Data Recovery from hard drives

There is nothing more irritating (and possibly problematic) than losing access to your files. This can be everything from a minor inconvenience to a personal tragedy. Imagine that weeks, months or years worth of valuable business files, personal photos or writing are stored on a hard drive with no viable back up made. This applies to those who work with multimedia as well as it does anyone else who works with computers.

Here I'll discuss hard drive data recovery.

 

First off, a standard warning. Make BACKUPS! I have personal experience of this. If you have a backup of the information you probably won't be reading this right now, but if you don't have backups and you are looking to this blog for solutions, well, your the idiot and you should feel awe-full. But its okay, I'm an idiot too. I've been there. Its going to be all right.

Second off, if you did not make a backup and your computer just gave up the ghost (or blew up) do not panic.




Data stored on a broken computer is generally recoverable, as long as the Hard Drive remains functional. Hard drives can be removed from both desktops and laptops and with a few cables and another functioning computer, the drive can essentially be made into an external hard drive and plugged into any USB slot on the functioning computer; the relevant data you thought you lost can then be copied and manipulated as you would files on a USB flash drive.

This is a fairly simple procedure, the UD tech support center in the basement of Smith Hall can likely get it done for you (bring the relevant hard drive and a form of removable media for the files) if you do decide to bring it to them.

For a usefull tutorial on what materials you need to do it yourself, as well as a step by step demonstration of the process, check out this tutorial:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dDSfee32PU

So as long as the hard drive itself is functional, the data is still there, even if the computer issue is as severe as a fried motherboard or a corrupted Operating system. But what if the drive itself is broken?

There are two ways a hard drive can be broke, logical and mechanical. You can think of it as software and hardware.

Software issues involve problems with the files on the hard drive itself; they can become corrupted. The hard drive can be fixed with a variety of programs; using the method outlined above, you can hook the drive up to a computer and run the appropriate programs, after which (hopefully) your files can be recovered from the drive.

For a list of applicable software, check this link out:

http://pcsupport.about.com/od/filerecovery/tp/free-file-recovery-programs.htm

But, horror of horrors what if the hard drive itself has failed on a mechanical level? Mechanical failures in a hard drive are often indicated by unusual clicking or whirring noises. If you hear those coming from your computer in the future, take note! Make a back up of your files pronto before the hard drive fails utterly.


But, if we are in the post-break stage, you face a difficult choice.


If the files you need are trivial or if your just curious, there are a variety of do it yourself methods for possibly recovering data from a mechanically broken hard drive. But, these methods are hail mary nuclear options (or at least a few of them are). We can say there's a small chance they'll work and a large chance they are going to permanently destroy your data.

 The DIY solutions include baking (no joke) and freezing (no joke) your hard drive, as well as opening the drive up physically and manipulating internal components. All of these methods have been attested to work by many, but they also run a high risk of ruining your hard drives, as said by experts. So, take your pick. Once again, these are the nuclear options.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7m5cil6KezI
http://howto.wired.com/wiki/Save_Your_Hard_Drive_by_Freezing_It
http://geekyprojects.com/storage/how-to-recover-data-from-a-broken-hard-drive/
http://computer-forensics.sans.org/blog/2009/09/30/the-failed-hard-drive-the-toaster-oven-and-a-little-faith


If you cannot risk losing your files, you will likely need to consult an expert. Professional data recovery solutions are pricey, generally in excess of 150$, they can go into the thousands. But, if you need the data that bad and your hard drive hasn't been absolutely destroyed on an atomic level, there is a very solid chance your data is still on there; remember, at a certain level, your data is stored physically, albeit in a very small way. It just requires some highly specialized methods to access it.

https://www.google.com/search?q=data+recovery&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a