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• DATA RECOVERY PROCESS: How does it work?
• HOW TO deal with a failed hard drive
• DATA LOSS: Why it happens and how to prevent it.
• WHAT IS data recovery?
• DATA RECOVERY and data storage guide
• GLOSSARY of Data Recovery
• DICTIONARY of hard drives
• LAYMAN'S GUIDE to data recovery
• WHAT IS COMPUTER FORENSICS - What is it?

DATA RECOVERY SITE INDEX

When you discover that you have suffered some data loss, the first decision is always if data recovery is possible. The subsequent action that needs to be taken depends on the answer to this, whether it is worth attempting data recovery or whether to find a way of managing the data loss.

Decide If Data Recovery is Possible

This can be a very difficult choice, especially if you are unsure what caused the
data loss. The decision often becomes a commercial one of whether the information
is actually worth the cost of recovery. Except in very extreme cases, the
magnetization that stores the data will still be present on disc. Even in case
where the computer has been burned, flooded, or crushed data recovery can still be
possible, but at an extremely high price.

Types of Data and Their Effect on Data Recovery

The kind of data being recovered, also affect this decision. If you can recover,
for instance, 90% of all lost data, and these files are pictures you will retrieve
9 out of 10 pictures; this can be considered a success. On the other hand, if the
files are database tables and only 90% can be recovered the entire database is
corrupted. The higher the dependency and interaction between the data files, the
worse the effects of even a small amount of missing data will be.

Is It Logical or Physical Data Recovery?

There are two distinct procedures in data recovery: Physical data recovery is the extraction of the raw data from a damaged disc, logical data recovery means the rebuilding of damaged data files. Pure logical data losses are usually caused by operator error. The accidental deletion of files, accidental drive formatting, or it may be from a malicious virus attack. Physical data recovery from a drive that has failed mechanically may not need any subsequent logical reconstruction if it can be successfully repaired, though in practice many physical repairs are followed by logical reconstruction if some data is permanently lost due to damaged disc surfaces.

The Time Element in Logical Data Recovery

It is easy to underestimate the time element in data recovery, but losing data for
a week is effectively losing the data forever. A single file that has been
accidentally, permanently, deleted rather that being moved to the Recycle Bin or by
emptying the Recycle Bin, is marked in the directory entry with E5. This frees the
associated FAT entry and the as the location of the deleted file is no longer
protected by the file system those locations are available for recycling the next
time the OS needs to create a new file. The problem is that in any computer, files
are continually being created. Many computer processes write to log files, and
browsing even a single Website will download several files. Any of these could
overwrite the deleted files making recovery much more difficult.

NOTE: DO NOT ATTEMPT DATA RECOVERY YOURSELF! YOU MAY RISK THE POSSIBILITY OF FULL DATA RECOVERY. ALWAYS CONSULT A DATA RECOVERY PROFESSIONAL. You can call Data Recovery Doctor to get professional FREE advice on what steps you need to take in order to successfully recover your data. Call 0207 516 1077 or email Data Recovery Doctor info@datarecoverydoctor.co.uk  for more information.

Basic Data Recovery

Have you ever wondered how much data is stored in your PC, and how much time and
energy would go into its recovery? Your computer almost certainly contains a lot of
personal data - financial data, names, addresses, and telephone numbers, bank
account information, photographs and much more. It may seem safe, but accidents do
happen!

Why Did the Data Go?

The three most common causes of total data loss are a failure of your operating
system, a mechanical malfunction of your hard drive, or a failure in the software
that controls your hard drive. Should any of these happen, there are some data
recovery steps you can take yourself, and if these fail there are plenty of data
recovery specialists to choose from. You should consider that attempting to restore
lost data to your hard drive carries a risk of causing more damage to it, making
further data recovery more difficult or impossible.

Data Recovery after Operating System Failure

An operating system failure is a failure to recognize your hard drive; this usually
shows as a Disk Boot Failure error message on start up. This means your hard drive
has a problem. Either it has lost its logical format or it has developed a
mechanical or electronic failure.

Data Recovery after a Mechanical Failure

An imminent mechanical disc failure announces itself by your hard drive making
unexpected noises while accessing data. If you hear any, it is probably a
mechanical failure of one of the many components in your hard drive. If this
happens do not try to service the drive yourself!

Logical Data Recovery Methods

Logical data recovery is rebuilding files that have been damaged or corrupted by
user error or virus attack, rather than repairing hard drives that have been
physically damaged. In this situation the BIOS still recognizes the drive, but
returns a read error when trying to access data.

Data Recovery from Fragmentation

Accidental file deletion, formatting, or partition deletion can result in a missing
File Allocation Table entry. If the file size is smaller than the cluster size
(clusters are commonly 32 KB, but it varies with drive size) you should get a 100%
recovered file as you do not actually need the FAT entry. Larger files are usually
allocated in consecutive clusters, and most data recovery software assumes this
when it rebuilds files without a FAT entry. This will work for most types of files,
but runs into problems with files that grow over time. Files like this are
invariably fragmented, allocating consecutively is impossible due to other files
taking the intermediate clusters. There are some important files that fall into
this category, such as Databases, Email files, large text documents, and
directories.

Data Recovery is Not Feasible after Overwriting

When a file's allocation has been overwritten by another file, data recovery is
practically impossible. It is theoretically possible to use highly advanced
technology such as MFM (Magnetic Force Microscope), to read the rest magnetization,
but it is extremely expensive and not very reliable. If a file has been overwritten
more than once, even this level of technology cannot help. File 'shredder' software
relies on this to delete files beyond recovery, by simple overwriting the deleted
file several times.

How is a Hard Drive Recovery Done?

When your hard drive is ruined, the obvious question to ask is, "how do you get my
data back? " Despite what data recovery businesses may tell you, it is not done by
black magic nor is it anything approaching rocket science, it has more to do with
having the right equipment, and enough knowledge to know what to do with it.

Logical Hard Drive Recovery

Generally speaking, the first thing a hard drive recovery business will do when
they receive a hard drive is to evaluate it to determine what recovery method will
be required. If the drive failure is a software problem, they will perform a scan
of the drive to try and repair the file system. In some cases a partition can be
repaired, restoring the hard drive to its status prior to the drive failure. If
this cannot be done, they will do a very low-level scan, searching every sector of
the hard drive for files. Once they have located a lost file, it will be copied
onto the media of your choice, this is usually a CD-ROM, a DVD-ROM, or ideally onto
another hard drive. This type of Logical hard drive recovery takes a great deal of
time, particularly if the hard drive is close to physical failure. It is not
unusual for scanning to take a whole day, and recovering any files that are found
to take another.

Physical Hard Drive Recovery

If your hard drive is suffering from a physical failure, the recovery method is
considerably more difficult. There are two discrete forms of physical failure;
electronic and mechanical. When recovering data after a physical failure, a major
hurdle is getting the correct parts to get the drive going again. A problem with
hard drives is that if you have, for example, a 60GB Maxtor Hard Drive you will
need another, identical, 60GB Maxtor Hard Drive to salvage parts from. If it is the
printed circuit board that has failed on your hard drive an identical circuit board
is required to retrieve the necessary circuit components for replacement, because
in most case it is not possible to swap the damaged circuit with the new one.
Repairs of this nature require good soldering skills and a thorough knowledge of
electronics to be successful.

Hard Drive Recovery Environment

You will see "Class 100 Clean Room" in a lot of advertising by hard drive recovery
professionals. A Class 100 Clean Room maintains an air purity of less than 100
airborne particles over 0.5 microns in diameter in each cubic foot of air. This is
to protect the sensitive internal components of hard drives. Whenever a hard drive
is being worked on, a minimum of Class100 clean room should be used.

Hard Drive Recovery Time

The time taken for a hard drive recovery is usually 5-10 working days for a
physical recovery (though if components are not readily available it may take
weeks! ), 3-5 for a logical problem. An express service is often available, at a
higher price.

Initial Steps in Hard Drive Recovery

If you find that your hard drive is no longer functioning, remember that a hard
drive recovery is nearly always possible, so there is no need for panic. Data loss
is not unusual and in nearly all cases the data can be recovered. Only in severe
cases involving platter damage, magnetic degradation, or over-write of a file will
the data be practically unrecoverable, and even in these cases a hard drive
recovery by MFM photography may be possible if the data is valuable enough to
justify huge expense.

Having said that, there are steps you can take to minimize further data loss and
greatly increase your chances of successful hard drive recovery

What to do after a hard drive 'crash'

If you find that you are unable to boot to the operating system, and you can no
longer see the hard drive in the BIOS, there is a strong possibility that your hard
drive has crashed. In this case you should shut the whole system down immediately.
If there is some physical problem with the hard drive, it will be made a lot worse
if you run power through the hard drive attempting to reboot the system. If the
head stack inside your drive is damaged, trying to run it will cause additional
damage to the surfaces of the platters in your hard drive, and this is where the
data you are wanting to recover is stored.

Initial Steps in Hard Drive Recovery after Corruption

If you have accidentally reformatted your hard drive, or accidentally deleted a
file or folder, once again you must not write any new information onto your drive.
The files you have deleted are still intact somewhere on the drive. Deleting a file
simply means removing the location tag for that file, allowing that area of the
drive to be over-written. If you add any new data it is possible that it will
over-write your lost data effectively losing it forever.

If you believe a partition has become corrupted on your hard drive, it is very
important not to try and re-install your operating system or add any new data to
the drive. If you have accidentally deleted a partition, attempting to restore it
by formatting the drive will not recover your data; it will only result in the
addition of an empty partition. If you experience a single file corruption, any
attempt to create a new file with the same name will partially over-write the file,
greatly decreasing your chances of a full recovery.

This is just a short selection of the more common reasons for losing data from your
hard drive, and illustrates that some attempts made by you, or even an IT
technician, to recover a file or drive could decrease the chances of subsequent
professional recovery efforts, or even make a successful recovery impossible. If
you have any doubts about what action to take, just ask yourself this question: "Am
I prepared to lose that data? ".

NOTE: DO NOT ATTEMPT DATA RECOVERY YOURSELF! YOU MAY RISK THE POSSIBILITY OF FULL DATA RECOVERY. ALWAYS CONSULT A DATA RECOVERY PROFESSIONAL. You can call Data Recovery Doctor to get professional FREE advice on what steps you need to take in order to successfully recover your data. Call 0207 516 1077 or email Data Recovery Doctor info@datarecoverydoctor.co.uk  for more information.

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