Data Recovery Techniques

Backup is better than recovery; just as 'prevention is better than cure'. Always keep a backup of your crucial data. In fact, you should not try the different recovery techniques on crucial data.

It is always advisable, that in these cases, you contact a recovery agency which can provide you with accurate details as to what percentage of the data is in its recoverable form. This may cost you some bucks, but then, it is worth it if the lost information is important enough.

Various software and tools are used by data recovery agencies, which have been designed by their engineers, or may have been purchased by them. For recovery that you can undertake on your own, you can use the open source software that are available for download.

The first and the most important thing that you need to keep in mind, once you have realized that you have by accident deleted some data, is not to use the drive where you had stored it. Do the preliminary checking first, before you start with the recovery process. Check the recycle bin, if you have by accident deleted the data.

Perform a search operation, using the search feature of your OS, to check out if you have placed the it into some other location. If you are using the Windows OS, open the folder where you had stored your data and click on tools in the menu bar. Select 'folder options' from the tools menu and click on the view tab. Select 'Show hidden files and folder'.

Computers store your data in the binary format, i.e., only 0s and 1s. Once you delete some it or format the hard drive, that portion of the hard drive loses its name and identification (the word is address) and becomes free to allocate new data, but the binary digit format continues to exist in it.

The only way this binary digit format can be lost is, if some other data is saved by the computer at the same location. The other way is of course, when you want to intentionally eliminate it from your system, and you have used a file shredding software to do the same.

Depending on the file system chosen by you, while installing your OS, download a compatible recovery software. Some softwares like Recuva, Stellar or EaseUS will work well for both FAT and NTFS, while UFS Explorer will work only for NTFS file systems. Download these softwares into some other drive and not into the one from which you have lost your data.

It is better if you download the software into another computer. Install the software in a drive that is not among the suspected list of drives, from where you think you have lost your data.

Install the software in a USB drive (pen drive or portable hard disk). Scan the suspected drives. The process will take some time and consume a lot of RAM, so avoid using the computer for any other work when the scan is in progress.

Save the recovered files (if recovered) into a drive. If you do not get proper results, try some other software which has advanced features. There are software available which allow you to enter details like the type of file or the file extension of the file you are trying to recover.

User friendly softwares that ask the file extensions makes the recovery process for the software a lot simpler. The software available can be used on almost all types of memory, the hard disk, pen drive, or a portable music player.

These processes can help you recover the data, but there is no guarantee. Software are also available which will recover it in a different format and you will have to purchase a license key of the software, to reconvert your data into its original form.

Some software will recover the data for you, but won't provide you with a facility to save it without a license key. So, choose an open source software for the recovery process, if you do not want to spend any money.