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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. |
