When you delete something, it’s not really deleted. If something is formatted, it’s only formatted, it may not be erased. It all sounds very cryptic, but this is the data recovery specialist’s mantra.
Written by Jon Cavell of Warragul Computer Repair.
If you think all your data is lost, don’t give up hope. General industry consensus is that data recovery has a roughly 50 per cent strike rate, so it’s good to know that if you think you have lost it all there’s a half chance taking it to a data recovery specialist will help.
ADVERTISEMENT
And whether you’re in that top 50 per cent often depends entirely on what you do immediately after you notice data loss. We have found the chances of recovery can rise to above 80 per cent if you follow emergency protocols.
- If you have accidentally formatted or erased a device, immediately stop using the device or memory card. When data is deleted, it’s not always actually removed – your computer just allocates the area to be used again. Simply put, the longer you use your device or memory card after the data goes missing, the higher the chance of your computer writing over your lost files.
- If your computer slows down significantly, starts freezing frequently, or starts offering recovery options, immediately stop using the device. Continuing or trying to fix the problem yourself is like like driving your car with an oil light flashing – you’re pushing it closer and closer to absolute failure and losing all recovery options. I’ve seen many people ignore the initial warning signs of a dying drive and end up losing everything when taking it to a specialist would have saved the data easily in the early stages.
- If you are unfortunate enough to have dropped your device or got it wet, turn it off, stop using the device, and get some professional advice ASAP on how to proceed. Dry off wet devices and handle impact damaged devices with extreme care in the meantime.
Warragul Computer Repair offers data recovery services at prices significantly lower than most corporate data recovery firms, so shopping locally really does have benefits! (With the exception of clean room solutions, which we will refer you to a clean room specialist.)
Data recovery can be done to all sorts of devices. Some of the most successful and affordable recoveries involve camera cards, on which we use specialist forensic software. Need your stuff back? Bring your device or memory card to Warragul Computer Repair at 6 Smith Street, Warragul.
Stay tuned for next fortnight’s column, where I’ll be discussing how to care for your drives so failure is much less likely in the first place.
ADVERTISEMENT
