It’s upsetting to lose important data due to a computer malfunction. The loss can be devastating whether the files contain sensitive personal data, priceless photographs, or business data.
Your data doesn’t have to be lost. We recover files that most people wouldn’t expect to be recoverable. Keep reading to find out how data recovery services work and how we can help you.
How Data Recovery Works
Your computer’s files are stored on the hard drive, made up of thin round platters coated with a shiny magnetic data storage medium, similar to the glossy coating on VHS and cassette tapes. One of your computer’s hard drives reads and writes data to magnetic storage media just like a VCR or tape player.
When you delete a file from your computer, it isn’t actually deleted. The hard drive simply changes the “occupied” marker to “vacant.” The data is retained until it is overwritten. Consider it a discarded home video. It’s still there until you tape it over.
Data can be found even after it is erased. They are imperfect and leave traces of the original file. With the right tools, these traces can be found, decoded, and reassembled into files. The more times an old file is overwritten, the harder it is to recover it, so contact a data recovery service as soon as possible.
What Does Data Recovery Do?
When you contact a data recovery service, they usually ask how the files were lost. You may have accidentally deleted files or corrupted data. In the worst-case scenario, your hard drive may be damaged, ranging from minor issues like a hard drive crash to major issues like flooding or fire. However, the data recovery service won’t be able to give you a quote until they’ve inspected the hard drive, so you’ll need to send it in.
The data recovery service will make an exact copy of your hard drive before working on it. To avoid further damage to the drive, all work will be done on this copy.
Using the original drive’s copy, the data recovery service attempts to recover the lost data. By retrieving old tables of contents, the data recovery service can tell where the files you need are located on the drive, making it easier to decipher and restore written-over data.
Once the data is recovered from the drive, the data recovery service verifies that the files are complete. Again, they can use old hard drive tables of contents to check for file holes. They will then send you the backed-up data on CDs or another storage medium.
Online Data Recovery
Online data recovery software packages are available. These may be tempting, but keep in mind that they may not meet your needs. Even if the software can fix your problem, using it without a professional’s guidance may cause more issues, requiring you to use a data recovery service and adding to their workload (and therefore a higher price for you).
Undelete Software
Undelete software is a common type of data recovery software that allows you to recover accidentally deleted files. Remember that deleting a file marks it as available storage on the hard drive. In other words, anything you do after deleting a file can overwrite it, making it impossible to recover without a data recovery service.
Download the undelete software to a separate drive, such as an external or USB drive. If you don’t know what you’re doing, call a pro right away. The longer you wait and the more you fiddle with your computer, the more likely you are to need major data recovery to get your deleted file back.
Uncover and repair lost or corrupted files with data recovery software. Again, any data you write to the disk may overwrite the file you’re trying to restore. You can’t trust the hard drive not to overwrite the file because it’s lost or corrupted. Again, contacting a professional is probably best.
Data Recovery Protects Your Important Data
Data loss on a hard drive or other memory storage device is not always permanent. A professional data recovery service can easily restore your priceless photos, financial data, or business data. Remember that if you lose or damage data, time is of the essence to recover it: the longer your computer runs and the more often it writes to the hard drive, the worse the situation gets.
Call the Data Recovery Experts
Priority 1 Computer Services fixes it right the first time! We are open until 12 midnight to handle your rush needs. Call 954-623-8400 today for fast service.