Whether it’s for business or personal use, many of us store vast amounts of data on hard drives. This is a great tool, as you can have access to just about everything you need at the click of a button. However, problems can arise if hard drives corrupt, break, get wet, or simply lose data. In this situation, many of us will panic and assume data is lost forever. Luckily, that isn’t always the case. There are definitely experts in data recovery out there for you to call, and in many cases, they can recover your lost data from your hard drive. But how do they do it?
Who Are These Experts?
There are many IT support services in every town these days. They are specialists in IT systems, infrastructure, and hardware. They will almost certainly be experts in hard disk data recovery methods. On some level, data recovery is achievable without the help of professionals. But if your data is super sensitive, important, or time-critical, we recommend seeking the help of these teams.
Types of Failure
Hard drives can fail in many ways. With classic hard drives, there is a spinning disk in the middle, much like a CD. These older hard drives are prone to mechanical failure. If you hear a clicking, whirring, or any other clunk noise, it is time to call a professional. Mechanical issues are hard to fix alone. If you have simply lost some key files, or are being warned by your machine that there is a hard drive issue, this may not be as critical. Either way, you should immediately power down that machine to avoid any further damage or corruption to the files.
Removing Your Hard Drive
Once you have powered down your machine – and therefore turned off any power to your hard drive – it is time for you, or your IT team, to dismantle your computer. It is best to remove the hard drive and access it with another PC to avoid any further damage. Removing hard drives in PCs and Macs is relatively easy, and with a simple how-to guide, you will most likely be able to do it yourself. If you are not confident, then wait for assistance.
Using Specialist Software
Once the hard drive is removed from the computer, it is time to access it remotely to try and save as much data as possible. In the case of mechanical faults, these will need to be attended to first before powering the hard drive back on. Once safe to do so, your IT expert will plug the hard drive into a separate computer and access the files via USB. On their system, they will have specialist data recovery software that can read a hard drive at a much deeper level than a standard operating system. Using this, lost data can be unpacked and – hopefully – rebuilt.
These are the steps to follow when you have suspected memory loss from a hard drive. Power down your system to avoid any further loss, and seek help quickly. Doing this could help you save your data and save yourself some stress!