Data Recovery Procedures For Hard Drives

By: Stu Pearson

Your computer's data is at risk. Whether you use a Mac or a PC,
viruses, power surges, hackers, human error, natural disasters,
hardware failures, and more are real everyday threats. To keep
your data safe and sound, you will first need to back up your
files on a regular basis. Secondly, when hard drive failure does
occur, data recovery is the only solution.

Of course it is ideal to back up data and avoid the complicated
process that is data recovery altogether, but even when you take
the necessary steps to prepare for hard drive damage, you might
run into problems.

Here are some procedures to follow if you experience trouble.

If a program is not functioning well on your computer, turn the
computer off! This may seem a simple task, but shutting down a
computer at the moment you notice your hard drive to be working
overtime - perhaps you hear unusual sounds (like "cleaning") -
can prevent damage to the disk and data loss. If you let a
failed hard drive run, it will eventually self-destruct. Damage
to your disk is inevitable in this scenario.

If this is the case, unless you know exactly what you're doing,
don't fix your computer yourself. Professional expertise is not
a luxury in this situation - it is a must. Data recovery is a
difficult and sensitive process requiring special tools and a
clean environment. Not only will it be tremendously challenging
to repair a hard drive on your own, but you might actually make
matters worse and ensure irreversible data loss.

There is "do-it-yourself" data recovery software, but be
cautious of things like this. With most computer problems of
this nature, at-home instructions can be more dangerous than
useful. Even if a company boasts that its products and
instructions will handle your vulnerable data properly, it is
important to be a skeptical consumer.

A local service provider is the average solution. Repair can
happen on your own premises and you can be assured that your
computer is in good hands. However, there is always the
possibility that your hard drive is beyond repair - even for
expert technicians - so be prepared to buy a new hard drive
altogether; data recovery may not be an option any more.

About the author:
Stu Pearson has an interest in Business & Technology related
topics. To access more information on data
recovery services or on restor
e data, please click on the links.