Data recovery is the process of retrieving lost or inaccessible data from storage devices, either by software or hardware. The term is often used interchangeably with file recovery, which refers to restoring a faulty disk drive data. Many factors can cause data to be lost or inaccessible. These include corruption due to physical damage to the device, software issues, and power loss. Whatever the case for your issue, you will need a professional data recovery service to help get your data back.
Here are some common causes for lost data and how we recover it.
Data Recovery is a process with many steps
Data recovery is a process with many steps. Some data recovery processes take hours, others days, and others may take months or years. One of the first things we do is determine what type of issue your device is experiencing. This will help us determine the best way to recover your data. In some cases, we can have you send your device into our lab for testing and then return it to you for a fee. In other cases, if the data on your device has not been overwritten or deleted, we may be able to perform the recovery entirely remotely.**
Causes for Lost Data
A variety of things can cause data loss. Some common causes are as follows:
Corruption: Most data issues can be resolved without hardware repair. If a hard drive has been formatted and reinstalled, we can often recover the data and reformat it.
Power Loss: Hard drives are vulnerable to power loss, which may corrupt data. Hard drives also need the power to maintain their head position for reading and writing. For this reason, the majority of data recovery involves software solutions on a good working hard drive, which can handle power outage conditions gracefully.
Physical Damage: Hard disks suffer from physical damage such as drops or exposure to liquids or light. In these cases, we will need an expert technician to disassemble the hard drive and use specialized tools for file recovery.
Software Issues: Software issues such as virus infection, improper shutdowns, and logical errors can cause data loss and corruption on your device. Data recovery services may be able to help you get your files back via software solutions on a good working hard disk even if the disk has been formatted and reinstalled.
Methods for Recovery
There are many ways to recover lost data, and it depends on the type of data that is being recovered. One of the most common methods is retrieving data from a physically damaged device. In these cases, hardware may recover some types of files from a corrupted storage device. The software can also be used to copy data from an inaccessible drive. For this method, it’s important that you have a strategy in place for what type of software you would like to use and if you want cloud-based or on-site services.
Hardware typically works best for highly specialized recovery needs. It can often recover things like video footage, audio recordings, and images from a physical storage device where software might not work. It is also helpful for recovering data from devices that don’t work due to power loss or corruption due to other causes. Software solutions are better suited for recovering generic file types with less specialized requirements, such as Word documents and spreadsheets. A professional service will help you decide which method is best for your needs.
Software Method
This method relies on software to retrieve lost or inaccessible data. Software is usually used on corrupted disks that are non-operational, but some types of software can be used on external devices like flashcards.
Hardware Method
If your entire hard drive crashes, you can use a data recovery service to help get your data back. The first step is to stop using the hard drive. You’ll then need to send it in or bring it into one of our labs for a thorough inspection to determine the cause of the failure. This process will either involve an in-lab review or a scan using a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) device. Once we have determined what went wrong, we will provide you with the best plan of action for getting your data back.
Conclusion
Data recovery is a process that is often needed in the event of lost data. There are many steps to take when recovering lost data and software and hardware methods to help.
