subject: Damaged Data Recovery - Don't Panic [print this page] Losing data that we have stored on the hard drives of our computer can indeed be a nightmare. If you have been careless or unlucky enough not to have back up files or at least an inventory of the files on your computer, you are going to be in big trouble. Initially, such things happened, very often and no one knew what to do. Data lost meant it was lost for ever.
Causes for Losing Data
Files can also be lost due to the hard drive crashing for some reason or other. Today however, lost data can be recovered by means of newly developed software that has been created specifically for this purpose. Before making use of these tools there are some things that you should keep in mind. The moment you realize that you have deleted a file, or you cannot retrieve data due to the hard drive being damaged, you should stop working on your computer altogether. In case you are wondering why that is, let me explain.
What Happens to Lost Files?
When you delete a file, it disappears from view. However, it is still in the system unless that space is taken over by new data. The cleared space is free to be used for fresh data or new software programs. The moment you start working on the computer, whatever you input into the hard drive will take over the free space left by the deleted files, resulting in the old data being erased forever. That is because of the manner in which the hard drive is programmed to store data in each sector. As stated earlier, any software program that has been created to search and find the deleted files can do so only if the files are hidden in the system and have not been over written.
How to Get the Lost Files Back
Damaged data recovery is pretty straightforward if the above has been adhered to. You should now surf the web and find some free software that has been created for the purpose of recovering damaged or deleted file. Download the software, but not to your computer, since you simply cannot use your own computer if you wish to recover your files. Use another computer to download the program and transfer it to a flash drive. Next, use your flash drive to install the file recovery software to your own computer. It will then be possible for the recovery program to discover your hidden files and restore them.
While there are tons of data recovery programs available on the internet, the ones that are more popular than the others are "NT Recovery" that can copy NTFS files to FAT files, "Fire Recovery" which is used to recover data as well as to check virus and "LDE Recovery" A very useful software program for those using Linux.
Call for Help
Most recovery programs work fine if the hard drives are not badly damaged. If however, physical damage has been caused to the hard drive due to fire, floods etc. it might have to be rebuilt which would take some time. Don't at any cost try to do this by yourself if you are not an expert. If the hard drive is badly damaged and the lost data is extremely important, you should definitely get a professional for the recovery of your damaged files as otherwise you might cause even all other data to be deleted.
