Home PC users or even business users may not be familiar with data recovery software or services until disaster strikes. In this short article we will give a brief overview of what causes data loss, explain how can it be prevented and should the worse happen give some dos and don'ts.
What causes data loss?
The most common failure is that of hard disk drive which is ultimately inevitable as they are essentially electro-mechanical devices and are therefore susceptible to electronic component failure, motor bearing failure, head crash / failure which can be caused by shock, bad sectors, and fire or flood damage.
Other media such as flash based storage that you find in USB sticks and camera media are susceptible to electronic component failure, static discharge as well as physical damage.
Human nature is also a common cause of data loss regardless of the type of media involved. This could be caused by deleting data, formatting the wrong drive, downloading a virus, making mistakes while backing up or by physically damaging the media.
Prevention is better than cure
However there are some simple steps that can help prevent data loss and which helps keep your files protected.
Maintain a regular backup - Whether this is via online backup, automated software connected to a backup server or simply copying your data to an external hard drive it is vital that you have some form of backup strategy.
Test your back up - Once you have done a backup attempt a restoration of the data to make sure the process has completed successfully. Larger organisations especially should not only maintain existing backup strategies but also make regular tests of the backup's to make sure nothing is being missed and that everything is working correctly.
Archive backups - DVD and CD are an excellent choice for long term storage of your data if you are a home user and it is wise to keep multiple backups. For business users tape or Network Attached Storage are common methods for archiving data.
When it all goes wrong
Even with the best will in the world data loss can occur, if this does happen first thing to do is not to fall into a state of panic. Doing so will only exasperate the problem.
The second thing to do even if you wish to attempt a recovery yourself is seek professional advice on the best way to tackle the problem, doing so will greatly reduce the chances of further data loss and maximise the chances of retrieving your lost data. A reputable data recovery company will guide you on what steps you should take whether this is recommending software for you to try or giving you alternative solutions.
If you do use software to attempt the recovery the one golden rule to stuck to is never ever recover the data to the same drive as you are attempting to recover from, doing so will overwrite the data you are attempting to retrieve. It is best practice not to even install or run data recovery software directly on the target machine.
One further word of caution, should you be facing a loss of data from a hard drive with a physical fault, we would strongly advise you not to attempt any kind of data recovery on hard drive yourself, doing so may well render the data as lost for good. Instead power it down a call a professional data recovery company straight away.
What causes data loss?
The most common failure is that of hard disk drive which is ultimately inevitable as they are essentially electro-mechanical devices and are therefore susceptible to electronic component failure, motor bearing failure, head crash / failure which can be caused by shock, bad sectors, and fire or flood damage.
Other media such as flash based storage that you find in USB sticks and camera media are susceptible to electronic component failure, static discharge as well as physical damage.
Human nature is also a common cause of data loss regardless of the type of media involved. This could be caused by deleting data, formatting the wrong drive, downloading a virus, making mistakes while backing up or by physically damaging the media.
Prevention is better than cure
However there are some simple steps that can help prevent data loss and which helps keep your files protected.
Maintain a regular backup - Whether this is via online backup, automated software connected to a backup server or simply copying your data to an external hard drive it is vital that you have some form of backup strategy.
Test your back up - Once you have done a backup attempt a restoration of the data to make sure the process has completed successfully. Larger organisations especially should not only maintain existing backup strategies but also make regular tests of the backup's to make sure nothing is being missed and that everything is working correctly.
Archive backups - DVD and CD are an excellent choice for long term storage of your data if you are a home user and it is wise to keep multiple backups. For business users tape or Network Attached Storage are common methods for archiving data.
When it all goes wrong
Even with the best will in the world data loss can occur, if this does happen first thing to do is not to fall into a state of panic. Doing so will only exasperate the problem.
The second thing to do even if you wish to attempt a recovery yourself is seek professional advice on the best way to tackle the problem, doing so will greatly reduce the chances of further data loss and maximise the chances of retrieving your lost data. A reputable data recovery company will guide you on what steps you should take whether this is recommending software for you to try or giving you alternative solutions.
If you do use software to attempt the recovery the one golden rule to stuck to is never ever recover the data to the same drive as you are attempting to recover from, doing so will overwrite the data you are attempting to retrieve. It is best practice not to even install or run data recovery software directly on the target machine.
One further word of caution, should you be facing a loss of data from a hard drive with a physical fault, we would strongly advise you not to attempt any kind of data recovery on hard drive yourself, doing so may well render the data as lost for good. Instead power it down a call a professional data recovery company straight away.
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