Your Hard Disk Failed... Don't Panic !
By Emanuele Allenti, Wed Dec 7th
Inability to access your data stored on the data storage devicecould be caused by many reasons, from those that are easy to fixto those which are completely impossible to fix. If the damageis irreversible then data loss will occur. The causes of thefailure of your hard drive or CD-ROM drive could vary from a badconnection due to a loose wire (which is easily recoverable) todamage to the media itself, which could still be recoverable inmany cases.
As in the medical profession, the first principle of datarecovery is: "do not harm".
If you are facing a data loss situation, what not to do is veryimportant!
- Do not power up a device that has obvious physical damage.
- Do not power up a device that has shown symptoms of physicalfailure. For example, disks that make "obvious mechanical faultnoises" such as ticking or grinding, should not be repeatedlypowered on and tested as it just makes them worse.
- Activate the write-protect switch or tab on any problemremovable media such as tape cartridges and floppies. (Many goodbackups are overwritten during a crisis.)
- Do not use free software. This is very important. Free datarecovery software can be extremely dangerous and ruin yourchances for a successful data recovery. Many companies offerfree software -- also called Do-It-Yourself (DIY)data recovery software -- available for download on theirwebsite. Even the best programs only work in very specificsituations. While these free tools that are available may help,they usually only help if you are encountering one of a very fewspecific data loss situations. Some programs may cause furtheror permanent data loss. While these programs are provided withgood intention, even when carefully used these utilities maycause recoverable data to be permanently lost and may cause theloss of additional data.
Anyway, there is something you CAN do; if you are having dataaccess problems and your media has no symptoms of physicalfailure or damage, try and check some obvious issues beforedeciding if you need data recovery:
- Are the power and disk cables properly connected? - Isconfiguration or disk information correct? - Try the defectiveunit with a different adapter/controller interface or on adifferent computer. - Is there an experienced technician at alocal store or the company help desk that you can consult, ifthese steps are beyond your capabilities? (Make sure whoever isin contact with your data loss situation is fully aware thatthey should do nothing during their troubleshooting that willrisk hurting your data.)
Doesn't work? Don't panic; if the damage occurred to the drive'selectronics, it most likely could be fixed. If the damageoccurred to the, for example, system areas of the disk, leavingthe data zone intact, those data could be theoretically, and (insome cases) practically, recovered by a professional.
Look on the Net for companies, ask them questions,explain them your situation. In most cases they will be able tounderstand your problem and fix it for a fair price.
About the author:Emanuele Allenti is the owner of Backup anddata recover tips, a website with useful information writtenby experts for those interested in backup and data recovery
Additional
Resources
Datarecoverynet.com Enters Medical Industry
By Woody Bowers, Thu Dec 8th
Palm Beach Gardens FL- Florida based data recovery service,DataRecoveryNet.com, launched a new service directed toward themedical community aimed at curtailing the loss of private andvital patient Read more...
|
Additional
Resources
The Essential Data Recovery Report
By Greg Duffield, Wed Dec 7th
Your worst nightmare just became a horrifying reality. You keephearing that little voice in your head mockingly shout “youshould have backed that stuff up” The voice keeps echoingthroughout your Read more...
|
We strive to provide only quality articles, so
if there is a specific topic related to data recovery that
you would like us to cover, please contact us at any time.
And again, thank you to those contributing
daily to our data disk drive hard recovery seagate website.
