Software Articles Free Reprint Articles Submit Articles Add Content

When you experience the loss of invaluable and irreplaceable data on your computer systems, the first order of business for you is to either mitigate the loss or recover as much of the lost data as possible. While there are hundreds – and dare we say thousands – of data recovery companies all touting their own data recovery experts, you will still look out for the right one to meet your needs.

1. Expertise – Each data recovery expert has his own forte to speak of. Some experts focus on different media or different problem areas. Ask your data recovery expert which media and problem area he does best.

Some companies are better when dealing hard disks, while some are better working with CD-ROM media. Keep in mind that each media required different expertise and different facilities. For example crashed hard disks require Class 100 cleanroom facilities.

The data recovery company you will deal with should have Class 100 clean room facilities to deal with such instruments. Class 100 facilities means that the area has only 100 airborne particles larger than .05 microns per square foot. This ensures that further damage to the drives is avoided when they are disassembled.

If they do not have these facilities, you may want to move on to another data recovery company.

It may seem awkward, but it would be best if one were to ask about the qualifications of the engineers in a data recovery company. If they can roll out a wad of certifications and experience, one would be less inclined towards anxiety whether their data is in good hands.

2. Services and Charges – You should also be aware of the services they offer and the charges for such. Some companies offer more services than others – services such as preventive measures installation, additional training, etc.

Some companies offer services that not only involve taking care of your problems when they are there already, but involves helping you prevent these problems from happening in the first place. As they always say, prevention is better than cure.

Also, make sure you know the charge scheme of your data recovery company. Some will charge per amount of data recovered, as in per kilobyte or per megabyte. Some will offer a comprehensive charging plan that involves the whole service.

Whatever the charging scheme, make sure you understand it fully and are amenable with it. Some companies will charge you even for estimation of media damage. You might be able to negotiate against this charge as many companies will offer this for free – especially when they consider that there has been a sudden explosion of the number of those that offer these services.

3. Other Considerations – Although most companies have this in their policy, it would do no harm to review their policies on the confidentiality of your data. Some companies may retain backups of your data either as archives, for your added safety, or maybe just because they do not have procedures for disposing of such data.

If your data is confidential in nature, then you may arrange a confidentiality clause in your contract or agreement.

Also keep in mind that charges for the recovery of data for physical errors and logic errors differ. Ask your data expert to help you evaluate what kind of problem you are looking at.

Our society now has become fast paced and individuals feel the need to cope up thus the popularity of laptops. These machines allow individuals to carry out their daily tasks even when they are not at home or in the office. Most companies nowadays allow their employees to telecommute or bring their work at home. However, because laptops are mobile, the danger of data loss is higher compared to the desktop pc.

To avoid paying a lot of money and saving yourself from trouble of losing all your important data, backing up your files once a week is recommended. Back up your files using CD-RW or DVD-RW or you can backup your files online.

But if the worse has happened and you have already lost your files because you accidentally dropped your laptop, because of hard drive failure, accidental deletion, virus attacks and corruption, or physical damage from fire or other disasters, I suggest you seek professional help immediately.

Contacting a data recovery service as soon as possible is the most logical thing to do. Trying to recover the data yourself may do more harm than good.

Data recovery services are fast, reliable, and safe. You may research your neighborhood for data recovery service companies that specialize in laptop data recovery.

If you can’t find a laptop data recovery company in your local area, you can always search the internet. There are a lot of great companies that offer data retrieval services for laptops and they allow shipping of your laptop to their laboratories and once they have retrieved your data, your laptop and files will be sent back to you.

Generally, data recovery process for a desktop hard drive is rather the same compared to laptops. The only difference is quite obvious; a laptop’s hard drive is typically smaller and a bit more difficult to handle. Engineers would have to be more careful because one wrong move may bring all those important data down the drain.

Once you have contacted a data recovery service that would retrieve your files, their engineers or technicians will assist you and ask you a series of questions regarding the problem. You will then have to send your laptop to their laboratories or if you choose to have an on-site service, meaning they will be the ones who will come to your home or office, you could do so but usually for an additional fee. They will then evaluate your laptop’s case and suggest what kind of data recovery you will need.

Data recovery service for laptops usually won’t cost you anything if the data recovery attempt is not successful. Evaluation of your laptop is also usually free and if they are confident that they can retrieve your data, they will give you a quote on how much you are going to pay.

During urgent situations, these laptop data recovery companies can also do an emergency data retrieval for your laptop. This process usually lasts between 24 to 48 hours.

Data recovery for your laptop can be really expensive. Companies charge depending on how severely damaged your laptop is or how long it will take them to retrieve your files.

However, the amount that you are going to pay them is worthwhile if the data stored in your laptop are important especially if these data are work related.

Most people do not realize the importance of backing up their files. As the cliché goes, you only realize the importance of something once it is gone. You accidentally delete your file or your hard drive goes nuts. Now your files are gone, and you feel miserable, depressed and frustrated because those are precious files. May it be work-related, school-related, sentimental value-related, you now feel the impact of your lost files because those files are indeed important.

So now what are you going to do? You can wallow in grief and learn your lesson to back up your files the next time.

But you can’t help but think of how important those files were. Your boss is going to be raging mad. Those reports should be submitted on time. Is there a way to recover them?

Of course there is.

If you accidentally deleted a file from the recycle bin, don’t fret. You could still recover that file because it is not completely deleted. Windows only modifies the first letter of the file name in the disk’s bookkeeping system so technically the file is still there. In order for you to recover that file, the file’s original name and retags should be restored before Windows overwrites it.

Because Windows hasn’t exactly deleted your files, it is only sensible that you do not anymore save anything on the hard drive. Why? Because once you have saved a new file, your deleted file (that you badly need to recover) will be overwritten to give way to the newly saved file.

You do not want that to happen right? So leave it as is or else you could do more damage than ease out the situation.

Now what? There is no magic formula to recover your files. To recover your files you will need a special recovery software or utility.

There are many commercially available recovery tools that you could use. Most of these tools access the disk through an operating system. Search the internet for programs that can restore your files. But before you actually buy a product that you think will work, read and research on several product reviews so that you not only get to recover your files but you also get your money’s worth.

If you can’t afford to spend on special recovery tools, you can find freeware restoration utilities on the internet. FINDNTFS, NTFS reader for DOS, TESTDISK, PC Inspector and Restoration are good freeware restoration tools that you can use.

If unfortunately all else fails, your last option is to hire a professional data recovery service but be prepared to shell out some serious cash. Prices can range from $300 to $4000. Just make sure you look a for a data recovery service that is reliable and won’t charge you if you can’t recover your data.

Also if you already decided to seek professional help, be prepared to supply them with your PC’s necessary information like drive size, operating system, and the cause of failure.

Now you have learned your lesson. Data loss is due to many reasons; user error, software error, hard drive failures, etc. Hard drives are not immortal; they too wear out, get defects and eventually die. You are not perfect; you make mistakes and accidentally delete things. You can prevent costly data recovery and other hassles if you will back up those files.

Due to the advancements in technology, computers have become an essential tool used both for business and personal purposes. It is quite difficult to keep up with the times without a computer with an Internet connection which will keep you updated. With the onslaught of the Internet, it has become an even more essential tool.

If you have a computer set and you have been using it for some time to store data, one of the most dreaded problems that you might - and you will encounter – is a hard drive crash.

At one time or another, you would have accidentally deleted a file and if you are not very computer-savvy, you might think that there is no way for you to recover your data.

When this happens, all you have to do is look into your ‘Recycle Bin’ or Trash folder if the file is still there and restore the file by dragging it onto the desktop. You can also use a file-recovery system which can scan your disk for recoverable data.

However, it is a different case once your hard disk crashes. You may lose all of the important data stored on your hard drive and without a dependable back-up system, you might not think it possible to restore the lost files.

Do not lose hope because there is still a number of solutions available out there to recover your lost data in case your hard drive crashes. First, take a look at the symptoms of a hard drive crash, which would mean that all the important data stored on your computer may be lost:

1. You hear a ’clicking’ sound on your hard drive. This basically means that you may have a corrupted ROM or read-only memory chip, or it could also be caused by an electrical problem.

2. You see a blue screen while booting up your computer. This may mean that your computer’s OS or operating system is corrupted or damaged.

3. Your computer often re-boots, restarts, hangs, or freezes. This may be caused by a virus on your PC, that is why it continually restarts or re-boots even in the middle of an operation. A bad sector causes your computer to freeze or hang while processing data.

4. You keep on receiving error messages while in the middle of an operation. You may receive a “Drive not formatted” error which means that the partition of your hard drive is damaged.

Another error message that you may receive is “Operating system not found”. This error appears when your OS is or the files on your hard drive are damaged.

Should you encounter any of these hard drive crash symptoms, here are some “first-aid solutions”:

- Turn your PC off if you hear a clicking sound on your hard drive, and if you are technologically challenged, get professional help – quick! – before losing your precious data.

- Take note of what happened, how your PC behaved, and remember any error messages to make it easier for a technician to troubleshoot.

- Use a data recovery software in the event of a hard drive crash. Such software which recovers data includes tools to restore deleted files from your Recycle Bin folder. It can also restore damaged and lost files caused by a virus, or power outage, or bad disk sectors.

-Windows and MAC users should also be aware of the basic file recovery capabilities offered by the system of these computers.

Finally, it is always a good practice to take preventive measures even before your hard drive crashes. Make it a habit to back up and even double back-up your most important files.

If worse comes to worst, you can always get the services of a hard drive recovery expert or get the services of a hard drive data recovery specialist.

Forbid it that you have to experience a major hard disk crash – containing a lifetime of work – before considering the importance of your company’s data. Since today’s economy is becoming increasingly technology driven, the loss of sensitive data without backups is tantamount having your business burn down to the ground.

However, if this has already happened to you, then this must be a terrible time for you. If the hard disk that contains all the important data of your company –which costs a fortune – has totally crashed, then you will need to employ the services of a professional data recovery expert.

Most data recovery services will tend to be pricey; no matter how much you may wince at the price they may quote you, the fact remains that in most cases, the data you may lose could very well be worth ten time more than that anyway.

But still it remains that you have to know how to choose and deal with a data recovery service provider to make sure you don’t get the raw end of the deal.

1. Assess You Loss – First of all, you will have to assess the data loss you are experiencing. If the data is dispensable, then you may want to just suck down the loss. If the data is valuable but ultimately not invaluable – you may try some data recovery techniques that you can perform yourself – software recovery and other like methods.

If the data is invaluable – then you might want to hold your horses and employ a professional software recovery company to do the work itself. It would also be advisable that you refrain from doing anything to your hard disk as you could very well exacerbate the damage to the drive. All you should do is secure the offending drive and set it aside properly.

2. Choose the Right Company - When considering a data recovery company, always consider whether they have the right equipment and facilities to deal with your data recovery needs. You will want to choose the right company to deal with the kind of media you need recovered – hard disks, CD-ROMS, tape media, etc.

Many hard disk failures due to motor head crashes or other physical malfunctions in the media will require that the disk be opened and possibly disassembled in the data recovery company’s laboratories. Hard disks are sensitive, precision instruments and cannot be opened and exposed to our normal environment.

The data recovery company you will deal with should have Class 100 clean room facilities to deal with such instruments. Class 100 facilities means that the area has only 100 airborne particles larger than .05 microns per square foot. This ensures that further damage to the drives is avoided when they are disassembled.

Also, just because a data recovery company charges much for its services does not mean that they are better than the rest. Since the data recovery business is becoming increasingly saturated, it would do good to shop around for the best service at the right price.

Beware of bait and switch schemes some data recovery companies perform. They will quote you a price saying that they are willing to perform the job for let’s say $600 - $2800. You will be attracted to the lower end quotation of the job - $600. Unfortunately, more often than not, they will charge you the higher end price - $2800.

Hard drives are usually reliable devices that store all your important files and data. Today’s Information Age runs on data, making the storage of such worth its weight in gold.
However, no matter how evolved this technology has become, these media devices are still prone to serious errors that could result in the loss of invaluable data. Hard drives may crash or may develop logical errors.

Most data crashes occur when some physical or logical error is introduced into a system. Hard disks, CD-ROMs, Tape Drives and other storage media can and will fail eventually. This could be caused by a host reasons – power outages, physical damage to media, head crashes, motor problems and the like.

Whatever the reason, you will need a means to restore all this data. This is especially true if for some reason the deleted, destroyed or corrupted data contains information that is not backed up or existing in any other location anyway.

You will also want to get your hard disk in running order again, if that is possible.

Signs and Symptoms to Look out For

Most hard disks show signs of croaking before completely crashing. Symptoms of an impending crash include frequent disk error messages, the disk not showing during start up, garbled information regarding the disk when analyzed, and weird clicking or whirring sounds.

If you notice any of these back up at all costs! This ensures that you at least have your data safe before anything untoward happens to your hard disk.

Some disks suddenly croak without a warning. You can, however, gauge and maintenance your hard disk by running a check disk utility to scan and repair logical errors. Bad sectors get marked too so data is no longer stored there.

Reasons for a Crash

Hard disks crash for various reasons. One of the more predictable offenders is unstable power supply. When there is a sudden power outage or sudden power surge, hard disks can take quite a pounding. Aside from physically damaging the disk, logical errors to the disk’s file system can be traced to this reason.

Logical errors for such happen when the disk suddenly loses power while it is writing critical information to the disk. Such errors can make the data on the disk unreadable unless the file system is corrected.

Viruses and malicious code can also be a cause for a crash, as well as the ill handling of a disk – sudden shock, dropping, or magnetizing can seriously damage your hard disk.

What to do

If you hard disk does crash, the simplest thing to do is to go for your back ups. If the data you need is not backed up. You can try recovering the data yourself.

There are softwares available that can help recover your hard disk’s data and even make your hard disk usable again. These softwares try a low-level read and access of your hard disk and are usually able to at least recover some of the data.

Some software applications can recover deleted or corrupt data. They also are able to correct file system errors and logical errors that beset your hard disk.

But in the case of truly important data, like that of company data and others, you may want to employ the services of a data recovery expert. They have both the expertise and equipment to handle a problem like yours.

To a company, the loss of integral data can spell death to daily operations and can cause serious financial repercussions. It is therefore important that a company be always on the guard against the eventuality that a company’s IT hardware may fail or be lost.

Most data crashes occur when some physical or logical error is introduced into a system. Hard disks, CD-ROMs, Tape Drives and other storage media can and will fail eventually. This could be caused by a host reasons – power outages, physical damage to media, head crashes, motor problems and the like.

Whatever the reason, you will need a means to restore all this data. This is especially true if for some reason the deleted, destroyed or corrupted data contains information that is not backed up or existing in any other location anyway.

Although many corporations have IT personnel and facilities to deal with such data failures, in extreme cases, it would be better to employ the services of a data recovery company. They are better equipped and have the expertise to handle these sorts of problems.

Here are a few tips to help any company in assessing a data recovery company to partner with.

1. Facilities – When considering a data recovery company, always consider whether they have the right equipment and facilities to deal with your data recovery needs.

Many hard disk failures due to motor head crashes or other physical malfunctions in the disk will require that the disk be opened and possibly disassembled in the data recovery company’s laboratories. Hard disks are sensitive, precision instruments and cannot be opened and exposed to our normal environment. Dust and particles in normal environment can wreak havoc on any sensitive media an will result in your media suffering more damage than warranted – further harming your chances of saving the data on the disks.

Ask around if the data recovery center has mechanical cleanrooms that are Class 100. You might want to inquire if they also possess integral equipment such as magnetometers to manually extract the bits from your media.

If they do not have these facilities, you may want to move on to another data recovery company.

2. Partnership – While most people consider data recovery companies as walk in and walk out services, it would be prudent to invest in a relationship with a data recovery center that offers long-term services to its customers.

For example, some data recovery companies will offer training programs to help a company minimize the effects and causes of common data loss problems. They will also teach one’s IT department how to handle such situations so that recovery by the data company can be expedited.

There are also companies that will offer certifications to a company’s IT department to help solidify that company’s data management credentials.

3. Know Your Needs – Not all data recovery needs are equal. Some companies specialize in optical media. Others specialize in magnetic media. While others are tops when handling tape storage.

You will first have to assess your needs before contacting a recovery company with your needs. Make sure the company you approach can sufficiently handle that situation for you.

4. Look for Expertise – It may seem awkward, but it would be best if one were to ask about the qualifications of the engineers in a data recovery company. If they can roll out a wad of certifications and experience, one would be less inclined towards anxiety whether their data is in good hands.

Managing records or documents is a key task in every business. It involves identifying, classifying, storing, circulating and disposing of documents among others. Each of these activities involves multifarious, minor tasks that are often time consuming and costly. This is not such a problem these days though because computers and other technologies are available to make managing of documents easier, less expensive and more convenient.

Generally, transferring of data into a machine-readable form (so that they can be stored electronically) is referred to as data entry. The most familiar way of doing it is by typing. Today, data entry includes other methods such as scanning documents and speech recognition.

The first computer program used to track stored documents and other records is the Document Management System (DMS). Today however, document Management is being used to differentiate imaging from records management focused on capturing images and managing of records, respectively.

Document imaging is the latest technologies used today in order to capture, store and manage documents that are scanned. Scanning documents prove to be more beneficial, as it reduces time spent for the collection of data, and it reduces the size of data files as well. Compared to the scanned images, the electronic documents stored using earlier technology or computer program are prone to changes that require tracking and security authorization.

Transforming the data into document imaging is called data conversion. For an average-sized company, it can be done simply with the use of a scanning machine. A typical scanner can manage to scan twenty-page document in a minute, but a high-speed scanner can do the job faster.

For larger companies with a considerably high volume of documents that need to be stored, document imaging company can be the best solution. These companies provide fast and affordable data conversion services.

Hard Disk: An Introduction

Hard disk is a non-volatile data storage device that stores electronic data on a magnetic surface layered onto hard disk platters. Word
“Hard” is use to differentiate it from a soft, or floppy disk. Hard disks hold more data and can store from 10 to more than 100 gigabytes, whereas most floppies have a maximum storage capacity of 1.4 megabytes. Normally term hard disk is much familiar with computers only but it is widely used as network attached storage for large volume storage. Furthermore, appliance of hard disk drives spread out to video recorders, audio players, digital organizers, digital cameras, and even in latest cellular telephones.

Reynold Johnson invented first hard disk in 1955 for IBM 305 computer with 24 inch platters and total capacity of five million characters, and in 1956 - first commercial hard disk was launched with 5 megabyte capacity, the IBM 350 RAMAC disk drive. Within time frame of 50 years and rapid progress in technical enhancement, we have now reached to latest 2006 - First 750 GB hard drive from (Seagate) and First 200 GB 2.5″ Hard Drive utilizing Perpendicular recording (Toshiba).

Hard disk consists four basic components:

The Platters: Platters are the actual disks inside the drive that store the magnetized data. Conventional platters are made of a light aluminum alloy and coated with magnetize-able material but latest technology uses glass or ceramic platters as they are thinner and also heat resisting. Most drives have at least two platters and the larger the storage capacity of the drive, the more platters there are.

The Spindle Motor: Hard disk drive consists of a spindle on which the platters spin at a constant RPM. Moving along and between the platters on a common arm are read-write heads. The platters in a drive are divided by disk spacers and are clamped to a revolving spindle that turns all the platters in a uniform motion. The spindle motor is built right into the spindle and rotates the platters at a constant set rate ranging from 3,600 to 7,200 RPM.

The Read/Write Heads: Read/write heads read and write
data to the platters, and each head is fixed to a single actuator shaft so that
all the heads move in harmony. Typically, only one of the heads is active at a
time either reading or writing data, if not in use, the heads are inactive, but when
it is in motion the spinning of the platters generate air pressure that lifts the heads off the platters. The space between the platter and the head is so minute that even one dust particle or a fingerprint could disable the spin. When the platters cease spinning the heads come to rest, at a preset position on the heads, called the landing zone.

The Head Actuator: All the heads are attached to a single head actuator arm, which moves the heads around the platters. The
actuator arm moves the heads on an arc across the platters as they spin, allowing each head to access almost the entire surface of the platter. Contemporary hard drives use a voice coil actuator, which controls the movement of a coil toward or away from a permanent magnet based on the amount of current flowing through it.

Fundamental structures of all hard disk are same, and are composed of the same physical features, but their performance depends on the quality of their inner components.

Hard Disk Failure:

Hard Disk Failure occurs when a hard disk drive malfunctions and the accumulate data cannot be accessed. It may happen in the course of normal operation due to an internal or external factor. Disk failure varies and the most common is “Head Crash” where the internal read and write head of a device touches a platter or magnetic storage surface often grinding away the magnetic surface. Head hover just micrometers from the platters plane which makes such collision a common one. This sort of crash usually invites severe data loss and unprofessional data recovery attempts results further damage to the remaining data. Hard drive also includes other controller electronics i.e., semiconductors, valves or electronic circuits, and major components such as Platters, Spindle Motor and Head Actuator. Failure on any of these devices may cause a hard disk failure.

Factors that causes disk failure are numerous, yet most common are power surges, voltage fluctuations, electronic malfunction, physical shock, wear and tear, corrosion, exposure to high magnetic waves, sharp impact, high temperature exposure etc.

The phenomena of hard disk failure is raising higher, as to increase the read and write speed, today we have latest hard disk rotating amazingly faster and this immense revolving speed generates massive centrifugal force, a single adverse cause in the course of normal operation can cause severe hard disk failure.

Hard Disk Data Recovery:

Hard disk data recovery is the process of recovering the trapped data from the damage hard disk device, when it can not be accessed in normal circumstance. Several
techniques are used for retrieving data from damaged disk and techniques vary accordingly. It can be done by moving disk drive to a working CPU, or may have to open the disk drive and replace parts such as read/write heads, arms and chips, and sometime the platters have to be removed and placed into another drive. Physical damage can not be repaired by the general users, as it requires clean and dust free lab environment;
in addition, proper technical expertise. Under microscopic observation, with proper tool and techniques, the damage drive is put on to
test for data salvaging.

Digital Image Recovery Service