It’s every computer user’s nightmare. Your computer’s hard drive fails, taking down valuable data files along with it. You know it could happen to anyone at any time, but we all seem to think that it won’t happen to us!

Fortunately, in many cases, your data can be recovered, provided you take the right steps to protect against further damage. Here are some ideas that can minimize the damage and maximize the chances of getting your data back. Even if you’re planning on using a data recovery firm to recover your data, these tips will help!

1. Don’t Make Things Worse.

Like the Hippocratic Oath that doctors take, your first responsibility is to do no harm. Use your hard drive as little as possible until all your data has been restored. The more you use your hard drive, the greater the chance that your data will be over written. Don’t launch any unnecessary programs and don’t copy any more files onto your disk. You should even avoid browsing the internet until your files have been safely recovered. One thing that may help is to delete some of your unnecessary files, creating extra space on your disk to lessen the chance that you will overwrite your lost data. Another possibility is to try to run System Restore to restore your computer settings to a time before you experienced the problem. This will only help you if your data loss is caused by a software problem – not a hardware problem.

2. Shut your computer down safely.

If you believe there is something wrong with your computer, shut it down as soon as you can. Don’t panic and keep trying different things to recover it right away or shut off your computer using the power button. Stay calm and relaxed as much as possible, shut down your computer properly, and get it to a professional as soon as you can.

3. Don’t try to take the hard drive apart yourself.

Unless you are a professional computer technician, the chances are very good that you’ll just cause more damage. Even if you don’t cause any physical damage, if the cover is taken off your hard drive, microscopic dust particles can get in and cause further problems. Data recovery professionals have laboratories where they ensure a dust and static free environment to complete your data recovery.

If you’re not taking your drive to a local data recovery firm, make sure that the drive is properly packaged for shipping. It is important to place the hard drive in an anti-static bag. Ideally, you should use the original packaging that your hard came in. If that’s not possible; use foam rubber as a wrap around the hard drive as this provides the best protection. Don’t use items such as newspaper or Styrofoam peanuts as they won’t secure your drive properly. Be sure that there are no empty spaces in the box which would allow the hard drive to move around and possibly suffer damage. Make sure you don’t drop your hard drive or expose it to extreme heat or cold.

4. If your computer is making unusual sounds, shut it down and don’t restart it.

Clicking, buzzing or grinding sounds can be a sign of serious damage to your computer. If this happens, shut it down right away and get your computer to a professional data recovery company.

5. Back up your files regularly.

This is probably obvious, but it’s something that many people fail to do. It’s easy to believe that this problem will never happen to you, but it can and does. Prevention is the key to minimizing the damage of losing your files. If your computer is currently running well, you can also install a data recovery program which may help retrieve your files in case you run into a problem later on.

6. Don’t give up.

Don’t just assume that it’s impossible to recover your data. Data recovery specialists can retrieve data from seemingly hopeless cases such as damage caused by natural disasters and severe damage due to water, fire, or smoke exposure. Just make sure that you get your hard drive to a reputable data recovery company as soon as you can so that they can do their best to retrieve your information. If your hard drive has been severely compromised, don’t even attempt to power up your computer, get it to a data recovery specialist as soon as possible.

If you have a computer, you’ve probably been here at one time or another. Your hard drive fails, taking it with it all of your most important data! It’s a nightmare that keeps many people who entrust their most important data to their computers up at night, especially those who haven’t been prudent enough to back up their data on a regular basis. There are many reasons why your drive could fail without warning, causing a data loss disaster, but many of these catastrophes are preventable.

Most failures can be grouped into two main categories: physical damage and logical corruption. Physical damage is injury to any of the hardware components of the drive, and logical corruption refers to the failure of the software associated with your drive. Here are the most common causes of data loss and what, if anything, you can do about them.

Physical damage

There are several types of physical damage that can occur, including:

Moisture contact. Excessive humidity can permanently damage your hard drive. The best defence is to keep your computer in a cool, dry room – away from any heating or air conditioning vents. A dehumidifier can be a worthwhile investment if your computer room tends to be damp.
Exposure to extreme heat or cold. This can cause the components of your drive to expand or contract due to the extreme temperatures and damage them.
Physical impact. Your drive is relatively sturdy, but is not meant to withstand the significant impact that comes with being dropped or hit. The impact can damage the internal components of the drive, causing your data to become irretrievable.
Defective components. There’s not much you can do about this one. If you suspect that your hard drive is defective in some way, take it to a data recovery specialist for evaluation. Identifying faulty components before the drive fails could save your data.
Power Surges. Make sure you have proper surge protection in place to protect your computer and hard drive.
Degrading read/write heads. Unfortunately, hard drives don’t last forever and components can wear out with time and usage. Over time the read/write heads can degrade to the point where they will no longer function properly. When this happens, it’s time to get a new hard drive.

Logical Corruption

Here are the most common logical corruption problems that you could experience:

Formatting problems. Formatting your hard drive erases the data that was previously stored. If you don’t backup your files, or if the drive is incorrectly formatted, you can lose your data.
Files accidentally deleted. In many cases, these files will be recoverable with the help of a professional technician or data recovery software.
Computer viruses. Computer viruses can cause all sorts of problems. Make sure you have the latest anti-virus software installed and update it regularly to protect yourself as well as you possibly can. In addition, be careful about which sites you download information from and be careful about opening unsolicited emails.
Damaged or corrupted RAID array configuration. RAID is an acronym for Redundant Array of Independent Disks. RAID arrays are used to store large amounts of data and provide backup in case one or more disks fail. If there is a configuration problem with your RAID array, it can lead to logical failures on your drive. A specialized data recovery firm can help you to correct the problem and retrieve your data.
Firmware corruption. Firmware is the embedded code that controls the hard drive functions. A corruption of the firmware can lead to the hard drive not being recognized in BIOS and the system being unable to communicate with your hard drive. Fortunately the likelihood of recovering your data is very high with this type of problem, providing you can fix the original problem.

If you’re unlucky enough to be in the position of having to recover your data after a crash, the best advice we can give is to get your computer to a professional data recovery specialist. The more you use a hard drive after it has been corrupted, the more likely it is that your data will be overwritten and you will be unable to recover your precious information.

One of the common methods of storing data involves a RAID system. The term RAID is an acronym for redundant array of independent disks. It was first designed in 1987 and is now used to refer to any method of data storage that separates and duplicates information among a series of disk drives.

RAID technology improves the reliability of your data storage by creating a network of disk drives on which your data is stored. That way, if one drive fails, your data is still protected, since it is stored on another drive in the array. This redundancy is in place to protect you against loss of your information. The likelihood that each drive in your array will fail simultaneously is quite small. As an added benefit, RAID data systems increase the speed and availability of your data.

Despite the relative safety of RAID data storage, the system can sometimes fail due to a number of problems such as:

Computer viruses
Power surges
Physical damage, such as fire, water or impact damage
Controller failure: Most RAID systems have multiple drives but only one controller. If the controller goes, so does the whole array
Multiple drive failure: It doesn’t happen very often, but since the drives in your system all experience about the same amount of working stress, once one drive fails, the other or others may not be far behind
Loss of or incorrect configuration of the drives
Reformatting problems
Occasional failure of one or more of the drives, which can cause deterioration in the RAID array over time

When a RAID failure happens it can have a catastrophic effect on your business. It goes without saying that the best defence against RAID data failure is to regularly back up your system. The relative safety of a RAID array can give you a false sense of security in the safety of your data, making you feel that backups aren’t needed – but this lack of forethought can spell disaster.

If and when disaster strikes, you have two options. You can purchase RAID data recovery software and have it installed prior to experiencing any problems. These data recovery programs can access your drives, assess and possibly repair the potential problem, provided that you don’t have a physical problems with array.

Flash drives are an inexpensive and effective data storage solution for people who want to store data somewhere other than their computer hard drive, usually for purposes of portability or data backup. Whether your flash drive has suffered some form of physical damage, or has a software problem, there are steps you can take to recover your data.

If you have a flash drive that is physically damaged, you will likely get an error message such as “USB device not recognized” or “Please insert removable disk” when you try to access it through your computer. If you’re asking yourself how you could have possibly damaged your drive, read on for some common causes of data loss that are typically quite preventable.

Causes of Data Loss

Virus attacks. Computer viruses are extremely common and easy to pick up. Even with the best anti-virus software out there today, it’s still possible to pick up a computer virus on occasion.
Accidentally deleted files. It’s very frustrating when it happens, but most of us have deleted files accidentally in the past and we likely will again. Fortunately, these files can usually be recovered with the help of a professional.
Lost or forgotten passwords for password protected areas of the drive. Another extremely frustrating experience, this one can and does happen. Of course, you should always write down your passwords and keep them in a secure place, but inaccessibility of data can often be caused by an incorrectly recorded or recently changed password.
Power surges or outages. It’s highly recommended to protect your electronics (including your computer!) from power surges and outages. This can cause irreparable damage and make data recovery very difficult.
Physical damage due temperature extremes. If your computer is exposed to very high or low temperatures, this can cause physical damage to its components. Always keep your computer in a cool, dry environment and consider using a dehumidifier to minimize the humidity in the room.
Physical damage due to fire, water or impact. It goes without saying that you should protect you computer and it’s components as much as possible. Your flash drive is no exception. Taking care in its handling and making sure it is well packaged and protected when you move it from one location to another will help to maintain the integrity of your data. Some forms of physical damage such as fire or flooding are difficult to protect against, but thankfully they happen much less frequently.

What You Can Do About Data Loss

If you have a physical problem with the flash drive, do not try to use data recovery software to retrieve the files.If the drive is damaged physically, data recovery software will not address the problem and is very likely to make matters worse. The more you use a damaged drive, the more likely it is that your files will be overwritten, making them unrecoverable. Your best bet in case of physical damage is to take the device to a data recovery specialist who can retrieve the data on the drive for you. You may find do-it-yourself instructions online to try to recover your own data, but doing so will further compromise the data in question and is not recommended.
If you have a software problem, there are a number of data recovery software programs that can help.These programs can help recover your data in case of loss due to accidental deletion, incorrectly formatted or corrupted flash drive, logical problems with the drive, or virus infection. Be careful in choosing a program, there are many of them out there and generally speaking, you get what you pay for. If your data is very important or sensitive, it may well be worth taking the drive to a data recovery specialist to give yourself the best chance of retrieving your information.
Back up your files regularly. The best thing you can do for the protection of your data and your peace of mind is to back up your files on a regular basis. The frequency of backup depends on how often you add new files and the sensitivity and importance of the information. Preventing file loss by having adequate backup is definitely preferable to trying to recover your information once it has been lost.

For many of us, our laptop is a handy tool at home and a vital part of our work lives. Losing the data on your laptop or notebook can be a potentially devastating experience. Luckily, in many situations your data can be recovered, provided you take the right steps and get it to a professional data recovery service, before your data is overwritten and lost forever.

The difficulty that you will have in recovering your data is related to the cause of the problem. As a general rule, software failures are generally easier to recover from than hardware failures. Damage to the actual hardware of the disk drive requires professional assistance and a lengthy process to recover your information. Software failures can often be fixed with data recovery programs, provided that you catch the problem early.

Here are some tips to follow that will decrease the risk of losing data from your laptop.

1. Protect your laptop. Their relative size and portability causes laptops to be much more prone to suffer physical damage than desktop computers. Laptops may seem to be sturdy, but they can be easily damaged by physical impact.

Try to prevent jarring and bumping your laptop if at all possible, this can damage the sensitive components of your hard drive.
Make sure to set up your laptop in a cool and dry place that is clean and as dust free as it can be. Use a dehumidifier in the room you most often use your laptop if it tends to be humid or damp.
If you suspect water damage to your laptop, immediately shut it down and remove all sources of power, including taking out the battery.
Store your laptop in a well padded laptop bag to give it extra protection when it’s being transported.

2. Keep your anti-virus software up to date. Install a good quality anti-virus program and run scans for virus on a regular basis. Computer viruses are a major cause of data loss and are relatively easy to pick up. Good anti-virus and spyware programs scan for unique items in the code of a virus and purge it from your computer.

3. Be aware of any unusual noises. If you hear strange sounds coming from your laptop, such as clicking or grinding sounds, shut your computer down and get it to a professional. Sounds such as these are very likely to indicate a hardware problem with your laptop’s hard drive. Continuing to use your laptop in this state may cause your data to be damaged beyond repair. Using software on a damaged hard drive can overwrite your files or may cause additional physical damage.

4. Make use of the Auto Save feature that comes with many applications. Many programs such as word processing programs come with auto save features that will automatically save your data every few minutes. The more frequently you save your data, the less likely it is to be lost.

5. Keep your battery well charged. If your battery runs down, your laptop may shut off quickly and cause you to lose information. If you are using your laptop for an extended period of time, it’s best to plug it so that you stay well-charged and don’t run into any problems.

6. Back up your data regularly. The importance of regularly backing up your important data can’t be overemphasized. Data loss emergencies can strike at any time and backing up your data on a regular basis is the only sure way to minimize the amount of information that is lost. Backing up your data can save you lost time, money and reduce the stress that comes with losing your files.

7. If you suffer data loss on your laptop, turn it off and stop using it until you have consulted a professional. This is standard advice for data loss on any computer. Continuing to use your laptop after data loss has occurred makes you more vulnerable to additional damage and makes it more likely that your data will be overwritten and lost for good. Don’t keep trying ‘experiments’ to see if you can recover your information, shut it down and take it to a reputable data recovery firm for evaluation and repair.