These devices are run by the power of the silicon processor and can process data very fast. This data is stored in digital storage media such as hard drives, CDs, DVDs, memory sticks, Flash drives, floppy disks, tape drives and so on.
Information stored in a digital form has many advantages. You can make unlimited number of copies of the same data at a single command. You can easily transfer it from one device to another and send it over wires instantly to places far away. The data can be easily deleted or new one created. However, for all these benefits, data stored in digital format has one fatal flaw – it can be easily lost.
Digital data does not exist in material form (such as paper which is harder to destroy) but as magnetic imprints or electric charge. Software and hardware errors are the two main reasons why such data can be lost instantly. Quite a few software errors are user-inflicted, such as deleting a file by mistake or reformatting the storage media. Then there are malicious computer viruses or software corruption that may make a file inaccessible.
Hardware errors relate to some defect in the physical components of the storage media such as the crashing of a hard disk or scratches on the data-recording surface of an optical disk. Natural or man-made disasters may also strike and destroy all digital devices, including the data they contain.
What do you do if you suffer abrupt data loss and the files are important enough for you to want them back desperately? There are actually two ways to go about it. For minor software errors you can download what is called DIY (Do It Yourself) data-recovery software. Many companies specialise in this and about a dozen popular such software are available on the Internet.
DIY recovery is the option to go for if you have accidentally deleted a file or reformatted the storage media. But for all hardware errors or serious software errors, there is no other way but to approach a professional recovery company. Data recovery through these is quite expensive but they also offer formidable advantages for the user.
Advantages of Professional Data Recovery
In DIY recovery, you recover your data yourself as an amateur. In professional recovery, you get the services of trained and qualified technicians who assess the problem and expertly conduct the entire process to recover your data. Chances of data recovery are thus increased manifold as an inexperienced lay user can make many mistakes and accidentally overwrite the data, leading to its permanent loss.
The professional recovery team has valuable insights gained by long experience of tackling thousands of data recovery situations. Experience and technical competence make all the difference. No wonder there are today data-recovery companies with a recovery rate of as much as 97 percent!
Professional data recovery companies benefit from specialisation as they are totally focussed on the challenges of data recovery. They have custom-made equipment and specialised software that can extract data from damaged storage media. But the most important facility they have is a clean room.
This is an enclosed space where air is cleaned by powerful filters so that all contaminants are removed, including human hair, skin flakes, odour, dust, pollen and so on. In this room, dust-sensitive devices such as computer hard disks are opened, diagnosed and set right before being handed over to the customer.
Most professional recovery companies offer customer-friendly policies. They offer to undertake free evaluation and diagnosis of your damaged storage device. Based on this, you are informed about how much time and money it will take to recovery your data.
This advance estimate results in peace of mind and you do not get sticker-shock later. In addition, most recovery companies have a policy of no-charge-no-pay. If they are not able to recovery your data, you do not have to pay anything. What can be easier and more convenient!
If you do not have much of an idea about how digital devices work, it is much better to take your data-recovery problem to the professionals. This option is also desirable if the data you have lost is too valuable and you do not want to take any chances.
Though the various DIY recovery software are cheap and promise the moon, ultimately the user operating it has no technical knowledge or experience and there are many slip between the cup and the lip.
Friday, November 13, 2009
Hard Drives Are Susceptible to Failure
Hard drive rebuild, in the general sense of the term, can mean a simple operation of replacing the firmware (controller card) and reprogramming it using specialist software. Or it can mean replacing the drive's precision components like its read/write head, done in Class 100 clean rooms by specialist data recovery technicians.
Hard Drives Are Susceptible to Failure
Hard drives are electro-mechanical devices that are spinning even when the computer is idle. Typical spin rates vary from 4000 to 15000 rotations per minute. They are thus susceptible to failure as are CD, DVD or tape.
A hard drive rebuild can become necessary owing to mechanical failure of the disk but a logical recovery of the file system may still be needed to make the data readable. The logical file system can get corrupted with errors during the failure of the drive.
Failures can occur through a variety of causes:- power surges, causing physical damage like a drive head crash, a natural disaster like fire or flood, dropping a laptop or external drive, or damage caused by faulty design of the drive or its firmware programming, even a virus attack or malicious intent could be an issue.
Hard Drive Recovery
Data recovery from a hard drive can be simple or complex.
For example, if the data was lost owing to accidental deletion of files, you might be able to recover them yourself by running a data recovery software.
On the other hand, if the read/write head has crashed and the drive is clicking or the motor has seized, you will have to entrust your drive to a specialist professionals. They will have a dust free clean room where they will open the drive and replace the damaged heads, and the necessary resources and experience with a range of drive problems to help you in your hour of need.
Data recovery professionals typically start by copying the existing image on the damaged disk to a backup location. They will work on a copy trying to recover the data using specialized tools. Only after they have succeeded are they likely to transfer the recovered data to a replacement drive or give you secure access to their servers so you can check the data is intact and download it directly.
Simply replacing a damaged part like the printed circuit board of the drive cannot put things right; it will require some reprogramming to ensure it is correctly matched.
Does Your Recovery Company Have Hard Drive Rebuild Experience?
Hard drives have come a long way since a 5MB RAMAC, weighing a ton, was introduced in 1956 by IBM. Today's drives can be a tiny box in comparison offering many Terabytes (each terabyte is a 1000 GB and each GB is a thousand MB).
Today, there are many storage drive makers each offering models with different features. The drive can be a single drive or a RAID system with multiple physical drives with their own cut down operating systems and hot swap features.
The drive interfaces to the computer can differ. For example, it can be IDE, EIDE, SATA, SCSI, Lan, etc.
Data losses can be caused by many different factors, requiring different kinds of approaches to any recovery.
Only an experienced hard drive repairer can identify just the right remedy that is both effective and economical
Once you have decided on a hard drive rebuild, check that the company you select is experienced and has the resources in house, or is a reseller of a reputable established company who ensures any recovered data is managed securely for your protection and does not broadcast your company's loss of information on their website without your permission.
Conclusion
A hard drive rebuild becomes necessary when you are unable to boot with the drive or to read the data you have stored on it. You will also be better off if you approach a data recovery specialist if your drive is making strange noises (that you have not heard before) or data seems to be disappearing, or your system is spewing error messages.
Considering the numerous makes and models of hard drives in the market, each with differing features, you should approach only an experienced data recovery company with a track record of success but beware of the varying costs and just like any purchase expensive does not mean it is the best.
Hard Drives Are Susceptible to Failure
Hard drives are electro-mechanical devices that are spinning even when the computer is idle. Typical spin rates vary from 4000 to 15000 rotations per minute. They are thus susceptible to failure as are CD, DVD or tape.
A hard drive rebuild can become necessary owing to mechanical failure of the disk but a logical recovery of the file system may still be needed to make the data readable. The logical file system can get corrupted with errors during the failure of the drive.
Failures can occur through a variety of causes:- power surges, causing physical damage like a drive head crash, a natural disaster like fire or flood, dropping a laptop or external drive, or damage caused by faulty design of the drive or its firmware programming, even a virus attack or malicious intent could be an issue.
Hard Drive Recovery
Data recovery from a hard drive can be simple or complex.
For example, if the data was lost owing to accidental deletion of files, you might be able to recover them yourself by running a data recovery software.
On the other hand, if the read/write head has crashed and the drive is clicking or the motor has seized, you will have to entrust your drive to a specialist professionals. They will have a dust free clean room where they will open the drive and replace the damaged heads, and the necessary resources and experience with a range of drive problems to help you in your hour of need.
Data recovery professionals typically start by copying the existing image on the damaged disk to a backup location. They will work on a copy trying to recover the data using specialized tools. Only after they have succeeded are they likely to transfer the recovered data to a replacement drive or give you secure access to their servers so you can check the data is intact and download it directly.
Simply replacing a damaged part like the printed circuit board of the drive cannot put things right; it will require some reprogramming to ensure it is correctly matched.
Does Your Recovery Company Have Hard Drive Rebuild Experience?
Hard drives have come a long way since a 5MB RAMAC, weighing a ton, was introduced in 1956 by IBM. Today's drives can be a tiny box in comparison offering many Terabytes (each terabyte is a 1000 GB and each GB is a thousand MB).
Today, there are many storage drive makers each offering models with different features. The drive can be a single drive or a RAID system with multiple physical drives with their own cut down operating systems and hot swap features.
The drive interfaces to the computer can differ. For example, it can be IDE, EIDE, SATA, SCSI, Lan, etc.
Data losses can be caused by many different factors, requiring different kinds of approaches to any recovery.
Only an experienced hard drive repairer can identify just the right remedy that is both effective and economical
Once you have decided on a hard drive rebuild, check that the company you select is experienced and has the resources in house, or is a reseller of a reputable established company who ensures any recovered data is managed securely for your protection and does not broadcast your company's loss of information on their website without your permission.
Conclusion
A hard drive rebuild becomes necessary when you are unable to boot with the drive or to read the data you have stored on it. You will also be better off if you approach a data recovery specialist if your drive is making strange noises (that you have not heard before) or data seems to be disappearing, or your system is spewing error messages.
Considering the numerous makes and models of hard drives in the market, each with differing features, you should approach only an experienced data recovery company with a track record of success but beware of the varying costs and just like any purchase expensive does not mean it is the best.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)