Common Data Recovery Questions

Let us face the cold hard facts. We are addicted to our computers. They run our lives, our homes and our businesses. Most of us use our computers every single day. It may be for fun and games or it could be for work. Even now as you listen to this audio program you are using your computer. But what happens when something goes wrong and your computer betrays your trust by crashing? The entire thing shuts down and crashes.

Your valuable information is locked inside and you begin to panic at the thought of losing all of your important information. There is hope. In this article you will discover the wonderful joys of data recovery and how it may be able to help you recover your data, tips on protecting your information should this ever happen to you and preventative measures for protecting your valuable information.

What is data recovery?

Data recovery is the process of restoring information that has been corrupted, deleted, or has otherwise become unreadable. There are a number of ways that data can be recovered. The type of recovery will often depend upon what has happened to cause the information to become unreadable. Data damaged by a virus or corruption of the drive can often be recovered by the use of specialized software. Physical damage or malfunction of the drive will require the services of trained professionals, who can disassemble the drive and manually extract the data.

How is data recovered?

Software data recovery will scan a damaged drive looking for data. It will attempt to recover everything it finds. It makes no distinction between deleted and damaged files. In cases where the drive is damaged and software is not an option, it requires the use of a clean room. There the drive is disassembled, and the data is extracted directly from the magnetic platters.

What is a hard drive?

A hard drive is a form of magnetic storage, found in most, if not all computers these days. The hard drive records programs, documents, e-mails, and other information in the form of files, mapped to a specific location on the drive.

What happens when a hard drive crashes?

A hard drive crash could be the result of some malicious program tampering with the drive map information. This would prevent the computer from locating the files on the drive and accessing them correctly. Or it could be the result of a damaged or failed component within the drive itself. In either event, a crash is the result of the computer being unable to access the data stored on the drive.

What is the first thing I can do to protect my information if my hard drive were to crash?

Turn off the computer. If the crash is repairable with software, additional attempts to access the drive may cause further damage. Likewise, if the drive has a physical defect, removing the power to the device will prevent excessive damage.

Are there things I can do to prevent and protect my information should my hard drive crash?

The best method to protect your information is to back it up. There are several methods that will accomplish this, the most common of which is writing duplicate copies of your information to another storage device. Whether that device be tape, diskettes, compact disks, DVDs, or another hard drive, these duplicate copies can be used to restore any or all missing information on your computer in the event of a drive crash.

Prevention of a drive crash comes in the form of maintenance, either by the user or a service technician. Regular maintenance can prevent or warn the user of impending disaster. In this case, an ounce of prevention will far out way the pound of cure.

What should I do with my information when I recover it?

If you haven't done so yet, back it up. You've just gone through a traumatic event, and having a recent backup will go a long way towards preventing any future losses. Next, begin the process of getting your computer back up to date. Files will need to be copied back to the correct locations on your computer. Occasionally, files will need to be renamed, as the contents were recovered, but the name has changed.

Where should I take my computer for data recovery?

Hopefully, prior to having a computer crash, you've found a computer service company or technician that you've used before. In that case, give them a call, explain what happened, and listen to their suggestions. More often than not, you will need to bring your system down to the shop and leave it for a short period of time.

Do I need to take in the whole computer or just the hard drive?

Different companies will have different needs. Some may need only the hard drive from inside the computer. Some may require the entire system. Contact your service provider to verify what they will need.

How much will data recovery cost me?

How much it will cost to recover your data often depends on what had happened to the drive. Some companies will charge a lower rate if the damage can be repaired with software utilities. A non-functional drive will require specialized repair procedures, which can often carry hefty charges. Estimates in the range of $20 - $40 per gigabyte are not uncommon. With today's large capacity drives, this could become an unreasonable amount. For example, an 80 GB hard drive could cost as much as $3200 to recover!

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