Learn Step By Step Action Plan To Achieve Data Recovery!

First advice…Don’t panic and then take a deep breathe!

Second advice….Don’t do anything at first or things may get worse. Remain calm!

Then start to analyze you situation.
Consider your data recovery options only after you done the analysis.

Realize that all hard disks have limited lifetimes. Normally, however most of us will not experience any crash.

This is because the average life time of hard drives are much longer then the average time the average computers are in use.

That is, until the next time they are replaced with newer and more powerful computers.


Yet, disk crashes do occur often when they are least expected. This happens most likely with new drives or with drives that have been used intensely and over long times.

What you do next depends on if you have taken backup or not.

Steps to take if you have any backup available!

Can you start the computer and access the hard drive?
If not, is the computer getting any power?
If not, is the power cord connected?
Fix it.

Is the power supply working?
If not, get service on the computer.

Ok…so your hard disk doesn’t work!

Can you use the boot diskette and access the harddrive?
You have created a boot floppy diskette, haven’t you?

If you can, it may indicate that the drive have been infected with a virus.

You should use an anti virus program to protect your business or private data against viruses from the Internet and from software products which may be infected.
You should also make sure that your anti virus program is regularly updated.
Use an antivirus product which updates the virus protection with critical definition done automatic.

Use your current antivirus program and test the hard drive. Use the information in the antivirus manual?
If you haven’t used an antivirus program, get one now and make a test of the hard drive.

If it finds that the disk is infected with viruses then just follow the instructions of the antivirus software.

If the drive is not virus infected, but it is the hard drive startup procedure which doesn’t work, then you have two alternatives.
You can reformat the hard disk and reinstall the software from the backup.
Or you can get a new hard drive, this will depends on if the hard drive has become old and torn down. Check the status of the disk by running a disk scan tool.

The hard disk is dead and you can not access it from a boot disk then you have to get a new one and install your data back from the backup.

The fastest way to restore your data is if you have made a disk image backup and created a boot emergency disk or CD.

If that’s the case you just start from the boot device and reinstall the disk image. After that you may have to copy back data files that are less old than the disk image backup.

If you don’t have a disk image partition backup but only an ordinary backup you have to install the Windows, Linux, Unix or MAC operating system or whatever operating system you have been using. Plus install the backup software you used for the backup.
First then can you make a full recovery of the data from the backup.
This whole process will take a much longer time than it would have taken you to recreate the disk directly from a disk image backup.

This is the same procedure to take if you want to copy and upgrade the hard drive to a new computer.

If the computer is stolen, missing or destroyed?
In other words you have to get a new one…then what do you do?
If you have a disk image backup, you have to use a similar computer in order to make an emergency rescue. Otherwise the rescue disk or CD won’t work.

If this is the case, it is important that you have made other forms of backup. Install the operating system, then the other software from installation CD’s. After that you can installed your backup program. From here you copy the important files back from your backup. This can be files in My Documents folder and your email outlook files in case you use Windows.

You can also from a full backup recreate all your data, but only if you have installed the same Windows version with the same Service Pack Version “SP”. Otherwise the data in the registry file will not be correct. The computer will get be corrupted and will not work correctly.

Note: Keep your backup at a safe place away from the computer and if you need extra security keep it located at a fireproof data storage

Steps to take if you have no backup!

This is an unfortunate disaster situation which too many users find themselves in.
The hard disk does not work.
Start the computer with a boot floppy diskette. You should have created a boot diskette in case something happen.
Or you can try to use the installation CD and see if you can boot from that instead. Then go and switch to the hard drive by writing c:

Can you access the hard drive?
Congratulation you can access the disk.
In this case the boot files on the drive are corrupted and your drive may be infected with a virus.

Test the drive with a virus program and if it is infected follow the manual to restore the drive.
Now, it may be possible to install backup software and copy the backup from the backup with the important files with a hard disk copy instead of relying on a computer recovery services. If the drive is dead or can’t be read there are several specialized companies that are eager to help to restore the information of the drive for you. This of course is a more expensive alternative than to invest in making regular backups in the first place.

www.drivesavers.com
They are experts in disk drive recovery. The company is recommended for recovery of lost data for practically all hard disk brands in the market. The company is located in Novato north of San Francisco.
They achieve an average success rate of 90% performed by highly qualified data media recovery engineers.

By the way check out at the "Museum of Disk-asters" and view what have been recovered!

www.ontrack.com
Ontrack Data Recovery provides and delivered fast and reliable data retrieval by experts from lost hard drive data. They also offer a range of computer recovery software utility solutions as well as forensic data drive recovery service on a world wide basis.
The headquarter is located in outside Minneapolis in Minnesota and Ontrack Data Recovery is a subsidiary of the world leader in document and electric retrieval Kroll Ontrack Inc.