What Is Data Recovery & How Does It Work? [2019]

We all have to deal with data loss - during when the hard drive fails, or the data is corrupted or when we accidentally delete a file. And if you've ever lost any important data like this, surely you've heard of data recovery. Today's discussion is about how it works, how effective it is, and whether all kinds of data can be recovered. Let's find out everything.

Data Loss and Data Recovery

In many ways, your valuable data can be lost - if there are accidentally deleted files, disabled hardware, software malfunction, data corruption, hacking, and even loss of power can cause data loss. It is possible to recover data from almost any data loss. At times, experts were able to retrieve the data by bringing hard drive from a plane that was destroyed.

If the data you've lost are linked to any hard drive, solid-state drive, pen drive, or media storage, you can hire an expert to retrieve those data or spend some money on your data loss software to get those data back.

But one thing to keep in mind is that it is not always possible to recover the data - many times, the system can be unattended, from which it is impossible to recover any data. However, current data recovery technology has achieved tremendous revolution, for example, Kroll Ontrack, an Australian data recovery company that gives 99% guarantee to recover data from any hard drive.

What is my choice for free data recovery?

For Free data recovery, I always choose the free software for the recovery of accidentally deleted data. One of the free data recovery software is Easeus. Easeus has a worldwide reputation for recovery data with very minimal steps and without any charge.

Step 1: Go to the data recovery software webpage. EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard Free

Step 2: Click on the free download button, and a free DRW_Free_RSS_Installer will be downloaded to your PC. Run that.

Step 3: Click on Install now clicking on I accept all the terms and bla bla bla. It will take about 41~45 MB approx to download. (The time depends on your net speed)

Step 4: Click on Start Now.

Step 5: Select the External Disk you want to scan and click on the scan.

Step 6: Click on Lost Partition File, Then Select the File Partition system form left side, and get your desired files by little bit browsing. When you get your desired, select the file and click on recover.

Step 7: Then, you need to select the location where the data will be recovered; you can select the desktop for easy location choice.

Nice! You have done it all. After the recovery finish, the destination file location will open immediately, and you can see your lost files. 🙂

How Does Data Recovery Work?

It is possible to recover lost data in various ways, depending on how your data was lost. 

I have tried to discuss some common data loss factors, if you know of any other factor, please comment below.

File Deletion

When you delete a file from a drive, it still stays in your drive and remains in place until another file arrives and replaces it. This means that if you take quick steps to recover a mistakenly deleted file, the chance of your file being returned is high. You can use the data recovery software to recover deleted files. You can know about such software by searching for them on Google. Some of those are free, and some of those need to be bought. I will suggest to use EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard Free for its friendly feature and easy to use.

These kinds of software use many sophisticated algorithms to try to find old data stored in the drive and estimate the physical location of the deleted files. If the software is able to guess the correct location, then you will undoubtedly get the file back. And if it can't guess, you have a bit of bad luck!

However, after deleting the file, some activities with your computer may be responsible for your data being lost forever because it creates a chance for the new file to overwrite. Even browsing the Internet can overwrite your old or lost cache files or cookies and so you won't get those back. File recovery software only recovers those files which are not overwritten.

How fast you will get your deleted files back or how long it will take to get those files back depends on your file system. For example; The Windows NTFS file system retains the details of the file even after a file is deleted, making it possible for anyone to find the file near the recovery software. Other file systems, such as UTF or FAT, also delete details of a file when it is deleted, making it very difficult for the recovery software to find the file.

File Corruption

If a message that says that 'your hard drive is corrupted' continuously pops up on your computer screen, then you know how disappointing it is. However, there is no reason to worry- because there is a good chance that your data will be restored. First, you will need to install your hard drive with another computer, and if you check that only the operating system of that drive has been corrupted, you can easily copy the rest of the data.

But the real problem can be if the partition table on the hard drive is corrupted. However, it is possible to fix a corrupted partition table using Linux. If you want, I can make a tutorial on this. If you can successfully fix the partition table, you can quickly get the corrupted data back, but if you can't, however, you may be still able to retrieve enough information from the partition table here, though this depends on the level of corruption.

Now, if the recovered files are corrupted, it is possible to use them using the file recovery software. The software will try to get the previous version of the hard drive when searching for files. As a result, recovery files may be usable. If you can fix a partition table, most of the time, all the data is returned.

File System Format or Destruction of Files

Just like the deletion of the file, the system formatting also erases all the details of the file, but it remains physically in place until the file is overwritten. However, as I said earlier, a lot depends on its file system. For example, if FAT deletes any large data on the file system, it completely overwrites that part of the drive-by zero, making it much more difficult to recover the previous file. But in the NTFS file system, it is extremely easy to recover any file.

If a file is destroyed, the chance of retrieving depends on how much the file was destroyed. If the file recovery software is able to recover enough information from the damaged file, it may be worthwhile to use the destroyed file. However, if the file recovery software tries to find the previous file, which is destroyed, and then find it, then your luck is really good.

Physical Hard Drive Damage

Recovering a deleted or formatted or corrupted file is one thing, and recovering files from an entirely physically damaged hard drive is totally a different one. In this case, no mediocre data recovery software or technical knowledge can be of any use, and it would be better for you to hand the drive over to a specialist.

Opening the damaged drive is a daunting task. Only experts can do this, and they complete the task in a closed and very clean room. This room is of a highly regulated environment and is free of all types of natural pollution. In this case, even a slight dusting can completely freeze the hard drive. Again static electricity can also destroy the drive. Therefore, the environment of the room and the clothes of the specialists are specially designed so that less static electricity is produced.

In many ways, a hard drive can be physically damaged. Many times, only the controller board or head of the drive is damaged. In this case, the drive can be repaired by changing them. But it is essential to seek the help of experts to perform this change or to prevent the drive from any severe damage.

Experts try to fix your drive by following different steps, one by one. First, they fix the physical damage and then run the drive and try to recover the data using special software. This entire process is done in a controlled room. To recover the data by experts can cost you up to thousands of dollars. However, many new companies offer special discounts.

Solid State Drive Recovery

Solid-state drives are becoming more and more popular day by day. Especially in today's new Ultrabook, there are solid-state drives as a major surprise. Recovering data from SSDs is much easier and more efficient than traditional hard drives. The process of recovering deleted or formatted data is the same here.

However, recovering data from a physically damaged solid-state drive is a costly task - as this technology is still new. Once a solid-state drive is physically damaged, it may cost $4,000 to fix it. However, in the future, the cost may be much lower.

Tips on How to Never Lose Any Data

File recovery software or specialists may help you recover valuable lost data, but the process is risky, time-consuming, and expensive. So to avoid the risk of data loss, long-term data need to have a massive backup. You can also have a cloud data backup service, and you can get hard drive backup in your home.

Protect your drives from unwanted power cuts and be careful while deleting files or formatting the system.

The Last Words

I hope you will be benefited a lot from today's post. If you lose any valuable data, at least you should know what you have to do. Have you ever used any data recovery software or been to a specialist? You can share your experience with us below. What do you think is the best data recovery software? Let us know.