what you should do:

  1. Set up a recovery drive
  2. Back up your data
  3. Perform data recovery from the recovery disk

We will now show you the procedure in detail. Let us begin.

  1. Set Up a Recovery Drive

To prepare a recovery drive, follow the procedure as shown below:

  1. Open the Start menu on your computer. To do so, press the Windows button on the lower-left corner of your screen or press the Windows key on your keyboard.
  2. Type “Create a recovery drive” (no quotes) in the search box and click on the search results’ matching entry.
  3. Enter your admin password if the system prompts you.
  4. When the recovery tool opens, see that the ‘Backup system files to the recovery drive’ option is selected. Then, click Next.
  5. Get an empty USB drive with at least 16 gigabytes of storage capacity. A USB drive with more than 16 gigabytes storage space is preferable.
  6. Plug the USB drive into your computer. It will appear on the recovery tool window. Select the drive and click Next.

Note: As already stated, make sure that you use an empty USB drive. The recovery process will wipe any existing data on the drive.

  1. Click Create.

The process will take a fair amount of time to complete since many files will be copied to the recovery drive.

  1. Back Up Your Data

You can follow the procedure below to back up the data on your damaged hard drive:

  1. Go to the Start menu and click on the Settings icon. You can also press the Windows + I keyboard combination to open the Settings app without going to the Start menu.
  2. Click on Update and Security. Then, click on Backup from the left pane of the new page.
  3. Click on Add a Drive and select an external drive to where your data will be sent to. You can also use a network location for your backup.

After the backup is complete, you can restore your files and folders anytime you want. Here is how to do so:

  1. Type “Restore files” (no quotes) in the search menu and select ‘Restore your files with File History.’
  2. Search for the file you want to restore. You can see all the available versions of the file. Select the version you want to restore and click on Restore. Doing so will save the file to the original location. However, if you’re going to save it in a different place, then click on Restore To.

Bonus Tip: If you recently upgraded to Windows 10, it might be helpful to note that you can access your old files if you used Backup and Restore to secure them before your upgrade. The System image backups you created in your previous version of Windows is available to you:

  1. Open the Run command (Press the Windows + R keyboard combination) and type “Control Panel” (no quotes) in the text box. Then, hit Enter.
  2. Click on System and Security > Backup and Restore.
  3. Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the process.

  1. Perform Data Recovery from the Recovery Drive

Note that the below procedure for recovering files from an external drive using CMD works for any external storage media, including USB, HDD, and SD card.

Let us see how it is done:

Warning: Exercise caution when using CMD commands for data recovery. If you make a mistake when entering the commands, you will create a new problem.

  1. Plug your storage media into your computer.
  2. Go to the Start menu and type “Command prompt” or “CMD” (no quotes) in the search bar. When the option appears in the results list, right-click on it and select Run as Administrator.
  3. Click Yes when the UAC (User Account Control) dialog prompts you to confirm your action.
  4. Once the Command Prompt (Admin) window opens, type in the following line and hit Enter to run it:

attrib -h -r -s /s /d drive letter:\*.*”

Note: Enter the appropriate drive letter when typing the command. For example, attrib -h -r -s /s /d H:\*.*” where ‘H:’ is the letter of the drive you want to recover.

When you get to Step 4, you can use a different command:

  • Type “chkdsk H/f” (no quotation marks) and hit Enter. Note that H is the letter of the drive you want to recover. If the letter is different in your case, then use the appropriate one.
  • Press Y.
  • Type in the drive letter (That is, H) and hit Enter.
  • Type (or copy and paste)the line below:

[H : \ >attrib –h –r –s /s /d *.*]

  • Hit enter to execute the command. When the process is complete, it will retrieve all the files on your drive.

The three solutions shown above will help you keep the data on your failed hard drive. Sometimes, the Errors 303 and 305 may prevent you from booting into your computer. You will have to use a recovery CD to boot into your computer before using the backup and recovery tool.

If the procedures seem too much for you to handle, you can use a specialized third-party data recovery software application to create a backup image of your files (including photos, videos, documents, and other data). All you have to do is remove the failed drive and connect it to another computer. Then download and run the third-party tool.

You can also contact HP Support if your PC is still under warranty.

Conclusion

‘Hard Disk 1 Quick (303)’ and ‘Hard Disk 1 Full (305) are diagnostic errors that indicate that your hard disk drive is dead. When you encounter the issue, you have to replace the faulty disk with a new one as soon as possible. This post shows you what to do so as not to lose the data on your damaged HDD.

To improve the life of your machine, we recommend performing regular maintenance checks with Auslogics BoostSpeed 12. The tool will defragment your drives, clean up your system registry, remove duplicate files, and so much more.