DATA RECOVERY CAN BE THE SOLUTION
FOR MEDIA FAILURE
Almost everyone has experienced it at one
time or another. The symptoms range from that clicking noise
produced by an otherwise functioning hard drive or a hard drive
that is simply no longer being recognized by the computer. The
results can be devastating to the end user no matter whether
that user is an individual with treasured family photos or a
corporation with no backup of its server. Many people assume
when their data is lost it is gone forever. However, with care
and in the right hands, in many cases the data is 100%
recoverable.
The first thing one should always do is
stop using the failed media because doing so can cause further
damage to the media making recovery more difficult. Many people
attempt things such as reformatting or repartitioning a hard
drive in an attempt to continue using it. By continuing to use
failed media, you will be jeopardizing the existing data you
wish to recover.
The most crucial action you should take
next is to contact a professional data recovery company. These
companies exist for a reason. They specialize in data recovery,
and most have years of experience recovering data from failed
media. Many of these companies offer clean room service, which
is critical if the media needs to be opened for parts
replacement. It only takes 0.5 micron of dust on the surface of
a hard drive platter to cause permanent data loss.
Choosing a data recovery company should be
done carefully. Beware of companies who charge a low flat fee
compared to other companies. Data recovery can be expensive
because of the tools and labor involved to recover data. There
is no “easy fix” in most situations. Many times, a hard drive
may need total parts replacement in a clean room using highly
specialized equipment. For RAID recovery, there can be many
labor hours involved in destriping the RAID in order for the
data to make sense.
Data recovery is more successful when left
in the hands of a professional data recovery company. Each case
is different and falls into the category of physical or logical
recovery with physical recovery being much more complicated.
However, just because the data appears lost does not indicate it
is permanently gone.
