We store a lot of important data on our computer hard drives. And the loss of data may cause a lot of financial loss, especially if the data consists of business reports. Fortunately, it’s easy to recover lost data but you have only one chance at it. In this article, we have shared some tips that will help you improve the chances of recovery and prevent accidental damage. Read on to find out more.
1. Physical Damage
If you hear odd noises from the disk, disconnect the power right away. You should take the same action if you find slow system performance, jumbled file names, or missing files. Not disconnecting the power will physically damage the spindle, platters, or read/write heads.
2. Logical Damage
Disconnect the power supply if you have accidentally deleted important files or formatted a drive. If you perform a proper shutdown process, it will help overwrite some data and prevent further damage.
3. Hardware/Software Installation
If you are unable to access your data after the installation of new hardware or software, all you need to do is undo the new installation. Some examples of new hardware include USB-powered accessories, sound cards, and PCI cards, to name a few.
4. Electronic Failures
Take out the drive and install it on another computer. If it doesn’t show in the BIOS or make any noise, take it to a professional for repair.
5. Firmware Damage
If the drive doesn’t load the OS, shut down the PC right away. You should do the same if the drive shows incorrect information, such as incorrect file names, unreadable files, wrong model number or wrong size.
6. Remove the Drive
If you want to remove the drive from your PC, unplug your computer before detaching the cables. Also, it’s important that you ground yourself so that the components don’t suffer any static damage.
7. DIY Data Recovery
If your HD has not sustained physical damage, you can install it on another PC to verify the file system integrity. But if you come to know that the OS is corrupt or the host PC has hardware issues, you may recover your data without a problem.
8. RAID
Turn off the server and get help from a professional if the data is really important to you.
9. SQL Server
Copy your data on another drive before you try any repairs. Also, you can open a support ticket to get help from Microsoft or take the drive to a data recovery service. Don’t forget to provide the professional with priority list tables and database structure.
10. MS Exchange
Before trying any repairs, make sure you copy your important files including.LOG,.STM and.EDB.
11. Call a Professional
If none of these tricks work for you, we suggest that you get in touch with a professional. They will help you recover your data in a professional fashion.
In short, we suggest that you follow these tips if you want to improve your chance of recovering your lost data. Hope this helps.
If you are looking for a good hard drive data recovery professional, we suggest that you try Belfast data recovery. They offer the best services when it comes to recovery lost data.