Disk got corrupted, now asking to initialise in disk manager, possible to recover files?

Solution 1:

First of all, as @Tetsujin pointed out, a clicking hard drive usually signals hardware damage (although how a data transfer could trigger that is beyond me). Software recovery usually causes more harm than good in these cases. Even trying to read a damaged drive can cause further damage, as you can't really rely on read operations not accidentally changing something anymore. Disconnecting the drive and seeking professional data recovery services would be your next step.

Recovery software is generally designed for the following instances:

1. In some cases, the partition scheme data was damaged (i.e. the differences between NTFS, FAT, ext, etc.). In these cases, the files still exist, but the computer doesn't know how to read them. In this case, a good program can usually access them as long as nothing was overwritten.
2. In other cases, the entire partitioning table was overwritten. That said, the files should still be intact.
3. If file data itself was overwritten (or certain sectors failed), then the files will be damaged. While some files may be able to be recovered (especially if the damage is limited to certain sectors), you may not be able to get all your files.

In theory, good file recovery software can easily recover from the first two, with a little work (file names and locations may have gotten lost, but the data itself will still be intact). In the third case, mileage may vary, and your program won't be able to get everything back, if any at all. In the case of hardware failure, you should really hope that you put a backup somewhere, as even professional data recovery can only get you so far.