Data recovery is a systematic recovery of missing data from the storage devices. You may encounter data loss for various reasons and a piece of advice, keep yourself out of data recovery process as it calls for an expert handling. Data recovery industry specializes in data restoration technology. You may find different Do It Yourself software online. However, if you are just an IT user and not a Professional, do get one on the job as soon as possible.

As data loss can happen anytime due to human or technological errors, it is better to have your data backed up on secondary storage devices.

Before initiating data recovery, it is important to find out the causes of data loss.

  • Formatted Hard Disk Drive (HDD) – What if HDD gets formatted, knowingly or accidentally, and you need to recover data? Do not worry. HDD formatting is done to erase old data to free up space for new operating system or new files. And if no new data is saved on the HDD, it is possible to restore old data. Formatting actually does not delete anything as it only removes files from File Association Tables (FAT) to free up the space till the space is used by new files.

Points to remember while restoring data from a Formatted HDD

  • To prevent any data overwriting, avoid saving any new data.
  • File recovery software should be installed on a different HDD partition than the one from which to restore date.
  • Emptied Recycle Bin – It happens quite frequently that you empty a recycle bin and then wish to recover a particular deleted file/s. Well! Windows cannot help you restore such files and the good part is you can still recover them. Specialized file recovery software are available to restore such data.As you delete your files from recycle bin, you may find your files on the partition from where you delete them. Interesting stuff!
  • USB Flash Drive/ Pen Drive – Accidental formatting of USB Flash Drive or Pen Drive may result in data loss or it may happen due to a software error and the data recovery can happen with the aid of pen drive data recovery software.
  • Formatted Memory Card – Used in a wide range of digital devices like mobile phones, cameras; data from an erroneously formatted memory card can be retrieved. Once a memory card is formatted, file information blocks and boot area gets emptied and you may not find any data. However, a data search and restoration can be done with data recovery software.
  • Files Deleted Due to Virus–You may also recover lost/ deleted files (documents/ media) if your computer comes under virus attack. Before initiating data salvaging process, clean off the viruses from the system with the help of reliable and effective anti-virus software. Once done, run file recovery software to retrieve files that got lost or hidden due to the virus attack.

Level of data recovery varies with the extent of damage. As data recovery techniques do not guarantee data restoration, always keep your data backed up.

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