Gone are the days of paper and the pen. Be it the personal or corporate space, digital files have replaced physical documents and papers. However, this also brings with it the inevitable instances when technology can fail us in terms of data loss. This includes hard drive crash or loss of data from secondary storage devices. This is where data recovery services come into the picture.
Read along to know the importance of data recovery, along with the common causes of data loss.
Also, know the commonly used data recovery software, and how to go about data recovery services in Bangalore?
What is Data Recovery?
Data recovery is the process involving restoration of corrupted, lost, accidentally deleted, or inaccessible data. It mostly involves data recovery from internal or external storage media such as USB drives, hard disk drives (HDD), solid-state drives (SSD), CDs, DVDs, floppy disks, memory cards, magnetic tapes, and other data storage devices.
In corporates, data recovery services include restoration of data from a backup to a laptop, desktop, external storage system or server.
Data recovery services enable the recovery of files that were accidentally deleted without a back-up, but which are present in fragments on the hard disk drive.
Common Causes of Data Loss
Data loss can occur due to multiple reasons such as virus or malware attack, damaged/corrupted files, unexpected system shutdown, unrecognized format, natural disasters, theft and much more. Human error is also one of the most important and common causes of data loss.
The causes of data loss can be broadly divided into physical and logical damage as explained below.
Causes of Data Loss – Physical Damage
Physical damage to storage media can result from a wide range of failures due to natural disasters or human errors. Some examples of data loss due to physical damage are:
- The breaking of magnetic tapes
- Scratching off of the dye layer of the metallic substrate of CD/DVDs
- Mechanical failures of hard disks such as motor failure or head crash
- Electrical failure
Expert data recovery services help in addressing data loss due to physical damage, say to a hard disk drive. IFF Lab provides data recovery services in Bangalore for retrieving most, if not all, of the information lost to physical damage.
In case the hard disk is still repairable, then the logical file structure can be rebuilt by creating a full image or clone. However, in certain cases where the hard drive platter is severely damaged, data recovery may be challenging or impossible.
Data Recovery Due to Physical Damage Requires Special Expertise
Opening a hard disk drive requires proper hardware and technical experience and expertise, and a dust-free environment.
Data recovery from physically damaged hard disk drives requires class 100 dust- and static-free cleanrooms. This is because airborne dust present in the ambient surroundings can settle on the hard disk platters and damage them further. Thus, it may lead to the compromise of the data recovery process.
Data Recovery Technique – Physical Damage
One method of data recovery due to physical damage is by repairing the hard disk and replacing the damaged parts. Although there may still be logical damages to the hard disk which requires a different approach.
A special disk-imaging procedure is then used to recover every portion of a readable bit from the hard disk. This image can be later analyzed for logical damage and used for reconstruction of the original file system.
Causes of Data Loss – Logical Damage
Logical damage refers to data loss due to software and not hardware related issues.
The logical bad sector is one of the common causes of logical failure of hard disks. In this, the data in a particular sector of the hard disk becomes inaccessible. This is usually resolved by using data recovery software for repairing the bad sectors of the hard disk drive. Or, replacement of the hardware containing the bad sectors.
Damages in the file system or partition table of hard disk drives or media errors can also render data unreadable. In such cases, data recovery software helps in repairing the damaged portions. Subsequently, one can recover a part of the original data.
Overwritten data can is also one of the causes of data loss due to logical damage. It is little easier to recover the original data in case of data overwriting for solid-state drives (SSD) than hard disk drives. This is because SSDs use flash memory to store data in pages and blocks.
Importance of Data Recovery Services
Picture this.
You are working on an important project with the deadline a few hours away. Suddenly your computer/laptop goes blank.
Your system going blank is an indication of an imminent system crash, hard disk failure or some other grave problem.
Your heartbeat stops. This means a loss of all your valuable data and even valuable hard work!
We have all been there. With some differences in the picture here and there, we have all been victims of a data loss. Be it on a personal or professional level. And we all know how traumatic and chaotic that can be!
This where data recovery services bring in a fresh lease of life.
Though the data appears to be irretrievable and lost, in reality, it is still recoverable with the help of professional data recovery software and advanced data recovery services.
The Dawn of the Digital Age Led to the Growing Importance of Data Recovery Services
The Digital Era has made paper files and documents redundant.
It has reaped benefits for all as a paper is prone to easy damage and has a limited lifespan. However, there are times when technology can fail us in the most unexpected ways. This is why the importance of data recovery services is growing.
Every desktop or laptop has at least one hard disk drive in it. Thus, it is the most common digital media for storage. Additionally, external media like SSDs, SD cards, USB drives are also commonly used as backup or secondary data storage devices.
Such devices store volumes of business-critical and/or personal data, the loss of which can cause huge personal and monetary damage.
Data recovery software is often used for data recovery due to logical damage to internal/external storage devices. However, in the case of physical damage to storage media, data recovery software is ineffective.
This is where providers of data recovery services need to intervene.
Use of Data Recovery Software
Data recovery software comes into use in case a storage device suffers a data loss due to logical damage. This includes media errors, corrupt partitions or file systems, logical bad sectors or accidental deletion.
Data recovery software help in the effective repair and recovery of files, storage media, databases and corrupt partitions. Such software can be easily purchased online but often require professional experience to use them appropriately.
Some commonly used data recovery software are:
- CDRoller
- Hetman Partition Recovery
- Norton Utilities
- Recuva
- EnCase
- Finnix
- Knoppix
- R-Studio
- Trinity Rescue Kit
- Windows Preinstallation Environment
- Disk Drill Basic
- Testdisk
- GetDataBack, and much more.
Tips to Purchase Data Recovery Software
Almost all data recovery software available online come with a free demo version. Though these tips shall come handy in case you want to try your hands at data recovery, it is always better to seek professional help.
- Try the free demo of the software before making the decision to purchase it.
- Use the demo version to recover your damaged file/drive and see if you can recover it.
- Test the user-friendliness, dashboard, features, speed, and performance of the software in the demo version.
- In case you are able to see your recovered data in the demo version, you may consider purchasing it online.
Data recovery software available in the market are often used to salvage data from:
- Corrupt Zip Files
- Corrupt Excel/Word Documents
- Corrupt Access Databases
- Corrupted/Damaged File Systems using Windows, Linux, Unix, Apple Macintosh or Novell Netware
When to Use Data Recovery Services?
One needs to resort to data recovery services when the lost data is beyond the retrieval by data recovery software. Or, the state of data corruption is so complicated that it demands the intervention of a professional data recovery expert.
Look out for the following symptoms in your hard disk drive or storage medium to resort to specialized data recovery services.
Multiple defectives sectors on the storage device
- Failed SMART (Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology) status
- Constant clicking noises from the hard disk drive
- Damage by fire, water or other natural forces
- Inability to reboot the computer
- Non-recognition of the drive by the BIOS
It is essential that you see data recovery as a protective measure and not just as a solution to data loss. This is why you should be cognizant of IFF Lab as a reliable provider of data recovery services in Bangalore.
Use of Data Recovery Services in Computer Forensics
Investigations involving Computer Forensics sometimes use data recovery services.
Data recovery helps in the extraction of digital evidence from computing and storage devices, used as a legal evidence in the court of law. Such evidence is generally used in cases such as data theft, financial fraud, data breach, unauthorized data counterfeiting, and other forms of digital frauds.
Data recovery experts are also sought for the investigation of evidence in personal computers in cases involving forgeries, murder, assault, PDA, IP theft, email scams, internet abuse, matrimonial scams and much more.
Incognito Forensics Foundation (IFF Lab) – For Data Recovery Services in Bangalore
Incognito Forensics Foundation (IFF Lab) is a premier private digital forensics lab in India with a PAN Indian presence. IFF Lab has emerged as the pioneer in the domain of data recovery services in Bangalore and Chennai. It leverages the latest tools and data recovery software to salvage data from almost all types of physically damaged storage media.
IFF Lab’s Data Recovery Services
IFF Lab leverages its in-house R&D team, along with sound data recovery software and practices to offer data recovery services from all types of storage media and operating systems. This includes hard disks, and operating systems such as Macintosh, Windows, UNIX, and Linux. IFF Lab is capable of data recovery from all Windows’ versions.
IFF Lab uses advanced data recovery software and techniques to provide data recovery from any brand or model of hard disk drives. It keeps itself up-to-date by collaborating with multiple hard disk manufacturers. This has enabled IFF Lab to carve a niche in hard disk data recovery services in Bangalore.
