Data Recovery: Beginners Tips

Right now you probably in a lot of mental pain, and all you're concerned about is recovering your data as quickly as possible - so we'll refrain from comments on the wisdom of regular back ups. The time for preventative measures has gone - the issue at hand is data recovery.

First - a simple tip could save you a lot of money. Take out your rolodex and get hold of your tech-savvy friends. If you're in luck, they'll offer to help, and if you're really lucky, they might even have some disk recovery software.

If you're out of luck, then get out your wallet or purse out now... because this is going to cost you. Also, be prepared for a lot of time being wasted - data recovery can take a long time.

The first thing to establish is what exactly is wrong with your hard disk:

• Either your computer won't boot up, or
• Your computer boots up OK but you can't see one of your other drives.

Let's see if we can eliminate the worst scenario. Listen closely to your hard drive - is it making any sort of weird noise, such as scratching, scraping, ticking etc?

If so, then your drive is physically damaged and the only hope that you have is to take it to a data recovery service where experts might be able to get your data off for you. These services are expensive and time consuming - so you need to make a judgement call as to the value of data on the disk:

• If it's only your saved game data or downloaded music files you would like back, you're probably better off kicking yourself for not backing up, and accepting the data loss.
• If, on the other hand, it's a book or other type of information product that you've been working on for years, then send it to a data recovery service for an evaluation and quote - it usually costs nothing.

If your hard disk sounds OK, then you stand a decent chance of recovering data yourself.

First you'll need to download some software to help you out.

Unfortunately, the better software utilities are not free, but the good news is that many allow you to try them out to see they can access the data. There are some freeware versions available but generally speaking these are not easy to use - no user interface / little documentation, or they are not very effective.

There's a list of recommended software on our site - http://www.recoverdatafiles.com - compare the different options then download a few of the trial versions.

Your next steps will be based on how your hard drive/s were setup:

• If you only have a single hard drive that has not been partitioned or split into different "logical" drives, you'll probably need to attach the hard drive to another computer that has enough space to store all your data. This can be quite technical so if you don't have the skills please get a computer savvy friend to help out.

  Another option is to purchase an external USB hard drive case. You can then simply slot the hard drive into the case and plug it into another PC using a USB port.

• If you have a multiple drive setup and your computer boots up fine, then it will merely be a case of getting the downloaded software to read the files and then copy them to another drive - provided you have a drive with enough space on it. If not, you'll need to attach the hard drive to another machine with enough spare capacity.
• The scenario where you have a multiple drive setup, where the problem drive is the one that contains your operating system files is more tricky.

  Look for a data recovery software package that has a boot disk option available. What this means is that when you start your computer with the boot disk in it, it will automatically run the data recovery program without trying to start windows. You should be able to see your files and then copy them across to another drive.

Hopefully these tips will enable you to get all your important files back.

Once you've had some time to recover, please take a look at the various articles on our website - our goal is to make it one of the best resources on data recovery.

For the past 20 years, Jeff Walters' interest has been in making the most effective use of a business's information assets. He has lead several data-to-information projects : ABC Costing, analytical CRM, datamart /data warehouse development, and Balanced Scorecard.

For help with data-related projects, contact Jeff Walters through either site: Data Recovery, or Customer Relationship Management

---

Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery - Reducing Your Risk Profile

Like all plans, there is an ultimate goal to achieve.... Read More

Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery - Selecting A Business Continuity Strategy

The risk analysis and business impact analysis have identified risks... Read More

3 Simple Steps To Organize Your Critical Online Home Based Business Directory

If You are running an Online Work at home Business... Read More

Want To Beat The Odds? Disaster Recovery Planning is Essential

Statistics show two out of five businesses go out of... Read More

Backup Your Data Or Lose Your Life!

Oh the perils of collecting those precious photos on your... Read More

Bill Gates Made Data Recovery Easy

Bill gates provided a ready made option in Microsoft windows,... Read More

How to Survive an Operating System Crash

"We apologize for the inconvenience, but Windows could not be... Read More

Is Your Backup Good Enough?

As someone who has seen quite a few hard drive... Read More

Hard Drive Crash? The Essential Data Recovery Report

Your worst nightmare just became a horrifying reality. You keep... Read More

5 RAID Data Recovery Prevention Tips

If you have spent the time to increase your computer's... Read More

The Seven Golden Rules Of Data Backups

Backups of company data are carried out for two main... Read More

Data Backup Solution: Why You Need a Backup Plan in Place ? Part 1

Is a data backup solution part of your computer plans?... Read More

Offsite Data Backup Not Just for Fortune 500 Companies Anymore

In today's high paced digital world there is a very... Read More

Data Recovery

Every person who uses a personal computer will eventually face... Read More

Data Backups ? One Key to Business Survival

Your customer data is a precious resource that can literally... Read More

5 Simple Tips to Prevent MS Access Database Corruption

It's important to understand that any time an Access client... Read More

Protect Yourself Before Your Hard Drive Crashes

Almost everyone who has used a computer has experienced a... Read More

9 Things to Look for when Considering Data Backup Solutions

It's one thing to loose data and money because of... Read More

Read This Now: Its Not If You Will Lose Your Data, Its When Will You Lose Your Data

With Adware, SpyWare, E-Mail Viruses, Java Script Viruses and Hardware... Read More

Backup 101 - How To Pick The Right Backup Software

Vision Backup 10 Enterprise is an advanced and easy-to-use backup... Read More

Do You Have The One Key Ingredient Necessary For Disaster Recovery?

It is not rocket science, we all know that we... Read More

I Lost It! Simple Guide To Recovering Corrupted Images And Files

WinUndelete WinUndelete? is an easy to use undelete software utility... Read More

Big Time Disaster Recovery Solutions Available for the Little Guy

There was a time - not too long ago -... Read More

Computer Data Recovery Options

Losing files on your computer can be a frightening experience... Read More

The Importance of Data Backups

All computers and their components are subject to failure. In... Read More

Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery - The Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Plan

Essentially, the plan addresses the who, what, where, why and... Read More

Data Recovery - You Can Get It Back!

Data recovery is a process whereby you can save data... Read More

Data Backup for Beginners

It's 10pm. Do you know where your data is?Data. Small... Read More

Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery - Risk Analysis and Control

In the risk evaluation phase, there are a number of... Read More

The Importance Of Email Backup

Viruses, software failures, power failures, human errors, hard drive failures... Read More

3 Ways Computers Can Hurt Your Ministry - Part 1 - Ineffective Data Backups

Our computers have become almost indispensable ministry tools. What would... Read More

Its All In The Planning - Surviving Disaster

ITS ALL IN THE PLANNING - PREPARING FOR THE UNTHINKABLE*... Read More

Backup -- But Where To?

We all know we have to backup regularly, but those... Read More