|
As in the medical profession, the first
principle of data recovery is: "do not harm".
If you are facing a data loss situation, what
not to do is very important!
- Do not power up a device that has obvious
physical damage.
- Do not power up a device that has shown
symptoms of physical failure. For example, disks that make "obvious mechanical
fault noises" such as ticking or grinding, should not be repeatedly powered on
and tested as it just makes them worse.
- Activate the write-protect switch or tab on
any problem removable media such as tape cartridges and floppies. (Many good
backups are overwritten during a crisis.)
- Do not use free software. This is very
important. Free data recovery software can be extremely dangerous and ruin your
chances for a successful data recovery. Many companies offer free data recovery
software -- also called Do-It-Yourself (DIY) data recovery software -- available
for download on their website.
| Even the best programs only work in very
specific situations. While these free tools that are available may help, they
usually only help if you are encountering one of a very few specific data loss
situations.
Some programs may cause further or permanent
data loss. While these programs are provided with good intention, even when
carefully used these utilities may cause recoverable data to be permanently lost
and may cause the loss of additional data.
Anyway, there is something you CAN do; if you
are having data access problems and your media has no symptoms of physical
failure or damage, try and check some obvious issues before deciding if you need
data recovery:
|
- Are the power and disk cables properly
connected?
- Is configuration or disk information correct?
- Try the defective unit with a different
adapter/controller interface or on a different computer.
- Is there an experienced technician at a local
store or the company help desk that you can consult, if these steps are beyond
your capabilities? (Make sure whoever is in contact with your data loss
situation is fully aware that they should do nothing during their
troubleshooting that will risk hurting your data.)
Doesn’t work? Don’t panic; if the damage
occurred to the drive's electronics, it most likely could be fixed. If the
damage occurred to the, for example, system areas of the disk, leaving the data
zone intact, those data could be theoretically, and (in some cases) practically,
recovered by a professional.
Look on the Net for data recovery companies,
ask them questions, explain them your situation. In most cases they will be able
to understand your problem and fix it for a fair price.
|
