Digital Camera Memory Recovery

As an industry leader in data recovery for flash media such as digital camera memory cards, we feel like we might be able to help a few of you from ever loosing your data in the first place.  If you’re on our blog because you just experienced a data disaster – you accidentally formatted your memory card, deleted important images, or the card simply stopped working – STOP immediately and set the card aside.  Continuing to use the card increases the chances that you are overwriting images, and many recovery software programs can actually make the problem worse.  Contact us for help.

Read on for some tips to prevent data loss from digital camera memory cards (such as SD, SDHC, and CF cards).

Before each use, format your cards in the camera you plan to use them on (not the computer).  Formatting recreates the file system on the card and makes it less likely that the card will lose track of where your images are stored.  Remember: formatting erases all images on the card!  Before formatting check to make sure you have already downloaded the images to another form of media (preferably two other forms of media!). Resist the temptation to delete images while you are still shooting.  Deleting images in camera only increases the chances of an accidental “Delete All”.   Carry enough extra cards so you don’t have to worry about running out of memory, and delete the duds once the images have been safely transferred to another form of media.Store your cards in a protective plastic case.  The manufacturer usually provides one with the card, but you can also buy inexpensive ones that hold multiple cards if you carry a lot of memory.  CF cards in particular may appear durable, but they are vulnerable to physical damage.  Dirt and debris can get into the tiny holes on the card over time, rendering them unreadable. Turn off your camera before removing the memory card.  It’s not common, but failure to do so can cause electrical damage.If using a USB card reader to transfer images to your PC, make sure to properly eject the card reader before removing the memory card from the device. Bigger is not always better.  Memory is relatively inexpensive right now, and it may be tempting to buy the biggest card possible.   However, this creates a single point of failure and potentially 100% data loss – your whole vacation, an entire wedding.   Buy smaller cards and carry more of them.Replace your camera battery before it runs all the way down.  If the camera shuts off while writing to your card, you could experience data loss.Don’t put a password on your card unless you’re certain you will remember it.  Even data recovery companies can’t get around strong encryption used on most flash devices.

Hopefully these tips will help you completely avoid losing any of your images from flash cards.  If the worst should happen, however, you can be confident that we specialize in both logical and physical flash recoveries.  We’ve seen everything from deleted files to electrical damage to flash drives that have been run over by a car.  Contact us today to begin the recovery process.

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Fat32 Data Recovery

No doubt there will come a time when you accidently delete or ‘lose’ a file that is really important to you, and of course you will want to know about FAT32 data recovery. Therefore you need to know what steps you should take in order to try and do so, otherwise you could do something foolish and lose your files completely, forever!

FAT32 is a very common system of filing, used by all Windows users up to and including Windows XP. Although now it is losing popularity to the NTFS system, one plus point of FAT32 is that recovering lost or deleted files is often fairly straightforward to do.

Like many people, you probably won’t have the first clue about FAT32 data recovery or what to do in the event that your data is accidently deleted. The first thing you should do is follow these steps:

If none of the above options work and you cannot afford to have a FAT32 data recovery specialist retrieve the lost files for you, it is possible to get highly technical and do it yourself, but this is not recommended unless you know what you are doing. All entries that are created within the FAT that came from the original file should still be in the file directory because it wouldn’t have been overwritten just yet. It should be possible for you to check whether any sectors that have previously had a file occupy them are marked as “used” or not in the FAT, so it might still be possible for you to recover any deleted files that are held in the FAT32.

During FAT32 data recovery, you need to make sure that there is a single uninterrupted sequence in the sectors of your disk where data is stored, so that means it can’t have been defragged. Do not attempt any defragging processes when you try to recover deleted files from the FAT32, unless you have first had the chance to look for your data. Doing this will see the chances of locating your data increase substantially.

However, it is possible that you could look forever through the vast number of FAT32 sectors on your hard drive and still not locate anything. The reason for this is that the name and appearance of your files may well have changed. Usually, the operating system will strip the identifying features deleted files, so you can’t rely on these to assist you in locating them. Therefore, if you can’t locate the files after scouring the FAT32 directory, unless you seek professional help you may have to just give the file up as lost. 

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Computer Data Recovery Services

In today’s highly competitive world, the business of computer data recovery services has become a multi-million dollar industry. Indeed, it sometimes feels as if the number of companies that perform data recovery has exceeded the amount of junk food restaurants in some cities. Many of these computer data recovery firms specialize in the retrieval of data from a wide range of platforms, including hard drives, flash drives, CD ROM’s and more.

Losing your data can be a real nightmare for someone whose business depends on it, and so these computer data recovery services perform a valuable service to thousands of people each year. In the event of you ever losing your data, it pays to be prepared and know exactly what to do when it happens.

Almost 45% of all occurrences of data loss is due to the failure of hardware. When it happens to you, if you suspect that the hard drive has crashed, the first thing you should do is shut the system down immediately. Do not even attempt trying the correct shutdown procedures, just pull the power straight out of the wall. Moreover, it’s not worth attempting to run any computer data recovery services software programs that you might have, as most of the time these will just assume that everything is working perfectly, so increasing the chances of you permanently losing data.

A commonly asked question by people who have suffered massive system failure is ‘How can I get my data back?’. Actually, the answer is not rocket science, but it is tricky. Data recovery is simply a matter of knowing what to do and having the right tools to do the job. Any major data recovery firm will have facilities with a wide range of tools, hardware and software for recovering your data.

The first thing that a data recovery expert will do upon receiving your hard drive is to carry out an evaluation and try to work out the best solution. If the drive itself has failed, the computer data recovery services expert will scan the drive in an attempt to fix the corruption in the file system.

In some cases, it is possible to repair a partition and then the drive can be restored to the point it was at before it failed, allowing the data to be retrieved. However, this is not always possible, and so then the computer data recovery services expert will perform a low level scan instead, searching the hard drive sector by sector for any files that can be recovered. The files can be copied to media such as a CD-ROM or a DVD-ROM as and when they are found, recovering them. These kinds of logical data recoveries can take a very long time to complete, especially in cases where the drive is on the brink of total failure.

Should the drive have succumbed to physical failure, a much more challenging recovery procedure will need to be initiated to retrieve the data stored there. Physical failure takes the form of two different sub categories; it can be due to either mechanical or electronic failure. 

One of the most important elements of data recovery after a physical failure is the need to get the vital parts of the drive working again. The problem with hard drives is that, if yours is a 25GB Maxtor Hard Drive, it will be necessary for the expert to use another identical 25GB Maxtor Hard Drive in order to salvage the lost data. Meanwhile, if it is the electric circuit board which has failed, then it will be necessary to find another identical circuit board so that you can have the replacement circuit components that you will need. In many cases, it is not even possible to swap one circuit board with another, identical one. Therefore, detailed repairs such as these will require an in depth electrical knowledge in order to be fixed. The person doing the repairing will also need good soldering skills as well.

When talking to professionals in the computer data recovery services industry, you will often hear the term “class 100 clean room” from time to time. This is a room where the air purity is maintained to an exceptionally clean level, less than 100 significant sized particles per cubic foot of air.  This air purity is essential as any internal components in a hard drive that are exposed to air particles could be damaged beyond repair. Anytime that someone performs an invasive procedure on a hard drive, it should be done in a class 100 clean room.  

In most cases, the time frame given for recovery is around 5 to 10 business days for any physical failures and 2 to 4 days for logical failures. However, if the necessary components are not immediately available, then you could be waiting for quite a few weeks before you can retrieve your data again. If this is the case with you, it might be best to find a firm that offers and expedite service and take advantage of it, whatever the cost.

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Data Recovery from Crashed External Hard Drive

When your external hard drive crashes then what you need to do in order to retrieve your date will depend on whether it is still mechanically working or not. Data recovery from crashed external hard drive is tricky, yet with luck, the drive will be working, but the data index may still be lost.

You’ll have to check this first of all by attaching it to your PC and seeing if the computer recognizes the hard drive or not. If your PC does recognize the external hard drive, but doesn’t show any data on it then follow the advice under Software Data recovery from crashed external hard drive section.

However, if your hard drive is not recognized by the computer, then you can try taking it out of its case and manually attaching it to your PC. Now you can check again to see if the hard drive is recognized or not. If it is, and you see all of you data still intact, then the likely problem is with the power supply for your external drive. However, if the drive appears to be dead, then you will need to read further in the Lab Data recovery from crashed external hard drive section.

In the case of a logical failure, for instance when the data has been corrupted by the Master File Table, or MFT, your data is still saved somewhere on the hard drive, but the index for it is not there. In this case, the data is usually quite easily retrieved.

You will need to get yourself another hard drive that has the same capacity or more as the damaged hard drive, plus you will need some data recovery software. Data Recovery Pro, GetBackData and ParetoLogic are all good ones you can try, costing between $49.99 and $199. Alternatively, you can try a free data recovery tool downloaded from the internet, such as Recuva.

If you’re not too sure about doing it yourself, then you should outsource this job to someone who has a bit more experience with computers. The actual data recovery process may take several days to complete, depending on the size of your hard drive, and so the recovering computer needs to be left on during this time. There is a good chance that you will be able to recover all of your data, or at least a big part of it. If the MFT index is not reconstructed, you will still recover your data, however it will be in individual files with no folder structure.

If your external hard drive is not working at all, then you shouldn’t attempt to fix it yourself. Never open up a hard drive unless you know what you are doing, or you will risk losing your date forever. You will need to contact a specialized data recovery from crashed external hard drive lab in order to get them to do it for you.

Of course the easiest option is to prevent the need for data recovery in the first place! You can do this by regularly backing up all of your data on another drive, as the chances of both of them breaking down at exactly the same time are very remote.

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Hard Drive Data Partition Recovery

When one of the partitions in your hard disc packs up, there are two main methods of hard drive data partition recovery available.

Firstly, it’s possible to run special data recovery software in order to retrieve your most vital data files from that partition. Usually, in most cases you will be able to retrieve the data that you need without too much difficulty, with either free software or buy purchasing fully supported data recovery software.

If the problem with your hard drive data partition recovery is due to faulty components like the head arm breaking or simply due to aging, then using software might not work. In this case, your only real option is to call up an expert technician to take a look at things and see if they can gain access to any of your precious data, but this can be expensive.

There are no limitations regarding the size of your hard drive partition where hard drive data partition recovery is concerned. No matter if you are trying to retrieve data from a 1 MB flash drive or a 1 TB Ultra-SCAI hard drive, it should still be possible to recover data from it.

In addition, there aren’t any limitations regarding the kind of operating system you are attempting to extract the data from. Whether you are using Microsoft Windows or Linux, it should still be possible. This also extends to the different file formatting systems that are used, including NTFS and FAT32, both very common Windows systems, or the OS file system that is used by Mac computers.

Data can be recovered from any part of your damaged hard drive, and this even includes files that you may have previously deleted and have ended up in your recycle bin. All of these files are recoverable.

Secondly, hard drive data partition recovery by an expert should ensure that all your lost data is able to be recovered. It’s hardly a surprise that by far the most common damage seen is attributed to dropping or spillages, especially with regard to laptop computers.

At a corporate level, many companies employ the RAID configuration as a way of protecting their data, thus negating the impact of single hard drive failure. In a RAID 5 disk set for example, there would be no data loss should just one of the hard drives fail, as it would be possible to reconstruct the lost data from the failed member using the remaining disks. If the entire RAID 5 set happened to fail though, then this would be a major problem for the company.

Should the entire RAID volume fail, then there would be no alternative for the company but to call in the help of data recovery experts to try and restore both the RAID configuration and the data itself. Should your disk partition fail, and you were left unable to gain access to the data that is stored on that part of the hard drive then again, you would to call in an expert for hard drive data partition recovery.

So you can see what the different situations call for. If your personal hard drive fails, it should be possible to use data recovery software to extract your data. However, if your hard drive is damaged beyond repair, or if your RAID volume set fails and if one of your drive’s partitions fails, then the best option is to get professional assistance from a data recovery expert.

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RAID Data Recovery

RAID data systems can greatly increase your data’s speed and availability, but sometimes the system can fail meaning you’ll need to implement RAID data recovery.

RAID is a very common method of data storage, the term ‘RAID’ meaning ‘redundant array of disks’. First designed in 1987, the name is now used to describe any method of storing data that uses separation and duplication of data amongst a number of different disk drives.

RAID can improve your data storage system’s reliability thanks to the way it creates a network of drives to store your data on. Therefore, if one of the drives fails, all of your data remains protected due to the fact it is also stored on other drives in the array. RAID protects you from losing your vital information. The chance of each of your drives failing at the same time and you needing to perform RAID data recovery is very small, yet there are occasions when it can fail:

Power surgesVirusesPhysical damage to your computer, for example water, fire or impact damageController failure – While many RAID systems use multiple disk drives, there is only ever one controller. If the controller fails, so will the arrayMulti-Drive failure – While it won’t happen very often, there is a chance. Remember that because each of your drives are doing the same amount of work, once one goes, there rest may not be far from failing eitherIncorrect configuration of drivesProblems with reformattingThe occasional failure of individual drives, causing deterioration over time

On the rare occasions when RAID does fail, the effect on your business operations can be catastrophic. Therefore, we shouldn’t even have to mention the necessity of backing up all of your systems regularly as a precaution. The trouble with RAID is that its overall safety is so good that many are led into a false sense of security about the safety of their data. They feel that it isn’t necessary to back up their system, and it is this mistaken belief that all too often leads to disaster.

There are two options when RAID fails. Buy a good RAID data recovery program and install it on your system before you experience any problems with it. As these RAID data recovery programs are able to access your drives and assess what has happened, it may be able to fix any potential problems, so long as there aren’t any physical problems with your array.

Chances are though, that you will need to call on the RAID data recovery professionals to come to the rescue after the damage is done. From a technical point of view, RAID data recovery is a very difficult method of recovering data, yet the professionals may be able to help you.

In order to give yourself maximum protection against RAID failure and the loss of your crucial data, you can take note of the following tips:

Regularly back up all of your dataMake sure that your array configuration is well documented, if possible when it is first set up. Documentation should include the actual setup as well as the connection orderYou can test the ability of your system to recover after drive failure, but make sure you backup your data first!Replace a hard disk drive straight away once it has failed, and make sure that the replacement drive has been tested and conforms to the specifications of your systemDo not attempt the rebuilding of any corrupted RAID file system, this will only damage your data even moreIf you notice a RAID fault warning or any other odd system behaviour, for example strange sounds, never ignore this. Ignoring these warnings means that your hard drive could be running in a degraded mode, so you will be left without options in the event of a second drive failingIf there is a fault with more than one drive, then you can do nothing more to try and recover data by yourself. You should call out a professional RAID data recovery specialistDo not attempt different methods of data recovery. In most cases, someone who doesn’t know what they are doing will only make the situation worse, reducing the chances of getting the data retrieved. Professional help needs to sought as soon as possible

Just as in life, it only takes a little preparation and common sense to protect your important data. While RAID systems hardly ever fail, just remember that nothing is unsinkable and when disaster does strike, the results for your business could be devastating if you are not prepared. Ensure that your system is properly set up, take precautions with safety and fix any problems the moment you notice them.

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Hard Drive Data Recovery

Okay, so we can cut out all the I told you so nonsense, that isn’t going to get us anywhere.

Chances are that if you find yourself needing to perform hard drive data recovery, then it is almost certainly because you forgot computing cardinal rule: Always backup your data. Learn “How to Recover Data from a Hard Drive” here…

Hard drives are not indestructible, and they will all fail eventually. So really, the choice is yours – Do you want to learn the hard way or the easy way?

But then of course, you already have your data backed up don’t you? Right???

But what to do if, lo and behold, you never did back up your files and now your files are gone and lost? The first thing you mustn’t do is panic! There’s really no need, there are many options that you can resort to as you attempt hard drive data recovery.

First of all, you need to find out if the hard drive really has failed, or if the error is just one of the many computer or equipment glitches that can lead to a boot failure. If you can get access to a second computer, then it’s possible for you to take out the broken hard drive and connect it to the alternate PC as a secondary drive. You can do this quite easily by using a USB adapter, they only cost around $30 and they are very useful to have around for all kinds of diagnostics involving hard drives.

If you are using an Apple Mac, then the process is even easier. You can hook up your broken Mac to a Mac that is working by using a FireWire cable. Then, all you have to do is the target boot tool on the broken machine, simply by pressing and holding the T-key when you power on the machine.

Whatever method you use, there is a good chance that your hard drive will actually appear on the healthy computer, and you will be able to access all of the files on it. If so, then your hard drive probably hasn’t failed, and the problem is with your operating system (it will need to be reinstalled). However, before fixing the operating system, now might be a very good time to back up all of those files!

If the files do not appear after hooking up your hard drive to a healthy computer, then you are at a pivotal moment in your life! You’re going to need to decide how much value all of that lost work, photos and other treasure memories you have saved really have.

While it will depend very much on the scale of damage that the drive has suffered, the chances are that recovering your data could cost anything from $100 to $1000 or even more! And not only is it expensive, the whole hard drive data recovery process can take many days to complete, and even then there is absolutely no guarantee that you are going to get your files back. I can guarantee it will cost you money though!

Okay, so now the depressing task of setting your expectations has been done, now’s the time to share some good news. In most cases, the data that you think you have lost can be recovered.

In fact, you will probably be surprised at just how resilient information stored on hard drives can be, and if you don’t believe me you can ask any jailed corporate embezzler that tried deleting the evidence from their computer if this is true or not! This is actually a very apt comparison, because the tools that are used by police to uncover digital misdeeds are also used by hard drive data recovery specialists to find your lost data too.

The only safe way to recover your data if you’re not a computer geek is to seek professional help, and this is going to cost you money. How much money does hard drive data recovery cost?

Well, to get an idea of that, we’ll need to understand the two ways in which a hard drive can crash. They can suffer either logical failure or, much worse, mechanical failure.

Logical failure is what happens when something happens, usually a file corruption or some kind of accidental formatting that stops the drive being able to navigate and find the data stored on itself. The components of the drive itself are not actually damaged in any way, and so your data is almost certainly still on the drive and easily retrievable (for the experts!) so long as you haven’t overwritten it. You may be lucky and only be charge a couple of hundred dollars for this service.Mechanical failure is much worse. This is when you hard drive has damaged some of its components and this is what prevents it from working normally. Often, a busted hard drive will make a tell-tale clicking noise in its futile efforts to access the files inside it. If you can hear this sound, then chances are good that your data is still there somewhere, but unless you call in some specialist hard drive data recovery help, you are not going to get it back very easily.

Unfortunately for you, if you have indeed suffered mechanical damage to your drive, these data recovery experts charge an awful lot of money for their services. For example, top hard drive data recovery firms like Seagate i365, Iomega and Kroll Ontrack all charge a fee ranging from $500 to as much as $2500 for their efforts in attempting to recover your lost data. The exact cost will depend on how severe the situation is.

So quite rightly, having found out about the huge costs involved when you get the experts involved, you are going to ask about data recovery software that you can buy. Does it work? Well, sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn’t!

What you have to realize about data recovery software is that no program will recover your files in their original condition. So things might be very messy. What these programs do is perform a data jump, transferring the files from the old drive to the new one. All of your files will be organized according to file type, with word docs in one folder, JPEG’s in another and so on.

Meanwhile the program will also change the name of each of your files, replacing them with random numbers and letters, making it even more confusing for you! And of course, there is always the chance that the program simply won’t work, and the crucial files you wanted most of all simply didn’t turn up. Perhaps now is a good time to back up your files, if you haven’t already done so..

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Windows XP Data Recovery

Restoring previous or lost data on Windows XP is easy. There are several steps you can take in order to do this. You will want to use these tools in the order presented, because System Restore is far easier than later tools, and if you can fix your problem with that, then you are good to go.

System Restore

System Restore is when your computer makes “saves” or “photographic snapshots” of the current running system and files periodically, and you can restore your computer back to any of these times if your computer crashes or a virus is affecting your files. Be sure to get rid of the virus first, before restoring your computer to a previous state. System Restore is automatically enabled on some computers. You must check to make sure that your computer is currently backing your files up and that you have the availability of using System Restore in the future. Most of the time, however, this is selected and done by default, so you should not have to make any changes.

Make sure you are using an Administrator account when doing this. This is opposed to logging into a User Account which does not have Administrative privileges. Go to Start Menu, then All Programs, then Accessories, followed by System Tools and click on System Restore. This will open a window which tell you about System Restore and have two options. Click the option which says “Restore my computer to an earlier time” and then click Next. The following page will have a tiny calendar with hyperlinked numbers on all of the days which you can restore your system back to. Click on the most recent date BEFORE your computer crashed, and click Next. Confirm your restore point selection and click Next. After the System Restore is complete, you will need to restart your computer, log back in using an Administrator account and click Restoration Complete.

Data Recovery Software

Pandora (found here) and Easeus (found here) are both excellent and free data recovery software programs. With these programs, you should be able to find individual files and sets of lost files, by following the instructions in the program. Download one of them safely from an accredited site, such as download.cnet.com. You should be able to recover lost files with these. If not, you may have to take your computer in to see an expert or try our tutorial if your external hard drive has crashed.

If System Restore and Data Recovery Software are not working for you, then you may have to take your equipment in to see an expert who would be able to set things right for you. Do not despair. Experts in this field are sure to recover your lost data.

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Windows 7 Data Recovery

Data recovery with the new Windows 7 is easier than ever. When information is lost due to computer viruses or crashes, then you may be able to retrieve the lost data with System Restore. If this is not effective, then you may use Data Recovery Software to fish out the files of your choice. If these steps are ineffective, you may need to take your computer to a file recovery expert. Before you do, however, try these options.

System Restore is made possible by the fact your computer periodically takes “pictures” of the current files, settings and state of affairs, and this state can be restored if damage is created in the current state.

In order to invoke System Restore on your Windows 7 PC, click on Start Menu, then All Programs, then Accessories, then System Tools, and finally click on System Restore. A window will pop up which will give you the option of starting a System Restore, so click Next to continue. The next page will show all of the most recent restore points to use. You should click on the most recent point BEFORE your computer crashed or problem began, and click Next. You will be able to select Finish before it begins, so be warned that your computer will restart at this point. Non-system files will not be affected, so if you are looking to restore those, continue to the next step.

Partition Wizard (found here) and Paragon (found here) are both excellent with Windows 7 systems and file and partition recovery. Download and run one of them, being careful to read and follow all of the instructions. Your file recovery should be quick and effective. If you are still not able to recover the desired files, you might need to take your computer in to see an expert.

Windows 7 is less likely to crash than previous versions, but viruses, age and hardware problems can still create problems. Back up your information, always use comprehensive virus protection and try to avoid spilling drinks on your laptop.

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