DIY and Professional Hard Drive Recovery Options
How to Choose and Use Hard Drive Data Recovery Software and Services
Nov 7, 2009
For most people, hard drive recovery is something akin to their worst nightmare. Every computer user hopes that they will never need to recover hard drive data wholesale, but it is worth knowing that there are solutions out there that can help users recover some, if not all, of their hard drive data.
When DIY hard drive recovery fails, there are also many different services that can help, for a fee, with full recovery of the data. These are usually reserved for cases where the hard drive has failed completely, and there is no chance to use hard drive recovery software to save the valuable data.
DIY Hard Drive Recovery Software
If the hard drive still spins up, then there is a chance that the contents can be recovered using a simple piece of hard drive recovery software. There are two basic approaches:
- use a specific Linux build to repair the drive in-situ;
- use external software running on a replacement system to examine the drive.
In the latter case, the drive will need to be connected to a secondary interface on the host computer - be it a USB port or an internal connection (EIDE, S-ATA, etc.) - so that the software can access it. Naturally, if the hard drive to be recovered is also the system boot device, the first approach, with a custom Knoppix Linux build that can boot from a CD is probably going to be most appropriate.
A free hard drive data recovery tool needs to be able to access the hard drive, and so users will probably not be able to escape a system rebuild, but it can help to recover the data once a new system has been installed.
When all else fails, and the hardware no longer works, then a professional hard drive recovery service must be used. However, depending on the drive type and size, these can cost 1000's of dollars.
Why are Hard Drive Recovery Services So Expensive?
The first reason why they are so expensive is because they usually give a hard drive recovery guarantee - no recovery, no fee. While they may charge a fee to examine the drive, this can usually be offset against the cost of the recovery. Deciding not to proceed with then leave the customer with a bill for hundreds of dollars, rather than thousands, but it is still a substantial amount.
This is because the hard drive recovery process requires some delicate handling. The first thing that needs to be done is to find a workable replica of the drive, in working order. The internal plattens (where the data is stored) of the failed drive are then taken out and transplanted into the mechanism of the new drive.
When the new drive is started, the hard drive recovery deliverables can be created - usually a CD or DVD set that contains the directory structure and data of the contents of the failed drive.
Importance of Backing Up Hard Drive Data
This all goes to show that while there are many hard drive recovery options available to users, they all tend to be subject to caveats or very expensive. There is no substitute for taking a regular backup of any important data, as if a drive fails, despite everything, it is quite likely to take the user's data with it.
Tools such as Time Machine (for Mac), an online data backup service, or any number of free PC tools from a repository like Downloads.com, from CNet.com, will help users to avoid needing to use hard drive data recovery software or services at all.
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