It is a sad feeling, when you realize that a certain important document, or indelible imagery, has disappeared from your computer. But that is no reason to despair. Chances are, the data is still there, even if you know you deleted it. Your computer's operating system no longer knows how to retrieve it.
The four most common causes of data loss are:
* Removal. You accidentally deleted a file during disk cleaning, or because you thought it was no longer needed. Not in the Recycle Bin. However, the data will still be there until the disk space is used by another file.
* Overwriting. You have saved a new file on top of the old one. However, old data may still be there, and it can be recovered.
* File system corruption. The disk suddenly appears empty, or file names and folders contain gibberish. Files are probably still there, but their destination is lost or corrupted, and the operating system cannot recover them.
* Physical injury or hardware failure. You receive error messages when you try to read the disk, or it is not recognized by the computer at all. Data may still exist on the disk itself, but the drive cannot access it.
In each case, there is a definite possibility that the data still exists. The computer operating system cannot detect it, but the data recovery software may not. If the problem is hardware failure, then the data recovery service may be able to recover data using special tools.
Prepare to receive data
There is one basic rule for data recovery: in order to have the best chance of recovering files, you must not write any new data to the disk on which it is stored. Old data will only remain on disk until the space in it is used by another file. If the disk is the main drive of your computer, then the drive is always written. You should shut down your computer immediately, and use another computer to search for a solution to restore your data. You must insert your computer's hard disk into another computer to restore data, or use a data recovery from a CD or floppy disk, because installing data recovery software on the drive may overwrite the exact data you want to restore.
Choosing a data acquisition method
Data recovery tools use a variety of methods to try to recover data. Some tools are designed to restore deleted files, others are better for restoring overhead files, or for recovering files from physically damaged disks. Some data recovery software products are specially designed to restore image files, or Microsoft Word or Excel document files. Such products may be successful where others fail because they understand what these files look like, and may see their data when some indicators of their existence have disappeared, and this is not good for you.
The wisest way to avoid data loss is to make a backup copy of your files and continue to support them. Companies and those who do their work with computers should always support things at least once a day. This way, if your database crashes or loses all your data, you will have a secure and audible backup of your files. Then, when you take your hard drive to a professional for retrieval, you will have files to keep working. Also, at this point, you can choose whether you want the hard drive to be restored or not, or just discard it and get a new one - as you will have all the files backed up and ready for use.
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