Disk recovery

Most disk recovery attempts start in a situation similar to this: one evening you are about to leave your office and go home to get some well-deserved sleep when your computer crashes. You reboot it, but the operating system does not start as you expected and you can~t gain access to any files stored on your Hard Drive. You reboot it again, then take a Windows XP CD from your drawer and try to start your PC this way. The setup claims that the hard disk is not formatted and asks you to let it format your Hard Drive. At that time you panic, click “YES”, and what has started as a small logical malfunction ends in losing most of your data – some of it permanently. A disk recovery process is not difficult and usually ends in success – unless you do something stupid.

Things you probably know, but you forget the moment you need them

1. 80% of the time the data on your Hard Drive is still there, the only problem is that you have to find a way to get to it.
2. There are dozens free and paid disk recovery tools that may help you during the process.
3. You can get the disk out of your PC and connect to another computer as a “slave” drive – this makes the disk recovery process much easier and safer.
4. You can always ask somebody to help you.

Tip 1: Be prepared

One of Murphy~s laws says that "the probabilities of a hard-disk crash increase with the number of days since the drive was last backed up." Here~s a tip number one: back up your HDD as often as possible. Once a week is good. Once a day is better. Then even if you fail disk recovery, your losses will be minimal. Remember – Hard Disk failure is only a matter of time and will sooner or later happen to you. Be prepared!

Tip 2: Don~t panic

There~s also another saying that is very useful for people experiencing data loss - “if something goes wrong, scream and run around the table – this helps a lot.” Never panic! Data recovery is simple and all of your data can be restored in no time.

Tip 3: Learn what happened before you start recovering the data

There are two reasons of a Hard Disk failure: hardware and logical. The first is all about hardware – broken seals, burnt microchips, damaged heads or dozens other things that may happen from time to time in such complex device. If this happens, you can~t really do anything yourself. The data is probably lost for good and if you want to have any chance of a successful disk recovery, you have to get some professional help ASAP. Fortunately, this does not happen very often and 80% data loss cases are caused by logical failures. And they can be easily taken care of.

How can you know what happened? It~s simple: listen to your hard drive – if it sounds normal (no ticking and no whizzing), it is probably a logical failure.

Tip 4: Plug the HDD into another computer

When you know what happened, you should a) call a professional in case of a hardware failure, or b) take your Hard Disk out and connect it to another PC. This will make the whole disk recovery process much easier, faster and safer.

Tip 5: Install data recovery software

There are dozens disk recovery tools you can use. Download and install any of them, then follow the instructions. The details will vary depending on the program you use. Just remember to free some space on the other Hard Disk – you will need to save the recovered data somewhere.

Tip 6: Ask for help before you make a mistake!

Always ask for professional help the moment you cease to be 100% sure what to do. Perhaps your company has a data security department or it out sources data security somewhere? Either way, remember that disk recovery can~t be done following the gut feeling alone. If you don~t know what to do, you have to get some professional help. Otherwise you will risk losing everything.