Technology, Data Recovery, Cell Phones, Latest Gadgets, Game Reviews

If you have ever lost or accidentally deleted important files from your hard drive, you know what a horrible feeling it is to think your vital data is gone forever. Fortunately, recovering data from a hard drive is not as hard as you might think, and within the scope of most computer users.

Now, had you been backing up your hard drive regularly, this shouldn't have been an issue in the first place. You DO back up the files on your hard drive regularly, don't you? Well, don't you?

Don't worry. You are not alone. Most people, even those who know better, do not back up their hard drives as often as they should, leaving important files vulnerable to loss or deletion.

However, data deleted in the usual way from a hard drive is not actually lost. It is simply not visible to you, the computer user. Unless the sectors themselves are overwritten, the data is still there and capable of being recovered.

Therefore, the first thing you have to do is to NOT write any more data. Do not save any more data if you can. Do not use another program. Just stop using your computer immediately. If you do not, you run the risk of overwriting the very data you are trying to recover.

If you have simply deleted files and emptied your Recycle Bin or even if your computer has crashed or you have lost, damaged, or reformatted partitions, you have a couple of options (besides taking it to a computer repair shop).

You can remove the hard drive and add it to another computer as a secondary drive. This helps assure that you will not accidentally write over the files you are trying to rescue.

Then you can simply boot the second computer and, using one of a wide variety of data recovery software available nowadays (such as Search and Recover or Undelete) installed on the second computer, restore the deleted and lost files from your old hard drive to the new drive.

Or, if you have an installation CD (yes, you can even make your own - but make sure you do not make it on your problem computer while you are working on it), you can actually use the software directly from the CD to restore your files right to your hard drive.

Restoring lost or deleted data from your hard drive gives you an 85% chance of recovering the data without having to resort to expensive restoration services.

After you have recovered your lost or deleted files from your hard drive, the next thing you need to do is come up with a good backup strategy for your data. The easiest way is just to put a reminder on your calendar and burn your data to a CD or DVD each week, month or some other interval. A better and more reliable option is to purchase computer backup software and put your backup process in auto pilot mode. There are a number of good services and software out there to help you backup your valuable and precious data. Take advantage of it!