Data recovery is a process that requires you to have to restore or retrieve data that is lost,
damaged, deleted, or corrupted from a hard drive that may have failed. If the device has
suffered a crash or is non-functional that prevents you from being able to access the data by
normal measures, it is going to require data recovery. The data recovery process will vary from
device to device, but some of the basic steps can remain the same.

This article is going to touch base on a few different steps that you can take to recover your data in the instance of several different scenarios. There are different types of processes that will be applied based on
the scenario. There are types of data that may have been deleted or overwritten that would
require alteration of the bits that are recorded on a drive.

The hardware data recovery processes typically apply to a situation that a system failure will prevent being able to access
the data from normal means. There may even be a time where you will need a professional to
physically repair the failed drive with replacement pieces. This article is going to provide a few
different tools that can be used to help recover your data.


One of the most common ways that data is lost is due to file deletion. Usually, a deleted file will
be sent to a temporary storage area which will keep it for a certain amount of time before it is
emptied. Depending on the computer, one may have a SSD or HDD The operating system
knows that the file is no longer needed, and that space will become available for use.

Until information is written over it, it can be restored. You want to ensure that you stop writing data to
the hard drive to make that file accessible and able to be restored. The references to the file
are typically removed rather than the file itself. With the original data being left on the disk, it
makes data recovery possible. One of the simplest ways to recover a file that was deleted is to
recover them from the recycle bin.


Sometimes data recovery can be referred to as forensic or espionage. In this instance, the data
recovery helps find the files that were lost due to encryption or the files being hidden due to a
virus or other form of hacking.


File carving reassembles computer files from fragments and recovers the files without metadata.
You can perform file carving with the use of commercial services such as PhotoRec.


PhotoRec is a utility software for data recovery that can be used for data recovery or digital
forensics context. It also includes TestDisk to recover damaged partitions. It is a multi-platform
tool, therefore, making it compatible with Linux, OSX, and Windows. As long as the file is not
corrupted When PhotoRec has recovered the file, it checks the previous blocks whether to see if
the file signature was found but not successfully recovered and will attempt the process again.
This will make some fragmented files successfully recovered. You are able to download and
install PhotoRec here https://photorec.en.softonic.com/


Another way that you can recover your data is to attempt to mount the storage media (medium)
to another computer. A storage medium is an external device that will retain data for users and
applications.

The storage media can be installed internally or externally or over a network. It is
important to copy your files and data to the drive that you are mounting before removing it from
your computer. You can do this by opening device manager in Computer Management and
selecting the the device that you would like to uninstall. Be sure that you review the data that
has been backed up to ensure that everything is transferred accordingly. When you are ready,
you will select the eject option to ensure that it is removed from the computer without any error
or damage occurring.


Raid (redundant array of independent disks) Data Recovery recovers and restores data from a
RAID storage architecture or infrastructure. It uses a combination of the manual and automated
processes to extract and restore data. Usually, RAID will be used when there was overwritten
data, reformatting, application or software, and with a hard disk failure. The correct raid array is
an important part of the raid recovery process. RAID provides data security with SSD drives as
well.


TestDisk is a data recovery utility that helps recover lost partitions and repair corrupted drive
which can be sent to a technical specialist for further review. TestDisk can rewrite the
MBR(Master Boot Record), recover deleted partitions, and rebuild partition tables. Testdisk can
also locate partitions that have been deleted from a disk image. It will also recover deleted files
if the clusters have not been used and the file wasn’t fragmented.
Remember, that hard drive failure is one of the most common issues that will require data
recovery. Be aware of the signs of hard drive failure:

recover
Please feel free to refer to this article for additional tips with data recovery options.
https://jetdata.pro/how-can-i-easily-recover-data-from-a-laptop/

Recovery is always a possibility in some form or another.

  • Overheating
  • Unusual sounds
  • Error messages
  • System Crashes
  • Files failing to open
  • Freezing


It is best not to use your computer when you experience hard drive failure so you don’t damage
any further data.
It is definitely a relief knowing that we have different tools available to us to retrieve our data,
and our data is not lost forever. However, the littlest of things can prevent a data loss situation.
Be sure to save and backup your data and files regularly.


Do your best to keep your computer and laptop up to date.
It is recommended that you have an image backup and cloud backup of your data. An image
backup will usually be saved to an external drive or USB. There are instances where physical
damage and other situations can occur that can cause data loss on the storage media. Cloud
backup is definitely a great way to prevent data loss as well as a quick way to restore your data
when necessary.