Adventures in Hard Drive Recovery

Data Loss and Hard Drive Recovery

There are many ways data can be lost on a hard drive, below are just a few.

Human Error

To find the biggest culprit behind data loss, we only have to look in the mirror. Every day users accidentally delete important documents, records and database files. Sometimes the error is as simple as choosing the File > Save option, over the File > Save As option. Other times, users may reformat a hard drive without backing up critical data. Still other times, a user may delete a file then prematurely empty the recycle bin.

Fortunately however, hard drive recovery is generally easy when files are deleted as a result of human error. Many store bought utilities can help you retrieve lost files as long as the data hasn't been overwritten or corrupted.

Viruses

Software viruses are some of the worst corrupters of hard drive data. Worms such as W32.Klez and W32.MyLife, can overwrite or delete many of the files on your hard drive. To make matters worse, if not properly removed from your system, these worms can attach themselves to files on your computer, and re-execute themselves when you open an infected file.

Damaged or Corrupt Cluster

Hard drive clusters can become damaged for a number of reasons. Failing to shut down your computer properly, is one reason clusters may become corrupt. Another reason, is that your system hangs or crashes while writing information to the disk.

Physical Damage

Sometimes data loss occurs because the hard drive is physically damaged. This may be the result of a head crash, or the result of a disk's surface being scratched, contaminated, or demagnetized in some way. The sectors in your hard disk can be damaged by jarring, magnets, or contaminates such as cigarette ashes. A damaged sector on a hard disk can result in a multitude of computer problems and hard drive recovery headaches. Windows' ScanDisk, however, is capable of doing a surface scan to check for physical damage. If ScanDisk finds a damaged sector, it marks that area as unusable, and will "quarantine" that area so that it will not cause any future difficulties.