Harddisk recovery

If you have been using a computer for sometime, inevitably there will become a time when something terrible happens to your PC, usually when you least expect it, but also when you could most do without it! You know the times I'm talking about, you've just finished that 5000 page document in word, and remembered that you have forgotten to 'Save' since about word 2500. No problem, you go to save the document but just before you make the command, BANG, a wierd flash on the screen and then the computer resets itself! But then it won't boot up! Along with panic, bad language and the frantic pressing of that on/off switch, you come to the slow realization that your hard disk may be fried!

If you haven't yet experienced this then I am happy for you, but I also feel slightly sorry for you in as far as you have still got that sudden feeling of desperation and misery to come!

However, take heart, if this unfortunate event does happen to find it's way into your life, all is not lost. This is when you need to find out about hard disk recovery.

Hard Disk Recovery
The most important thing you must remember when you have lost your precious information is NOT to write anything more to the damaged hard disk. This is absolutely paramount. The reason for this is that whenever you delete a file to your recycling bin and even if you empty it, it is not actually deleted from your hard drive. What actaually happens is that the operating system just marks it as having been 'deleted'. Then when a new file is written to the hard disk, the operating system happily overwrites the files marked 'deleted'.

Now you can see why many people have got into trouble for downloading things they shouldn't have, and then erased them to the recycle bin. Later the prohibited material has then been found on their hard disk as it has not yet been overwritten by any new files. Be warned!

OK, back to hard disk recovery. Obviously once your important files have been overwritten by new files you're in big trouble, so just to reiterate, do not write any new files to the affected hard disk.

Very often with a fried hard disk you will not even be able to boot into the operating system, so the next stage of hard disk recovery, would be to remove the disk and transfer it to another computer, preferably with the same operating system or newer, as that which was on the damaged disk. This has a number of advantages in as far as firstly you cannot accidentally write any more to the disk, and also there will be a good possibility of being able to recover files by using the operating system from the host computer.

Although there are many variables and different reasons for data loss, there are also many different methods for hard disk recovery. Sometimes it is quite feasable to use hard disk recovery software on the damaged system but this obviously depends whether it is bootable or not.

All said and done invariably the hard disk recovery process will involve using another operating system to access the files on the damaged disk. If another computer with a compatible operating system is not available, another solution would be to install a new hard disk on to the original machine and put another operating system on to this. It is quite feasable then with a combination of the file manager and windows explorer that the files from the damaged disk can be recovered.

Unfortunately life is rarely so simple, and you may well find that the problem is even more serious than first thought! What next I can hear you scream? Well this is when you will need that hard disk recovery software. Now there is plenty of software out there and some of it quite expensive. You can't really blame the developers as they know they will have desperate customers who will pay top dollar to get 'all those photos' back! However there are still a few freebies out there and one that s well worth trying is <a href="http://www.pcinspector.de/file_recovery/uk/welcome.htm">PC Inspector File Recovery</a>. Now it's not perfect by any means which can be said about all the hard disk recovery software out there, but it's a great starting point. Of course the 'free' price tag should make it that much more appealing!

To use it, you need to install it on the host machine or the new hard drive with a seperate working copy of Windows. You must never install it onto the damaged hard disk. Once it has been installed, let the application run and follow all the steps which are easily followed in the included tutorial guide.

Hopefully this hard disk recovery software will do the job but if not that is when you may have to make that horrible decision of whether to buy more expensive software or take the plunge and pay a specialist service to doit for you. If you decide on the latter, you will have a very good possibility of getting your data back but very often at a very high price.

As for me, I would try and exhaust all the free and cheap possibilities first. That said, if you have no idea of the back or the front of the computer then maybe you could end up doing more damage by 'dabbling' than paying someone to sort it out in the first place!